Together with many others passionate about online journalism, I’m heading off to San Francisco for the annual conference of the Online News Association.

There is a big focus on practical sessions this year, such as learning about SEO, metrics and, of course, Twitter.

One major issue is the dominance of US panelists. While many of these have much to contribute, the ONA is doing its members a disservice by not noting that most of the world’s online news organisations are based outside of the US.

This is a recurring issue for the ONA. Last year’s conference was also US-dominated, so it is disappointing that so little has changed.

Even the student newsroom is dominated by students from American journalism schools. The rest of the world is represented by one of my Canadian students, Amanda Ash.

The US-centric approach of the organisation is reflected in the wording used to describe the one international panel, “The State of Global Innovation”:

What are the latest trends and advancements in online news and information abroad? Representatives from Web sites and media companies in Europe, Latin America and Asia discuss new and innovative ways to reach audiences, how specific projects were developed and executed, what’s on the horizon.

My question to the ONA leadership is, shouldn’t the entire conference be about the latest trends and advancements in online news, regardless of whether they come from the US or “abroad”?

The US-centric nature of the ONA conference contrasts with the recent Future of Journalism conference which I attended at Cardiff University in Wales.

The Cardiff conference brought together scholars from across the world, creating an environment for a stimulating exchange of ideas.

The ONA has tremendous potential as a world leader on online journalism. To achieve this, it needs to look beyond the borders of the US and consider itself an international, rather than an American, organisation.