What we learned at ONA 2026

Highlights from our favourite sessions on SEO, reaching young audiences, combatting news fatigue and winning on Reddit.

Apr 13, 2026

Hello, and welcome back. Jessie and Shelby here, back from a whirlwind (and windy!) week in Chicago for the Online News Association conference and a much-needed break. We were thrilled to present (again!) on what we’ve learned about running a successful side hustle without losing your mind.

We’re also so THRILLED to report that we hit 14,000 newsletter subscribers while presenting at ONA! What a joy to mark the milestone in a room full of smart, creative and thoughtful news professionals. Here’s to 15k!

This week: What we learned at ONA! Conference organizers managed to pack three days full with programming on the creator economy, building newsroom resilience and deepening audience engagement. We’ve recapped our favourite sessions on SEO, reaching young audiences, combatting news fatigue and wining on Reddit.

OUR FIVE FAV SESSIONS

Bringing readers back: Real-world tactics for combating news fatigue

News fatigue is real and it’s not just a branding problem.

As Angela Pacienza, The Globe and Mail’s executive editor, explained, audiences aren’t rejecting specific outlets; they are retreating entirely from news. To combat this, The Globe focused on stories around how people live and making the publication feel more fun and relatable.

Resources: Reporters moved to new beats that match topics around how people live, including happiness, time use, as well as service and advice. The stories are similar, but with a different framing. For example, the Happiness reporter previously also wrote about mental health; changing the framing to be more positive changed readers’ understanding of the information.
Alerts: Every day, The Globe sends a minimum of one push notification to a story specifically on how we live topics (like parenting). Previously, they mainly focused on breaking news.
Engagement: The Globe invested in community, running two on-site Q&As each week. The comments help build direct, positive relationships with readers.
Homepage: Relatable content was promoted in essential, prominent homepage spots.
Tone: Tone is an editorial decision. The newsroom treats human-centric stories as core news — not fluff.

The results: It worked. Open rates increased, engagement time grew and there were more positive responses coming from readers. And The Globe continued to do great journalism.

Understanding audiences and algorithms in 2026: An overview in the age of AI

The brilliant Clara Soteras, a news SEO and audience growth consultant, covered the state of Google and publishing, reminding publishers that we must continue to lean into search, but think about it more holistically. She discussed the need to consider multimodal and multiplatform search, too.

Google is still the top channel of referral for many publishers by a large share. Publishers should focus on a niche market versus a volume market, and lean into their audience, community and core product.

Clara also said now is the time for creators on Discover, as more Twitter/X and Instagram content from influencers is surfaced in the feeds than ever. She says publishers should consider building a strategy around their high-value and marketable journalists and writers who show up prominently on these platforms.

Multimodal and multiplatform search was a through-line, as Clara urged publishers to think beyond Google. Consider all the ways and plates people search (by text, voice or image) and where (Google, Instagram, TikTok, etc.).

With this, the regular KPI of page views needs to go, Clara says. Focus on opportunities to connect with your core audience and be an authority on a topic or niche.

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Insights and solutions: How newsrooms can reach young audiences

Many publishers yearn to reach younger audiences, specifically Gen Z as they enter the workplace. Rahim Jessani, the founder of Bottom Up Media, and Sofia Bliss-Carrascosa from the Knight Foundation explained it simply: digestibility is what makes younger people consume the news they need.

The speakers referenced a poll that suggests 51 per cent of Gen Z are still willing to engage with and pay for news, but publishers need to show up where they already are. Gen Z are on live streams, in the comments sections and on social media platforms — and hanging out in real life.

“Make time for this,” Rahim says, and consider ways to connect with them on a parasocial level. Rahim does a regular weekly live stream, where he plays Fortnite and talks about the news. He will sometimes bring a journalist who is an expert on the topic onto his live stream, too. At one point, someone asked him what is a publisher, and he did live playing Fortnite and having someone on to explain the answer.

Build for platforms you are on and know your audience, Rahim says. Include Gen Z in those conversations in your newsrooms, too. Don’t make them under-covered or under-represented, and allow personal value to come through the content. “Quality” journalism is still quality — it just changes to digestibility, authenticity and relatability.

Metrics that matter for newsrooms

Newsrooms often fall into the trap of “vanity metrics,” measuring what is easy rather than what matters. To truly understand your audience, avoid these three common pitfalls, say Abbey Gingras and Sophie Ho of News Revenue Hub.

Vanity metrics: High page views or increased story output don’t measure success if they can’t answer the “so what?” question.
Misalignment: Often, different teams have different goals. Or, they have competing goals. Without clear, consistent objectives, it’s impossible to measure success.
No context: Dashboards aren’t decisions and they don’t answer the, “is this good?” question. Without benchmarking against your own past performance or industry peers, a “10 per cent growth rate” is just a number without meaning.

A metric should answer the essential question: Are we moving our organization in the right direction? Measurement should drive decisions about what editorial efforts you prioritize, fund or stop doing.

To put this into practice:

Edit down your metrics, picking just one or two north star numbers.
Set a cadence for reporting. Daily reporting should focus on tactical metrics, weekly on performance and monthly on strategy.
Compare smartly. Start with your past performance, then your peers, then industry-level data.

How you compare the progress of your team or organization against a clear benchmark really matters. Context matters more than comparison.

What we learned about Reddit

While Reddit might not drive massive traffic, it’s great for community building and engagement, making it a high-priority platform for publishers. Many ONA sessions focused on Reddit. Here are some of the highlights.

Reddit is where people can find a human perspective behind the headlines. It attracts users who aren’t on other platforms — but spend a lot of time on Reddit itself — creating opportunities for publishers to foster deep audience engagement.

That comes with an added responsibility: community is part of the job. Publishers should check with moderators before posting to a group (or ask for guidance), confirm a story has not already been posted (using the Reddit Pro dashboard) and be ready to engage with (and respond to) comments in the forum.

Publishers should be generous with the number of stories shared and find ways to invite the community in. For example, when posting paywalled content, aim to use a gift link or post several paragraphs of the opening text. Share your content with geographically- and topically-relevant subreddits (local communities are especially active).

Reddit’s communities have a collective memory. Subreddits will remember AMAs (Ask Me Anything chats) from big names and players even years later. This helps build loyalty.

Some key facts about Reddit

Reddit has seen a 22 per cent YoY growth;
Most Reddit users continue to engage anonymously;
More than half of people in the U.S. visit Reddit weekly;
A large share (39 per cent) of Reddit users are not on Instagram;
Reddit is a unique platform in that users post — and discuss — your content for you.

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THE JOBS LIST

Audience or SEO jobs in journalism. Want to include a position for promotion? Email us.

The Express is hiring a Senior Audience Editor (London, U.K., hybrid).
The i Paper is hiring a Head of Audience (London, U.K., hybrid).
The Podglomerate is hiring a Marketing Manager and Senior Marketing Manager (U.S., remote).