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The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) does not endorse any company, product, or service sold by any corporation, institution or member supporting our organization. Corporate partnerships, advertisers and sponsors are not an endorsement of a product or service and may not be represented as such, in any way. The use of the ASJA name and/or logo, or representation of such, without the written consent of ASJA, is strictly prohibited.
.MEMBER-EXCLUSIVE NEWS
Over the past few weeks, I and several other Maryland-based ASJA members have teamed up to participate in Zoom calls with the offices of our Maryland senators and a congressional representative to discuss the Pro Act and the ABC Test. We share our personal reasons for choosing to be independent contractors (the ability to make more money, care for children without paying for childcare, attend to health matters), politely point out some flaws in the arguments (no, a “real job” is not more stable, we are not exploited gig workers) and voice our frustrations at the divisiveness this bill is causing (most of us support unions and would otherwise support the Pro Act but for this one, easily solved element that risks the livelihoods of millions of people who choose to work independently). The calls have ranged from frustrating to hopeful, but the only effort that is guaranteed to fail is the one you don’t make. Keep going. All the best, Holly Leber Simmons, ASJA Weekly editor
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ASJA Virtual Rates Go Up April 1st — Register Now!
ASJA
If you haven't registered for ASJA Virtual yet, now is the time to jump on it. Rates will increase on April 1. To get the very reasonable price of $240 for members/$340 for non-members, make sure you visit the website today: https://na.eventscloud.com/website/20696/home/.
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Prospective New Members Listed
ASJA
Another new group of applicants for membership in ASJA has passed the Membership Application Committee's review and the list of prospective members has now been posted. Active members may review the list and send any comments to James Cafiero no later than this Friday. All comments will be sent to the Application Committee for consideration and will be kept confidential.
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Content Marketing is Hot at ASJA Virtual
ASJA
Wanting to get the inside scoop on how to land content marketing clients and how to get more work from existing clients? Be sure to register for the Content Marketing Track of the 2021 ASJA Virtual Conference — or even better, the entire conference. We have three sessions — Landing Bylines with Company-Run Publications, How to Become a Favorite Freelancer and Get more Gigs from Content Marketing Agencies — filled with editors to give you the inside scoop, including C&EN BrandLab, Contently, Managing Editor and Fitch Ink. Keep a close eye on the agenda as we will be posting more editors on the panels as they are confirmed. The rest of the agenda is jam-packed with practical sessions on topics including writing amazing blog posts, designing your CM portfolio, understanding SEO, breaking into higher education, creating inclusive content and more. To register and get more details, visit the ASJA 2021 Conference website
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Tele-Connections: Better Than Ever!
ASJA
The Tele-Connections team is excited to report that they have more than 50 (yes, 50!) editors, agents, and content marketing managers signed up for the two-day event on May 24 and 25! There are more to come, too. Check out the lineup here and register for Tele-Connections and other ASJA Conference events here.
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Share Your Expertise: Be a SIG Leader!
ASJA
If you've been thinking to yourself, "Self, how do I get more involved in ASJA?" we've got your answer: sign up to lead a Special Interest Group (SIG). SIGs are small (up to 12 people) private groups that meet online to discuss a particular topic. Past SIGs have included six-figure freelancing, travel, content marketing, history writing, corporate writing and more. Future SIGs will include...well, that's where you come in! SIG wrangler Jennifer Billock is open to your ideas. To be a good SIG leader, you need to be willing to dedicate time, lead and contribute to discussions, and share your own expertise. To get involved, email Jen at jenniferjoanbillock@gmail.com.
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Give and Take: Volunteer With ASJA
ASJA
ASJA offers plenty of networking opportunities, Laura Laing writes in her monthly President's Report, from pitching to editors in a variety of settings to learning about a new market. But the more you put into ASJA, the more you get out of it. Current volunteer opportunities are available with the Grants Committee (Katie Navarra at asjaoffice@asja.org), the First Amendment Committee (JoBeth McDaniels at asjaoffice@asja.org), and at the upcoming ASJA Virtual Conference (Kristine Hansen at kristinehansenwriter@gmail.com). And learn about more ways you can give back to the organization at ASJA Confidential.
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Authors! Sell Your Books at the ASJA Conference Virtual Bookstore!
ASJA
In the past, only panelists and keynote speakers could sell their books in the conference bookstore. Now any member who attends the full conference may sign up to do so. Attendees who sign up for either a track or the full conference will be able to purchase books online. “Having a conference bookstore online gives everyone a great opportunity to take a longer look at all the great works our colleagues have to offer," says Bookstore co-volunteer Liz Alterman.
Authors who have registered for the conference and want to sell books may fill in the Google Docs form no later than April 5th. If you’re an author who wants to sell their books at the conference or a member who wants to buy your ASJA colleagues’ books all in once place, register for the conference today!
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Member News
ASJA
The first of Randi Minetor’s 2021 books, Scenic Driving New York, arrives in bookstores and online April 1. Scenic Driving New York provides descriptions, maps, points of interest, and hundreds of color photos to guide readers to the most spectacular places throughout New York, from Long Island’s North Shore to the Adirondacks and the Finger Lakes — and places to stop for locally made ice cream on every route.
Do you have professional news you'd like to share with the group? A new job, a story you've published (in article, blog post, book, cave painting, etc. form), a new project you've launched, an interview with someone fascinating, a speaking gig? Send your news (50 words or less) and a link if applicable to Holly Leber Simmons, ASJA Weekly editor at hello@redpeneditorial.co (that's .co like Coco Chanel).
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Build for a crisis: Ideas for the future of local news
Nieman Lab
When a terrible winter storm and widespread utility failures hit Texas last month, we were happy to see local newsrooms in the state work to get people the information they needed to survive during the outages. Local news can be an essential service in this way every day, providing information that helps people meet their challenges and achieve their goals.
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Seeing through a new Prism
Columbia Journalism Review
After a year-plus of discourse around journalism-industry “reckonings,” one of the few outlets that have effectively reoriented the way news is delivered is Prism, which aims to cover injustice from the perspective of “the people, places and issues currently underreported by national media.”
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Journalism jobs are precarious, financially insecure and require family support
The Conversation
HuffPost recently laid off dozens of Canadian journalists and closed its news site. Bell Media Inc. has also laid off hundreds of journalists.
Journalism is a notoriously precarious profession. Downsizing and layoffs are almost routine, and many journalists find themselves bouncing between news organizations and periods of freelance work during their careers.
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What's the ROI on freelancers?
Forbes
Courtney Pace writes, "In a recent article supporting full-time employees over freelancers, I argued that full-time employees bring a greater ROI for companies. My position on that emerged from my experience in industries where employers are replacing full-time employees with freelancers to save money on benefits, often in parallel with oversaturated job markets where people will take any job they can get to try to get ahead."
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What journalists must consider before jumping into ghostwriting
Journalism.co.uk
Ghostwriting is booming across the U.K. and internationally, fueled by fears of mortality, as individuals hire writers to tell their life stories, while corporate PRs pay journalists to voice the thoughts of executives too busy or illiterate to write for themselves. Both movements pre-date COVID-19 but have accelerated since March 2020.
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Ren LaForme: '4 digital tools that got me through the pandemic'
Poynter
There’s a very human tendency to overprepare for the challenges that await us, only to realize later on that some of that overpreparation may have been weighing us down.
If you’ve ever prepped for a long hike, you probably packed at least a few things that you never once touched.
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Power shift in the watch journalism industry
Forbes
There was once a time not too long ago when the online watch journalism industry was dominated by only a small few, these online watch publications were the first to the ball and gained massive exposure simply because of this. They provided a very unique and thought-provoking outlook on the watch industry and debuted some of the most common pieces of watch content such as hands-on reviews and new watch model introductions.
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