About the Ohio Scholastic Media Association

For more than 60 years, Ohio had a handful of scholastic press associations, each one originating at a university and each one offering conferences, contests and workshops.

OSMA Board member John Bowen, JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission chair, hosts an Open Forum on Law & Ethics, a popular session at conferences and an Early Bird option at Region 1. (photo by David LaBelle)

In February 2006, members from the Journalism Association of Ohio Schools, the Northeast Ohio Scholastic Press Association, and the Great Lakes Interscholastic Press Association collaborated to form the Ohio Scholastic Media Association (OSMA), a statewide group that could utilize the strengths of each of the original groups but could also provide a unified voice for Ohio’s student journalists and their advisers, a real plus for funding, support and legislative action.

With a new set of bylaws by fall 2006 and a membership map that divides the state into five regions, the committee called for proposals and named Kent State University its headquarters.

In July of 2023, OSMA became a 501c3 and began functioning independently of Kent State University. Kent State University still remains the main supporter as a sponsor of OSMA and hosts the Region 1 fall workshop and annual State Convention. We are thankful for their continued support of scholastic journalism in the state of Ohio.

Other universities host fall regional conferences for OSMA supporting the mission of scholastic journalism. Most recently, fall workshops were held at Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Region 5), Bowling Green State University (Region 4) and the University of Cincinnati (Region 3).