Why I’m in NYC when ONA is in L.A.
It’s my work-related highlight of the year, every year — I get on a plane or a train and make my way to the Online News Association annual conference, where I reconnect with the best and brightest in digital news, gaze beyond the cutting edge of newsgathering and storytelling and hopefully get a chance to share whatever bits of wisdom I have to offer from my work here at AP.
It’s an event that re-energizes my creative spirit and commitment to the power of news, put on by an organization that’s driving the future of journalism — and where I have the honor of sitting on the board of directors.
So what am I doing sitting at a desk in Manhattan, when all my ONA friends and colleagues are getting revved up for the big event in L.A.? How can I miss ONA, especially in a year when I was planning to speak, and when I’m up for re-election to the board?
I wish I could say a news emergency is holding me back — that I simply couldn’t be spared while the pope tours the Eastern Seaboard and world leaders descend on the U.N. That would be annoying, yes — but I’d get over it.
Unfortunately, I had to cancel my travel plans because of a serious health issue in my immediate family that revealed itself last month. It came out of nowhere, and it’s shaken us to the core.
I’m not going into details here — there will be a time for that, another day. I can say that the road ahead, especially for the next few months, will be a challenging one, and my wife and I are both a little bit scared. (The kids, happily, are too little to fully understand what’s going on, so they’re doing fine.)
The good news: Despite the bumpy road that lies ahead, we’re optimistic that, by early next year, things will return to normal and the family will get back to the business of planning a long life together. There are no guarantees, but the odds are definitely on our side.
(I recognize that most of the people who read this — assuming anyone does — are fellow journalists, and I apologize for my vague description of what’s going on. Feel free to reach out to me privately if you want details — while they aren’t ready for publication, they aren’t a secret, either.)
One consequence of this challenging stretch is that my wife and I had to cancel our work-related travel for the rest of the year. For me, sadly, that includes #ONA15.
You still might find it surprisingly difficult to avoid me in L.A. Depending on what sessions you attend, you may see my huge, disembodied head on a screen at the front the room once or twice. I’ll be following the program and looking for opportunities to weigh in online. I’ll participate in the board candidates’ forum remotely, tweeting answers to questions.
And I do hope that the ONA members among you will consider voting me back on the board for two more years, even as I miss the conference. While I’ve come to realize that life has more important obstacles to overcome than a board election, I still feel strongly committed to ONA and determined to help drive our group’s mission, especially in the areas of digital news ethics, diversity, providing resources to members and extending our footprint farther around the globe. And by the time the new year rolls around and family life is returning to normal, I expect to be re-energized and re-focused on the challenges of our evolving industry.
Here’s where you can learn more about my ONA accomplishments and my vision for the future.
Thanks for indulging me, if you’ve made it this far. I hope you have a wonderful conference, if you’re lucky enough to be there. I’ll miss you all, and I look forward to having a beer with you at the #SocJourn + #WJChat meetup at #ONA16, inhaling fresh mountain air and reminiscing about a mostly good year gone by.
