[NASW-Announce] Changes in Categories for Science in Society Awards

["Russell Clemings" <cybrarian@nasw.org>]

(Posted for NASW awards chair Bob Finn <finn@nasw.org>, to whom
questions should be directed)

The NASW Science in Society Awards committee and the NASW Board of
Directors have chosen a new set of categories for next year's awards.

For the past few years we've had three categories: Books, Periodicals
(including newspapers and magazines), and Electronic (including radio,
television, and the Web).

I've chaired or co-chaired the committee for three full cycles now,
and I've noticed a few problems with the Periodical and Electronic
categories. In periodicals it's been difficult for an individual
article to match a multi-part series, and it's been difficult for a
freelancer or a local newspaper to match a national newspaper and all
its resources. In the Electronic category it's been difficult for
anyone to match a slick NOVA show or a yearlong series from NPR.

In addition, and perhaps most significant, our profession is changing,
becoming ever more platform independent. One year, for example, a team
from the New York Times entered a series of articles in the
Periodicals category and the companion television show and web site in
the Electronic category. In my view the print articles, the television
show, and the web site were all part of a single work, but there was
no way for the writers to enter it as such.

Furthermore, we've never had a way to honor commentary and opinion in
science journalism, and I think much work on print editorials and
blogs could qualify as "investigative or interpretive reporting about
the sciences and their impact for good and bad," the main awards
criterion.

After much discussion, we've settled on a new scheme with four awards.
The Book category will remain unchanged. We're calling the other
categories "Commentary and Opinion," "Science Reporting," and "Local
Science Reporting." Except for the Book category, the awards will be
platform independent.

In the Commentary and Opinion category, blogs will compete against
print or broadcast editorials. Entrants will be permitted to submit up
to three individual pieces.

In the Science Reporting category, magazines and newspaper articles
will compete against radio pieces, television shows, and multimedia
web sites, or combinations of the above. To level the playing field
between single pieces and multi-part series, entrants will be
permitted to submit up to three individual pieces (on separate or
related topics) or a single series.

The Local Science Reporting category will honor reporting specifically
on local or regional issues. As in the Science Reporting category,
entrants will be permitted to submit up to three individual pieces (on
separate or related topics) or a single series.

Although I'm strongly in favor of these changes, I'm by no means
certain the new scheme will work. In particular I expect the judges to
have some difficulty in comparing apples to oranges. I hope in the end
they're able to see that they're all just fruit, some sweeter than
others. If you think you might be interested in volunteering to be a
judge, please do let me know. (We'll need a total of 18 judges, 3 for
the initial screening, 3 for each of the 4 categories, and 3 for the
final judging.)

If we find that the new scheme doesn't work, we're prepared to change
it again a year from now. If you find you have major objections to the
new scheme, I hope you'll get in touch with me or participate in a
discussion on nasw-talk. But I also hope you'll keep an open mind for
a year to see how this works.

NASW members will soon be receiving a new awards brochure and entry
form in snail mail, and they will also be posted at nasw.org. I
encourage NASW members and others to submit their best work that was
published or broadcast in calendar year 2008. The deadline for
submissions is Feb. 1, 2009.

Finally, I thank the ad-hoc committee we assembled to discuss possible
changes to the awards. That committee included Beryl Benderly, Dennis
Meredith, Joe Palca, and Dawn Stover. In addition, the NASW Board,
particularly Glennda Chui, contributed many thoughtful ideas.


Bob Finn

NASW Board Member and Chair of the S-I-S Committee

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