HELPING JOURNALISTS IN CRISIS

I submitted the following plan to Larry Goldbetter on Jan. 29, 2009. He said something to the effect that it was a good first step in the union getting involved in the issue mentioned in the plan. He urged me to post it on the NWU ListServe to get feedback and work on improving it. NO ONE has ever commented on it.

With the Delegates Assembly approaching, I decided to post the plan on the blog I created for the NWU's Chicago membership. Here it is.


HELPING JOURNALISTS IN CRISIS
Writers’ union needs to furnish information to members

To: Larry Goldbetter
From: Martin Zabell
Date: Jan. 29, 2009

Larry:

During the time that I’ve spent phoning lapsed National Writers’ Union (NWU) members, I’ve concluded that the best ways to boost membership are for NWU officials to communicate regularly with members and to provide information that is of value to them.

How can this be accomplished? After reading the article that I sent you on Jan. 18 about the predicted demise of about a dozen major newspapers, I drafted a plan for the NWU to formulate a report on “The Future of the Journalism Industry.” I sketched out my ideas on Jan. 21 and am now on Jan. 29, putting the ideas into this report.

I should also give Loretta Campbell of the New York City branch some credit for this initiative. Although I can’t recall her exact words, she kept on saying something to the effect that the NWU needed to offer a service that other unions don’t and that thought was in my head as I read the report on the demise of major American newspapers.

The major premise of this plan is that writers in the National Writers’ Union want to help their colleagues and receive help from their colleagues. That is the feedback that I have received on the phone. The number of people who complained that they were only contacted when politics was the subject is large.

Instead of contacting members and non-members when the NWU needs their votes or money, the union should be making members feel like they’re making intellectual contributions and are part of an active group throughout the year. Writers need “news they can use.”

In any case, my plan includes the following elements:

* Contacting journalists in our union as well as ex-members to ask them about writing opportunities in light of the journalism industry’s collapse. Are more writers involved in public relations? Technical writing? Books? Web sites? Research? Education?

* Conducting research to ascertain what professional journalism industry analysts have concluded about the future of the industry.

* During the course of the research, posting some of the insights that our members and ex-members have on the NWU Web site.

* During the course of the research, e-mailing some of the insights that our members and ex-members to people who live in the same region as the person providing the insight. In other words, if someone from Denver has a insight about Denver-area publications, we could e-mail that insight to others in Denver.

* Working toward putting journalists in the union in touch with each other so they can help each other, particularly those who live in the same area.

* Building long-term membership by contacting current members regularly. In these contacts, the union should be sharing what it has gathered from other members.

* Putting together a skill development section in the report as well as a Tip section on the Web site as the report is being put together. For example, a member or ex-member could write something about how to increase audiences for Web sites or blogs or teach others how to put together blogs with graphics.

* Listing projects that our members or ex-members are working on. The purpose would be to improve the chances that the projects come to fruition. For example, a book being written by one person in the privacy of his or her home might be going nowhere, but he or she could use the help of another writer or non-writers that union colleagues could put him or her in touch with.

* Posting news updates on the Web site and e-mailing these updates to members.

* Boosting membership by reaching out to ex-members and other non-members. Making them feel part of an important project could enhance the chances that they will join or rejoin.

* When the report is complete, it should be put out in a user-friendly region-by-region format so members can easily access information.

* The report should also have sections. The first item on this list provides an idea of how to break this down. For example, there should be a section on books, education, Web sites, etc.

* The report should also include lists. For example, it could list newspapers that are still paying decently, new Web sites, specialized magazines that our members are now writing for, etc.

* The report should also include anecdotes. Members essentially would be telling their own stories whether they be horror stories about people and publications others shouldn’t be dealing with or the opposite.

* The report should also include the equivalent of advice columns from our members.

I sincerely believe that they would get a lot of cooperation from members and non-members of the National Writers’ Union. At minimum, we should be providing them more information on a regular basis. Many of the stories on the Web sites are ancient.

I’m sure that I can provide more depth to this proposal if asked.

Shalom,
Martin Zabell