Announcing special honors for journalism impact, community building and moral courage in the 2025 Online Journalism Awards

The Online News Association (ONA) is pleased to reveal the 2025 winners of the ONA Community Award, James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting, Impact Award and Rich Jaroslovsky Founder Award. These special honors in the annual Online Journalism Awards recognize individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the industry and stand out as inspiring examples for journalists around the world.

Feet in 2 Worlds: Empowering immigrant journalists and documenting the construction of a new American identity

The ONA Community Award honors individuals and small teams that have created inclusive working environments to enable colleagues to deliver game-changing journalism. ONA members have the opportunity to nominate their peers for consideration. Honorees are selected from these nominations by a special award committee that includes ONA Board members, previous Community Award winners and longtime contributors to ONA.

In 2025, the award goes to Feet in 2 Worlds (Fi2W), a nonprofit newsroom and journalism training organization that invests in and centers the work of immigrant journalists. Through immersive fellowships, editorial partnerships, and personalized mentorship, Fi2W has nurtured the voices of immigrant storytellers who have gone on to shape local and national newsrooms, bringing depth, nuance, and authenticity to coverage across the industry. The selection committee was deeply impressed by the lasting impact of Fi2W’s mission and agreed that, at a time when immigrant perspectives are increasingly marginalized, Fi2W’s work is more vital than ever.

Arlette Bashizi: Covering health, environment and culture in the DRC and beyond

Since 2015, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation and ONA have collaborated to honor independent journalists who produce exceptional reporting under the most challenging conditions—including coverage of war and conflict, corruption, crime and politics around the world.

Arlette Bashizi, a photojournalist born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and currently based in Goma, has been honored with the 2025 James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting.

From covering the impacts of climate change to highlighting the lives of women and youth displaced by conflict, Arlette’s growing portfolio of work stands out for its commitment to nuance and the human experience. Her striking imagery has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and The New Humanitarian. She is currently a contributor for Reuters and also a consultant with international organizations and United Nations agencies.

Andrew Losowsky: Bringing journalists closer to the communities they serve

The Impact Award recognizes trailblazing individuals whose work in digital journalism and dedication to innovation exhibit substantial impact on the industry. The ONA board of directors selects honorees regardless of their involvement with ONA or tenure in journalism.

The ONA board selected Andrew Losowsky, currently the Director of Product and Product Editor at CalMatters and The Markup, as the winner of the 2025 Impact Award. Andrew has long been a visionary force for journalism that centers community perspectives, and improves people’s lives. He was the founding head of The Coral Project (later ‘Coral’), an open-source community platform and strategies resource that is now used by over 60 publishers in 23 languages to increase audience engagement, reach and loyalty. Andrew ran Coral for ten years, managing its acquisition by Vox Media where he served as Head of Community Product prior to his new role with CalMatters.

Robert Hernandez: Shaping journalism’s future through emerging technology and mentorship

The Rich Jaroslovsky Founder Award honors a senior-level individual who has made outstanding contributions to advance digital journalism through their involvement with ONA and work in the industry.

The ONA board of directors has granted the 2025 award to Robert Hernandez, aka WebJournalist. Officially, he is a Professor of Professional Practice of Journalism at USC Annenberg, but more specifically, ONA members know him for his incredible enthusiasm to explore emerging technologies and improvise or create new ways to leverage them for journalism. Under his mentorship, many student-led projects—including 360° video experiences, augmented reality and drone-assisted storytelling—have earned international recognition through the Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, Online Journalism Awards and other honors.

He embodies ONA’s mission through and through, always working to connect journalists in all roles—from students and early-career members to newsroom leadership—to each other and to opportunities for learning and experimentation. Over the years, he has made significant contributions to ONA as a board member, annual conference chair and program committee member, ONA Local organizer and ambassador for the Journalism 360 initiative.

Celebrate journalism excellence with ONA

The 2025 Online Journalism Awards Luncheon and Ceremony, hosted by the distinguished journalist Hari Sreenivasan, is happening Friday, Sept. 12, in New Orleans—a special event during 2025 Online News Association Conference (ONA25).

Tickets to the OJAs are available through the ONA25 registration portal, either as an add-on to a conference pass or as a standalone purchase. We offer a discounted rate to ONA members.

• ONA member ticket: $70
• Non-member ticket: $100