Updated April 13, 2022
Online News Association leadership and staff are committed to providing a vibrant learning environment at all of our events, welcoming people from as many diverse backgrounds as possible. We expect our events to be a respectful, harassment-free environment for people of all races, genders, sexual orientation, ability, nationality, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and beliefs.
We’re ask that our community maintain a spirit of respect, thoughtfulness and openness when engaging with one another — it’s what makes our events such a draw each year.
In that spirit, the staff, supporters, volunteers, vendors, attendees and speakers at ONA events are expected to:
- Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions, and actively seek to acknowledge and respect the boundaries of fellow attendees.
- Passionate conversations are part of solving problems. Disagreements happen all the time, and are necessary to consider difficult questions. That said, we ask that you keep conversations professional, respectful and consider other parties’ points of view. Take responsibility for the impact of your words and actions, whether intended or unintended.
- Remember that the boundaries of good taste, humor, personal space and physical interaction differ from person to person; if you sense someone feels uncomfortable — whether they explicitly state it or not — be respectful of those boundaries.
- Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory or harassing behavior. Harassment and inappropriate behavior may include, but are not limited to:
- Sexist, ableist, racist, homophobic, biphobic, transphobic or otherwise discriminatory jokes or language
- Physical intimidation, stalking or following
- Unwanted photography or videography
- Sustained disruption of talks or events
- Posting or displaying sexually explicit or violent material; if for any reason you may need this material for an educational session, please contact ONA staff first and we can discuss how to give an appropriate warning to participants
- Unwelcome sexual attention. This includes sexualized comments or jokes; inappropriate touching, groping and unwelcomed sexual advances
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior
Reporting a Problem
Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert ONA staff if you notice what you assess to be a dangerous situation, someone in distress or violations of this Code of Conduct. To report a problem, you can email safety@journalists.org. For transparency, this email forwards to:
- Head of Finance and Administration Liz Leith
- Learning Director Kelsey Proud
- Director of Programs Meghan Murphy
Above text is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted from the SRCCON Code of Conduct and the Citizen Code of Conduct. We also consulted the Geek Feminism community anti-harassment policy, O’Reilly Media’s conference Code of Conduct, and the Coral Project’s Code of Conduct. We also held conversations with consultants and multiple community managers in journalism in developing our Code of Conduct.