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2026 Impact Award Vote Second Round

Impact Award

The Impact Award honors a trailblazing individual whose work in digital journalism and dedication to innovation exhibits a substantial impact on the industry, regardless of their tenure in journalism. The ideal candidate will possess many of the following qualities: - Made outstanding contributions to the field and/or exhibit dedication to innovation with proven impact to the journalism industry - Embody the mission, vision and values of ONA - Note: A nominee for the Impact Award does not have to be involved with ONA (currently or in the past) to be considered for this award. (ONA involvement is honored with the Founder Award.)

Semi-Finalists

Below are the semi-finalists' bios, listed alphabetically by first name. Please review them, then rank the semi-finalists from 1 to 10.

The Cast of The Daily Show

Based in: New York, NY

Title & Affiliation: Anchors and Correspondents, The Daily Show

Public Link(s): The Daily Show YouTube, Comedy Central site

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

This program has done more to inform and reach the masses through humor and relatability than many newsrooms have. Its impact is evident in the number of independent news creators now seeking to incorporate humor into their work.

Evan Smith

Based in: Austin, TX

Title & Affiliation: Managing Director for Events, The Atlantic; Senior Advisor,  Emerson Collective

Public Link(s): Texas Tribune, Twitter, LinkedIn

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

Evan Smith built The Texas Tribune into a model that proved nonprofit journalism could sustain serious accountability work on state politics. In doing so, he changed how the entire industry thinks about local and regional reporting. Evan saw the gap between state and national coverage and built a newsroom to fill it. He diversified the traditional newsroom revenue stream into events and doubled down on membership. His impact extends beyond Texas as other founders have replicated his model and helped reshape the business case for journalism. Earlier this year, he took his events talent to The Atlantic.

Ezra Klein

Based in: Brooklyn, NY

Title & Affiliation: Host, The Ezra Klein Show; Co-founder, Vox; Author

Public Link(s): NYT website, Ezra Klein Show YouTube,  Twitter

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

Ezra Klein proved that explainer journalism could be the foundation of a sustainable digital media company. Vox was built on a specific innovation: the idea that people actually want to understand complex policy and political stories. That insight shaped how an entire generation of digital journalists approaches their work. In building the Vox, Ezra modeled a business case for serious deep-dive journalism at scale.

Georgia Fort and Don Lemon

Based in: Georgia Fort: Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Don Lemon: Sag Harbor, NY

Title & Affiliation: 

Georgia Fort: Independent Journalist; Founder, BLCK Press; Founder and President, Center for Broadcast Journalism

Don Lemon: Independent Journalist; Founder, Lemon Media Network

Public Link(s):

Georgia Fort: GeorgiaFort.com, BLCK Press, Center for Broadcast Journalism, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn

Don Lemon: DonLemon.com, YouTube, Substack, Spotify, TikTok, Instagram

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

One of the most impactful images we saw this year was the livestream of a pro-ICE preacher being faced with the anti-ICE constituents in his community. Only independent journalists were there, and the government immediately set its sights on them. This highlighted just how dangerousit has become to do journalism in the U.S.

John Oliver

Based in: New York, NY

Title & Affiliation: Host, Last Week Tonight

Public Link(s):  Last Week Tonight YouTube,IAmJohnOliver.com

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

John Oliver built one of the best investigative journalism operations out there, and it exists in a comedy show. He doesn't just speak truth to power, he has a perfect record of defending that truth in court. His segments are meticulously reported, rigorously sourced and designed to hold powerful institutions accountable. He uses humor as a vehicle for serious journalism and refuses to use that platform to sanitize power or let anyone off easily.

Jon Stewart

Based in: Colts Neck, NJ

Title & Affiliation: Co-host, The Daily Show; Co-host, The Weekly Show

Public Link(s): The Daily Show YouTube, Instagram

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

When Jon Stewart took the helm at The Daily Show in 1999, he fundamentally changed what accountability journalism could look like. The Daily Show became investigative work, rigorous fact-checking and political accountability dressed in humor. For years, Jon reached millions of people who wouldn't have consumed traditional news, and he held them to the same standard: you need to understand what you are talking about to make fun of it. His work fundamentally shifted how an entire generation of journalists thinks about the relationship between comedy and accountability. John Oliver, Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr. and countless others built their careers emulating his model of combining deep investigation with satirical delivery to reach audiences traditional news missed.

Joy Reid

Based in: Maryland

Title & Affiliation: Political commentator, independent creator, professor

Public Link(s): YouTube, TikTok, Substack

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

Joy Reid refused to accept the message that he voice was too strong, too Black, too uncompromising for corporate comfort. Instead of disappearing after being publicly replaced, she doubled down on advocating for press freedom and accountability, reaching audiences that traditional media has largely abandoned. She was among the first of the major faces that corporate media discarded who decided to become an independent creator, demonstrating trailblazing impact.

Karen Attiah

Based in: Dallas, TX

Title & Affiliation: Independent Journalist

Public Link(s): KarenAttiah.com, Instagram, Twitter

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

I am nominating Karen for the Impact Award because she has been a powerful voice for minority communities, is not afraid to speak truth to power, and has stood up against The Washington Post and Columbia after her unjust termination. She has long been ahead of her time in building a brand while continuing to do great work within a corporate structure. She continues to show strength and resilience at a time when they are deeply needed for American democracy.

Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Based in: Washington, DC

Title & Affiliation: Co-host of NYT's The Interview

Public Link(s): NYT site, Instagram, Threads, Twitter,LinkedIn 

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

After 17 years at NPR, she moved to the New York Times to build audio-first opinion journalism, first with "First Person" and now hosting "The Interview," where she's sat down with figures ranging from Vice President JD Vance to Miley Cyrus. That trajectory shows her actively reshaping how a legacy print outlet uses audio and interview formats to reach new audiences, rather than resting on her Peabody-winning correspondent record. Combined with her role as the first Latina to lead a flagship NPR show, she represents exactly the kind of innovation-plus-impact profile the Impact Award is built for: someone whose format experimentation is measurably changing how digital journalism reaches people.

Mazin Sidahmed

Based in: New York, NY

Title & Affiliation: Executive Director, Documented

Public Link(s): Documented site, MazinSidahmed.com,  LinkedIn

Why are you nominating them for the Impact Award?

His work at Documented was not only timely as we dealt with a crisis of immigration enforcement, but also met each individual immigrant community where it already was talking. And he's now working with others to expand and export the model.

Rank the semi-finalists in order from 1-10.

Rank the semi-finalists in order from 1-10.
Use the up and down arrow keys to change the rank.
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