ONA26 Opening Remarks

Good afternoon everyone, my name is Niketa Patel, the Online News Association’s CEO & Executive Director. It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to ONA26 and to Chicago! We last held our conference here in the Windy City back in 2014 and it is good to be back! And fun fact, this is my 14th ONA conference!

Helping newsrooms and journalists serve their audiences and build community is core to ONA’s mission. However, WE also need to be in community right here, right now, now more than ever. 

Just shy of six months ago, we met in New Orleans and this is why I’m so happy to see so many of you here again as we focus on learning, connecting, and getting inspired to move our industry forward over the next few days.

Our schedule this week focuses on three big themes: evolving trends in newsgathering and delivery, community resilience and protecting democracy. We hope your conversations here will fuel you when you return to work, making you more prepared, more connected and more energized for what’s next.

In just a few moments, we’ll kick off our first featured session looking at the future of public media — more about that in a few minutes. Tomorrow morning, we’ll reconvene here in this room to explore journalism’s role in bridging divides and advancing the important conversations our communities need in order to flourish. And on Wednesday, we’ll begin our final day focused on press freedom and what we all must do to protect the First Amendment, starting with a conversation with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. These themes reflect the gravity of the moment we are in.  

I’d like to take a moment to honor the legacy of Diana R. Fuentes, Executive Director of IRE. Dee Dee unexpectedly passed away recently and she’ll be dearly missed by so many in our industry.

Journalism continues to be a perilous profession for many of our colleagues. Alongside technological shifts, layoffs continue, with black and brown journalists disproportionately being impacted. Just last year, 129 journalists and media workers were killed, according to our friends at the Committee to Protect Journalists. And here in the U.S. we’ve seen journalists threatened, assaulted, detained and arrested while covering immigration raids and protests in Minnesota, Portland, right here in Chicago and beyond.

I want to be crystal clear: journalism is not a crime.

These journalists were not committing unlawful acts. They were doing their jobs.

And still, this is not the whole story. Across Minnesota, Chicago, Los Angeles and in communities like yours, newsrooms are showing us what it looks like to not just endure this moment but to meet it with care and collaboration. We’re seeing journalists partner across organizations to share resources, from tips to protective equipment. We’re seeing local newsrooms deepen trust by listening more closely to the communities they serve, becoming not just sources of information but also playing a critical role in grounding community resilience by helping people stay safe, find food, non-perishables and access other essential support. We are seeing new models emerge that start with what communities need to know and build from there.

And that’s the throughline of this week. Yes, we are navigating real challenges. We are also building something stronger, TOGETHER.

I know this moment can feel heavy. And while I’m grateful to not be alone in feeling that weight, I feel just as strongly, a sense of hope, as I look out at all of you. You are here not just to name and document what’s broken but to imagine and build what’s next.

ONA’s mission is to shift the industry from fight or flight mode into thrive mode. That shift doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in rooms like this one. In the table talks and hallway conversations that spark new ideas. In the partnerships that start here and continue long after Wednesday. So over the next few days, I invite you to lean into that possibility. Learn from one another. Share openly and fearlessly. And no matter what your role or how long you’ve been in the journalism industry, know that YOU are important to shaping the future of journalism.

The future isn’t something that happens to us. It’s something that we create together. And at ONA, our role is to invest in that future by creating the space, the support and the community to help it grow long after this week ends. One of the ways we do that is by investing in leaders across our field.

I want to introduce you to the 11th cohort of our Women’s Leadership Accelerator, who are here with us this week. The program continues to be a powerful force for growth, connection and transformation, and we’ll be opening applications for our Class of 2026 soon. 

As we continue to transform this life-changing program, we’re also thinking about how to better support our more than 250 alumni. If you’re curious about the WLA program, chat with our alumni here this week — look for the blue ribbons on their badges. We’re also continuing to invest in how our industry navigates what’s next.

We’re now in the third year of our AI in Journalism Initiative, with a growing community of members leading thoughtful, practical exploration of AI in their newsrooms. If you haven’t already joined our AI Innovator Collaborative, I encourage you to do so. The group meets monthly for member-led talks, and you can connect with them at Tuesday afternoon’s in-person meetup.

And we’re continuing to experiment with new ways to support your work. In the coming months, we’ll share plans for new ways to connect with other ONA members around the country and around the globe. And we’re growing our virtual convenings to help keep you informed and connected to what’s coming up in our community throughout the year.

And speaking of celebrating this community, we’ll have updates to share on ONA27 soon, but today I’m thrilled to share that submissions for the Online Journalism Awards are officially open.

This year, we’re reimagining the OJAs event as a standalone gala, giving journalism’s biggest night the spotlight it deserves. The gala will take place on October 1st at City Winery in New York City, and we’ll be sharing more details about tickets soon.

I want to give a special shoutout to some of the people in this room, starting with our 434 first-time attendees. Let’s give them a big round of applause and warm welcome. 

For those of you who have been ONA members for a while—including the incredible leaders serving on ONA’s board of directors—thank you. Your support makes our work possible all year. 

That work is also powered by partnerships and collaboration. Thank you to the foundations, the companies, the universities, affinity groups, other journalism support organizations and newsrooms that help bring our mission to life each year.

And finally, I want to recognize the team behind all of this.

Since we last met in New Orleans, our team has grown in exciting ways.

Hanaa Rifaey is now Deputy Director. Meghan Murphy, who recently marked her 10th anniversary at ONA, is now our Head of Programs. We brought Brian Duff on full-time as Program Manager after 8 years of working with us as a consultant. We just hired Erin McGregor as our new Community Impact Facilitator. And we’re hiring a Development Manager, so if you know any good fundraisers, please send them my way! As we look to sustain ONA’s year-round programming efforts and launch new initiatives, we want you involved! The deadline to apply for this role is this Friday.

I want to say a very special thank you to the hard-working team of ONA staff and consultants. It’s such a joy to work alongside you every day. And a thank you to our ONA26 volunteers!