The four best online and multimedia professional journalism groups

 

It’s a new year and with that comes renewal forms for several of my professional journalism organization memberships. With three of these groups all needing to be renewed by February, I started debating if I really needed them. Here are some thoughts on four of what I think are the best online and multimedia journalism professional groups out there describing what makes them awesome, what’s not awesome, what’s the group vibe and what to look forward to in the future.

[Please note: These are professional membership groups, each with membership fees. Not non-profit orgs like Poynter, Multimedia Shooter, Visual Editors, etc. that do fantastic work on their own and often for free! These are professional groups that you have to pay to join and (in theory) should have some extra benefit from those dues. So while it may seem like I’m being hyper critical, I’ve paid for that right at least four years in a row at all of these organizations and attended conferences and events for all of them. For most of these organizations, I have participated in leading or have friends, colleagues and former professors that have or still do have leadership roles in these organizations. I’m not playing favorites, just providing my anecdotal experience. Like I said, they’re the four best online and multimedia journalism groups. Not everyone made the list! So simmer down.]

Now, on to The Four:

• The Online News Association

• The National Press Photographer Association

• The Society for News Design

• Sports Shooter

This post is part of the January blog Carnival of Journalism, check out more of the festivities at Adrian Monck’s place.