/EINPresswire.com/ -- WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - July 27, 2016) - Join the Online News Association for a keynote conversation that takes a hard -- and solutions-oriented -- look at the documented lack of resources for diversity and inclusivity in newsrooms.

The keynote on Friday, Sept. 16, at the 2016 Online News Association Conference and Awards in Denver, will feature four experts -- Vanessa K. De Luca, Editor-in-Chief, ESSENCE Magazine; Lisa Stone, Digital Media Strategist and Co-Founder, BlogHer; Jose Antonio Vargas, Founder and Editor, EmergingUs and Founder, Define American, and moderator Alisa Miller, President and CEO, Public Radio International -- who collectively have set concrete goals and used technology, transparency and partnerships to drive important changes in coverage of diverse populations. They will candidly explore short and long-term strategies and resources to make journalism more accurate and insightful, fueling growth in reach and impact.

"As surveys and too many recent breaking news stories have shown, journalism overall has a systemic issue when covering gender, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation," said ONA Executive Director Jane McDonnell. "On average, newsrooms lack diversity in sources, expert opinions and coverage. Our panel will point us toward solutions in inclusivity in staffing and editorial approach to make coverage stronger and reflective of our audience in 2016 and beyond."

The panel will feature:

Vanessa K. De Luca, Editor-in-Chief, ESSENCE Magazine

Vanessa is Editor-in-Chief of ESSENCE magazine, the preeminent lifestyle magazine for African-American women. As the brand's editorial leader, she oversees the content and vision of the core magazine as well as ESSENCE.com, the daily online destination for African-American women.

Lisa Stone, Digital Media Strategist and Co-Founder of BlogHer

Lisa is an entrepreneur and digital media strategist with 18 years of experience developing scale consumer communities via storytelling, quality conversation and analytics. Most recently, Lisa was CEO and Co-founder of BlogHer Inc., where she grew an idea for a grassroots conference into a leading start-up reaching 100+ million women each month, $30 million in annual revenues and a proprietary technology platform publishing content creators.

Jose Antonio Vargas, Founder and Editor, #EmergingUs and Founder, Define American

Jose is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker and media publisher whose work centers on the changing American identity. He is the founder and CEO of Define American, a non-profit media and culture organization that seeks to elevate the conversation around immigration and citizenship in America; and the founder, CEO and Editor of #EmergingUS, a digital platform that lives at the intersection of race, immigration and identity in a multicultural America.

Alisa Miller, President and CEO of PRI, will moderate the conversation.

Alisa is a media and technology leader who advocates for technological innovation to help people live better lives. She has led PRI's transformation from creator and distributor of radio programming to rapidly-growing multi-platform digital media organization offering audio, journalism and engagement leadership that empowers people to act.

Register now to join us for this important conversation at ONA16, which will bring together over 2,000 journalists and technologists in Denver for three days of programming exploring the most forward-thinking trends in the news industry. ONA members save more than $300 off of the cost of registration and ONA offers discounts on groups of 10 or more.

The Online News Association is the world's largest association of digital journalists. ONA's mission is to inspire innovation and excellence among journalists to better serve the public. The membership includes news writers, producers, designers, editors, bloggers, developers, photographers, educators, students and others who produce news for and support digital delivery systems. ONA also hosts the annual Online News Association conference and administers the Online Journalism Awards.

For more information, contact:
Online News Association
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