Reporters' Organizations

American Society of Journalists & Authors

Founded in 1948, the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA, http://www.asja.org) is an organization of independent (generally meaning freelance) nonfiction writers with a membership of more than 1,100 writers of magazine [Page 1220]articles, trade books, and many other forms of non-fiction writing. Members share information on writing rates, publishing contracts, editors, agents, and more. Nonmembers can benefit from ASJA's “contracts watch” newsletter, an annual writers conference, and writing resources. Editors and others can search the membership to hire experienced authors and journalists (with links to their websites and blogs, among other things).

Association of Young Journalists and Writers

The Association of Young Journalists and Writers (AYJW, http:///www.ayjw.org) was established as the Association of Young Journalists, a successor to the Forum of Young Journalists, which had been created in 1981. Soon after its formation, the association added “and Writers” to include a wider range of members. The association works largely online to further its mission of helping young writers and journalists get started publishing in the media. A writer submits material to the website which, upon editorial approval, will be available for newspapers, magazines, publishers and other media to review. How this actually works in progress is not clear from the website.

Editorial Freelancers Association

The Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA, http://www.the-efa.org/index.html) grew out of a book publisher strike in the early 1970s and by 1976 had about 100 members. It opened a New York office in 1979 and hired an office manager six years later as the organization continued to grow. Various affinity groups—those working in specific subject fields—began to form in 1989, and the first regional chapters appeared in 1997. Run almost entirely by volunteers, EFA members work in 45 states and in Canada, England, France, India, Ireland, Israel, and Japan.

National Conference of Editorial Writers

Founded in 1947, the National Conference of Editorial Writers (NCEW, http://www.ncew.org) exists to improve the quality of opinion journalism, meaning (primarily) editorial pages and broadcast editorials, and to promote high standards among opinion writers and editors. Members participate in writing and broadcast critiques, an annual convention, seminars and workshops, the NCEW job bank, The Masthead magazine, regional conferences, foreign tours, and an e-mail discussion group.

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