Deborah Blum

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

by Deborah Blum

This letter begins with a story about Charlie Petit of U.S. News & World Report. Way back when, Charlie and I were both science writers for northern California newspapers. He was a reporter of renown at the San Francisco Chronicle. And I was—as I used to tell myself—a reporter of future renown at the Sacramento Bee.

We saw each other regularly at press conferences and science meetings. One memorable day, Charlie not only saved my story but my reputation at the Bee. It was in Houston, in 1986, following the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, and we were on assignment to cover the astronauts’ memorial service, led by President Ronald Reagan.

Now, in my best heels, I stand a good 5' 3". By the time I got through the Secret Service screening station, the crowd of journalists was so thick (and so tall) that all I could see were, well, the backs of journalists.

Charlie took one look at my attempts to peer between elbows and starting shoving. “Let this woman to the front,” he ordered, and the reporters did. Never mind that some of them had gotten there hours before me. I had a front-row seat for the memorial service and—I strongly suspect—a better view than Charlie.

Which may explain why several years later, when Charlie asked me to run for the NASW board, I said yes.

It was carefully explained to me that NASW had a tradition of candidates running unopposed for office (although as a former NASW president, Charlie said he felt some should have lost). I assumed my role was to be what politicians call a NOB (name on ballot) for the purpose of making the election look like a competition.

What’s my point? For one, I’d like Charlie Petit to be NASW president again. Tomorrow would be fine! But the other point in telling the story is to remind members how much NASW has changed over the years. We no longer have to worry about a noncompetitive ballot. While we remain an organization of friends and colleagues, our national meetings have become more organized in order to help as many people as possible network and receive continuing education in our profession.

What was once a casual social gathering today is the meeting of a dynamic society with a full schedule of professional training opportunities. In addition, NASW recently offered a smaller-scale workshop prior to the Council for Advancement of Science Writing New Horizons in Science Briefing meeting, in Tennessee. That workshop, which focused on crisis and risk communication, was a great success and we hope to partner again this year with CASW.

The NASW board is exploring ways to further improve our annual workshops and, by association, the national membership meeting. This means considering: What should a good professional meeting offer its members? Have we already taken out too much fun? Don’t we already have enough good professional training? Should we offer an expanded workshop program? If we add extra days, would it make the combined NASW-AAAS meeting too long for most people to attend? And, finally, should we continue to meet in conjunction with a scientific organization at all? These are some of the questions before the board and they will be discussed at length during the membership meeting in Seattle.

By now, you should have received an e-mail announcement of a survey concerning our national meeting. The board needs your input on this topic. It’s the only way NASW can better serve the membership. If you haven’t received the survey, please let our Webmaster know (cybrarian@nasw.org) and a copy will be sent straight away.

The National Association of Science Writers continues to be a growing organization and one interested in improving both the profession and itself. We want to grow as the importance of science writing grows. And we want to be smart about choosing our direction. So, please take the survey if you haven’t already. Let us know who you want us to be when we grow up. Oh, and by the way, give serious thought to running for the NASW board. When Charlie Petit asked me to run, he assured me it would be no work at all and, of course, anyone who gets a competitor a good seat for a national story has to be right.

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Deborah Blum is a freelance writer and professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin. She can be reached at dblum@wisc.edu.