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| Volume 47, Number 1, Spring 1999 |
by Bob Finn
In the three years that I've been moderating the NASW e-mail discussion groups, I've frequently been amazed by the breadth, depth, and quality of the discussions. While we do descend into unproductive theological disputation occasionally (discussion of Macintosh vs. Windows-based computers has been banned for this reason), in general our mailing lists have been a continuing graduate-level seminar in all issues related to science writing. Because of this, ScienceWriters has invited me to write a quarterly column about the NASW e-mail lists highlighting some of our more interesting topics (especially the ones that happen to occur close to SW's deadline). As an additional service to NASW members, you can follow the discussions mentioned in this column by going to http://nasw.org/onthelists.htm and searching for the subject headers referenced below.
There are three main discussion lists: nasw-talk for general discussions, nasw-freelance for discussions on freelance science writing, and nasw-pr for discussions of science public relations and public affairs. In addition there are more specialized lists (such as nasw-mmjournos for multimedia journalists), and the NASW board's freelance and education committees have their own lists. If you're part of an NASW committee that needs a mailing list, or you see a need for a specialized list, just drop me a line.
As I write this, a fascinating four-week discussion on genetically modified (GM) food appears to be winding down on nasw-talk. It seems to have started with Sheldon Rampton's post of the news that a major British food company was removing all GM ingredients from all its products. Michael Kenward, a British science writer who is a vocal presence on the NASW mailing lists, pointed out that the European public seems to be far more concerned with what are sometimes termed "Frankenfoods" than are Americans. Despite that, the US government is resisting European demands that American exports of genetically modified foods be, if not prohibited, at the very least labeled. While this story is being covered extensively in the British and European press, the American press has been largely silent.
Discussants seemed to cover every argument for and against GM food, for and against labeling, and whether or not public fears are overblown. In the process the discussion took many fascinating side trips. For example, there was an interesting tangent on the subject of allergies that started when someone wondered what would happen if a normally non-allergenic food were modified by the addition of a protein from a food-peanuts for example-to which many people have serious allergies. (The subject header morphed several times; therefore, read messages with the headers biotech foods, organic foods, GM for natural defenses, and allergies and bioengineered food.)
Another interesting series of discussions began when Bob Roehr mentioned that he was a member of NIH's new Council of Public Representatives (COPR), and requested an opinions on how NIH's budget was being spent. Bill Thomasson replied with a plea for more money for aging research and the ensuing discussion chewed over the nature of aging (is it normal or can it be considered a disease), and whether it would even be desirable to stop the aging process if we could. (Subject headers NIH Budget, aging, and Aging Research.)
Nasw-freelance tends to be filled with practical advice for freelance writers. How to find medical insurance when you're not covered by a spouse's plan, and how much to charge for certain types of writing, are subjects of perennial interest. Recently Sue Wallace wrote that she had been approached by a publisher to write a book, and she wanted advice on choosing an agent. Some respondents said, in essence, "Why bother?" Their point was that since a literary agent's main function is to find a publisher, and since Sue already had a publisher, all she really needed was an attorney to help her negotiate the contract. This would cost a flat fee of several hundred bucks, as opposed to the fifteen percent in perpetuity that an agent would charge. But others disagreed. Beryl Benderly, for example, wrote, "An agent is your advocate with the publisher; a lawyer, IMO [in my opinion], is usually trouble. A lawyer looks at the contract, an agent looks at the deal and the relationship. A publisher expressing a theoretical interest in publishing a book on a subject is a far cry from cash on the barrelhead for a particular proposal by a particular author. An experienced author may well get by without an agent; I know some who do. An inexperienced author should not, IMO. Countless problems can arise between signing a contract and bringing a book to market. (To give only one example that happened to me, the publishing house can go under and be swallowed up by another, bigger house. Thanks to a smart agent, the book went to another editor who brought it out.) A good agent will help rescue you. No lawyer can do that." (Subject headers Choosing an agent and how to find an agent, consider not doing it.)
After a long period of slumber, the nasw-pr list has recently undergone something of a renaissance. I attribute the previous lack of activity to the busy lives of most PIO's and to Roger Johnson's PIONET mailing list, which predates nasw-pr by several years. However, I understand that PIONET was down for a while not too long ago, and I've also heard that its focus has shifted away from science PR toward more general topics.
Since its rebirth in early May, nasw-pr has tended to focus the small but critical details of the PIO's life. Kelli Whitlock of Ohio University started a discussion on a stylistic point in writing news releases. The question is whether-and if so, how and where-to include the name of the particular college in which a faculty researcher resides. This issue arises when, for example, Dr. Jane Smith is not only a professor of astronomy at the University of Somewhere, but resides administratively within Some- where's William Washburn Witherspoon III and Winifred Winthrop Witherspoon College of Arts, Letters, Sciences, Agriculture, and Engineering. A lot of PIO's prefer to keep the name of the college out of the release entirely, but of course the dean of the William Washburn, etc. would prefer to see the name of his college, in all its unabbreviated glory, in the first sentence of the lede. The consensus seemed to be that if you're forced to use the college name for internal PR reasons, do so, but bury it deep, deep within the release.
Subscribing to and participating in our e-mail lists is easy. If you subscribe to the standard version of the list, you'll be sent each list message separately. During periods of high activity you may find that all those messages start cluttering your e-mail box. If this is annoying, subscribe to the digest version, a compilation of about a day's worth of messages gathered into a single e-mail.
Just send all your subscription requests to majordomo@nasw.org with your commands in the body of the message, one command per line. If you want to subscribe to nasw-freelance, nasw-pr, and the digest version of nasw-talk, for example, the body of your message would read:
Once you're subscribed, you may post messages to the lists by sending them (for example) to nasw-talk@nasw.org. Before you do this, though, take a look at the policies and procedures at http://nasw.org/swlist.htm. One important policy to remember is that, except in unusual situations, we do not permit the posting of news releases or other promotional announcements on any of the mailing lists. See you online!
Bob Finn moderates the web site and e-mail lists of the National Association of Science Writers http://nasw.org/. His e-mail address is cybrarian@nasw.org.