Ramin Hedayati and Max Browning of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to accept 2026 ONA Impact Award
The Online News Association is pleased to announce that Ramin Hedayati and Max Browning of Comedy Central's The Daily Show will accept the 2026 ONA Impact Award on behalf of the program at the Online Journalism Awards Celebration on Oct. 1 at City Winery in New York City.
The Daily Show was selected by the ONA Board of Directors as this year's Impact Award honoree, recognizing their impact in proving that humor and rigorous reporting can coexist, and reshaping how a generation of journalists thinks about comedy's role in holding power to account.
Ramin Hedayati, Co-Executive Producer and Segment Director
Ramin Hedayati is an Emmy award-winning Co-Executive Producer and Segment Director at The Daily Show, overseeing digital expansion, original content and original podcasts. He has led the expansion of the show's digital footprint, making it the #1 most socially engaged show in late-night, while playing a lead role in the production of award-winning projects like Desi Lydic Foxsplains, The Daily Show Presents: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library, and the Heroes of the Freedomsurrection monuments.
Max Browning, Supervising Producer
Max Browning is an Emmy-winning Supervising Producer on The Daily Show. Max co-runs the Topical Assignments Group, which leads the show's coverage of current events, breaking news and deep dives. He and his team use the foundations of journalism and comedy to research and produce the show's headlines and think pieces.
Join us Oct. 1 at City Winery in New York as we celebrate The Daily Show and 30 years of holding power to account. Get your tickets and tables, available through Thursday, Sept. 24:
About the Impact Award
The Impact Award honors trailblazing individuals whose work in digital journalism and dedication to innovation exhibits a substantial impact on the industry, regardless of their tenure in journalism. Past winners include Andrew Losowsky, Sarah Alvarez and Candice Fortman, Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes, S. Mitra Kalita, and Gina Chua. Current and former ONA Board of Directors, current and former ONA staff and previous Impact Award recipients nominate candidates for this award. The current ONA Board of Directors selects the honoree.
About the Online News Association
ONA was founded in 1999 by a group of journalists working to explain how and why news should be on the internet. Since then, we've grown into a global community of thousands of journalism changemakers testing the boundaries of what's possible — and necessary — in our industry. ONA began hosting the Online Journalism Awards in 2000, at a time when no other journalism awards program accepted submissions from digital media.