Dawnsinger LLC, headed by veteran journalist and web pioneer Jon Donley, is a new-media consulting firm offering a range of specialized services to media companies, educational institutions, private companies and non-profits. Services include:
Jon, who has performed contract media services under the Dawnsinger label for more than 20 years, officially incorporated Dawnsinger LLC in early 2009 as an umbrella for his various projects. He draws ad-hoc team members from a large network of journalists, editors and programmers from across the country.
Jon began his more than 30-year career at weekly newspapers in Iowa, then moved to dailies in Texas, including a 14-year stint at the Express-News. After nearly two decades in print journalism – as reporter, columnist, news editor, opinion editor and technical/electronic-reporting liaison – Jon moved full time into new media, proposing and then heading the development of the web site in San Antonio.
During Hurricane Katrina, Jon covered the storm from the Times-Picayune’s hurricane bunker and worked to keep uninterrupted news coverage online after the loss of the newspaper’s printing and delivery capability. He also directed NOLA’s expansion of forums, blogs and other features to guide search and rescue efforts, reunite scattered hurricane victims, and facilitate grass-roots reporting and communication.
Jon shared in two team Pulitzer Prizes with the Times-Picayune in 2006 – for public service and breaking news. NOLA.com also received the first Knight Foundation Online Journalism Award for Public Service in 2006, in recognition of the site’s successful creation and nourishing of online community features that helped rescue and reunite thousands of residents.
Jon is recognized by new media industry groups as an authority on community journalism, online community building and techniques for covering breaking news events with mobile, multimedia tools. He’s been a featured speaker at many industry groups, including the Knight Digital Media Center, regional press associations and the Aspen Institute.
Two of the sites he launched – NOLA.com and MySA.com – have the highest market penetration of any newspaper websites in the country (2008), which Jon attributes not only to the strength of the newspapers’ content, but also to aggressive work in enabling the audience to not only passively consume, but also to actively tell its own story.
He is based out of his homestead in rural Wilson County, Texas, near San Antonio. He balances his work in cutting-edge communications with caring for his small herd of dairy goats.