Even among the constant drumbeat of layoffs and shrinking budgets over the past few years, the recently announced layoffs at Scientific American have elicited shock, dismay, and grief throughout our science writing community. The layoffs accompanied LabX Media Group’s acquisition of the storied magazine from Springer Nature and occurred just a few days before the National Labor Relations Board was due to count votes from Scientific American’s unionization bid. These layoffs are just one more in a series of hits to the science writing ecosystem in the United States, from attacks on freedom of speech and widespread layoffs of journalists and communications staff to shuttered media organizations and shrinking freelance budgets.
The Board of Directors of the National Association of Science Writers expresses solidarity with these workers. Corporate interference in journalism undermines the free flow of science news and decreases public access to trust-worthy information about science and research. Together with quality journalism, science literacy is crucial for an informed democracy. These layoffs are especially troubling at a time when both journalism and science are under fire.
NASW supports fair and equitable processes that allow science writers, journalists, and other employees of publications such as Scientific American to freely and fairly determine whether they want union representation. 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.
We remain steadfast in our belief that media organizations should value the critical role journalists play in a healthy society. To the workers affected by this round of layoffs, both in terms of staff jobs and the loss of freelance work as a result of those eliminated positions, and to those still recovering from similar actions elsewhere, know that such decisions do not reflect the quality of your work or what your labor deserves. You are valued, your work matters, and you are not alone in facing the challenges ahead.
With empathy and solidarity,
The NASW Board of Directors
Resources
In an attempt to support science journalists facing a precarious media landscape, we have offerings that may help NASW members and anyone looking to join our community:
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Link to all three videos in the 2023 Science Writers Roundtable series focused on layoff and career support including Self-Care During Tough Transitions
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Recordings of our mid-career mentoring workshops are available https://www.nasw.org/midcareer
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We offer a range of grants and fellowships — including diversity fellowships and travel grants — that may help with your next project.
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NASW maintains an active job board (member access; recruiter access) that can benefit writers looking for full-time positions or freelancers seeking new opportunities;
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We offer hardship rates to renewing members and introductory rates to new members. If you cannot afford these lower rates but are interested in membership, please contact our director: director@nasw.org.
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NASW has a partnership with the National Writers Union that offers discounted NWU membership rates for NASW members allows a limited number of NASW members to access NWU’s grievance and contract negotiation services for free on a first-come, first-served basis
Looking ahead
- We are planning workshops on the state of the industry and on dealing with professional grief for late summer and early fall.
- Later this summer, we will debut a virtual workshop series aimed at providing people with the tools and support to help incorporate multimedia in their work
- During the virtual portion of the ScienceWriters2026 conference, there will be a session on “RIFed-It could happen to anyone. Are you prepared?”
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 ~2,500 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
