This September, the Science News Media Guild’s Organizing Committee filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board and publicly announced unionizing plans.
Journalists in the United States are unionizing at a rapid pace, including employees at science, technology, and environmental news publications such as Ars Technica (formed March 2019), WIRED (formed April 2020), Grist (formed Feb. 2022), as well as Science News and Science News Explores this month. These movements share the common goal of ensuring that newsroom workers have a say when management makes decisions about important issues, such as benefits, salary ranges, intellectual property, equity, and investing in their newsroom’s success.
The National Association of Science Writers expresses support for fair and equitable processes that allow science writers, journalists, and other employees of publications such as Science News to freely and fairly determine whether they want union representation.
If and when employees vote to organize, NASW believes it is incumbent upon the management of employers to recognize the union — and engage in collective bargaining over the terms and conditions of employment.
Our own organizational marquee states: “Above all, NASW fights for the free flow of science news.” When employees and employers of publications have the ability to fairly and transparently negotiate work conditions, expectations, and benefits, we can collectively advance the greater enterprise of science reporting — and ensure science journalism’s ever-important role to inform society.
Cassandra Willyard
NASW President
and the NASW Board
To reach the NASW Board, email president@nasw.org
Founded in 1934 with a mission to fight for the free flow of science news, NASW is an organization of ~2,800 professional journalists, authors, editors, producers, public information officers, students and people who write and produce material intended to inform the public about science, health, engineering, and technology. To learn more, visit www.nasw.org and follow NASW on LinkedIn.
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