SJMC student Matt Nelson will be one of 20 journalists in the student newsroom of the Online News Association’s national convention in Boston this fall.
Matt, who is double majoring in journalism and secondary education, was chosen from among more than 140 applicants. The journalism students will provide multimedia coverage of the conference and its awards ceremony Sept. 22-24.
“Selected students will take over the ONA11 website for four days and use a range of digital formats and styles to cover people, events and issues, including interactive text and graphics, live blogging, social media, mobile, slideshows, audio and video,” according to ONA. They’ll work under the supervision of working digital journalists and journalism professors.
“It’s wonderful to have this opportunity,” Matt said. “I’m especially excited for the chance to use multimedia in covering the event, as I started to work extensively with it during my most recent semester at Drake. I think it’s going to provide great motivation for me to hone my skills and provide insight into what it’s like to provide breaking coverage across a variety of platforms.”
ONA is the largest organization of digital journalists. Last year’s conference drew nearly 1,200 people.
ONA, through a $20,000 grant from Google, will cover the travel and lodging expenses of the students.
Other schools represented include the University of North Carolina, Northwestern, Kent State, University of Southern California, UC-Berkeley, Boston University, Ohio University and Penn State.
Matt, who has a minor in physics, is from Hibbing, Minn. Read the biographies of Matt and the other student journalists selected.