Dear SND members,
I’m resigning as president of the Society for News Design.
It’s not a choice I make lightly, especially because I was elected by you to serve your interests in this organization — and because I love SND.
But it’s recently become clear to me that I should move on because of an internal dispute on the Society’s board — and so that I can spend time focusing on my new career as a university professor. I trust that, in all my actions on behalf of members, I have done what’s best for SND.
I’d never want to be a distraction for the Society’s board, though, so I’ve decided to step aside. We’re working through transition issues now and I expect to exit on June 18.
The Society’s vice president, Bonita Burton of the Orlando Sentinel, will discharge the duties of the president for the remainder of my term, which was to end on Dec. 31.
Bonita, however, will not be your president until she’s elected. Only members can choose the president, according to our bylaws, so Bonita will stand for election this fall so you can make your choice on how to proceed.
When the other officers and I started the year we had an ambitious vision for how the Society could help members, as well as the troubled news industry, by confronting the issues of how our craft and design thinking could be part of the solution for steps forward.
We have made major strides:
The Revenue 2.0 project identified strategies for funding journalism as we put design thinking to work by demonstrating new revenue models for news companies while considering audience as never before. The work we began was just carried forward in another major report and has been noted widely in the press. My hope is that the Society will continue this kind of thought leadership because it’s needed now more than ever.
Training and development for members, especially those who must quickly gain digital skills, has also been at the forefront this year. We have offered successful Web design boot camps, multimedia training, and courses on alternative storytelling forms. More are planned for the coming months.
A series of meetups have helped members connect in New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C. More are planned this year, with the next one this summer in San Francisco. This free training, at a time when so many members (as well as their news organizations) cannot afford tuition, has been a hallmark of how we hoped to see outreach working for the Society. Talented professionals have been generously giving their time in these efforts: I cannot thank Nigel Holmes, Joe Hutchinson, Roger Black, Sarah Slobin, Matthew Ericson, Shan Carter, Cyrus Highsmith, Tyson Evans, Jon Wile, Adrian Holovaty, Jim Coudal, Bill Adee, Tracy Schmidt, Daniel Honigman, Chris Courtney and Jonathon Berlin enough for their assistance in lifting these from idea to reality.
This fall, the Society will host its first international workshop of the decade: SND’s annual gathering will be in Buenos Aires and I have every confidence it will be a wonderful event. Tireless organizers Gustavo Lo Valvo and Chris Edwards have spanned the world to plan a program squarely aimed at confronting the biggest issues facing visual journalism, with an eye on how that global exchange of ideas has relevance for innovation. It’s a summit especially essential for our time.
Finally, the push ahead by the Society in identifying new leadership for the future remains on track. The Society recently announced it will seek a new executive director. That new leader will help the Society’s elected officers and board of directors chart the course for the future. Please share your ideas with the remaining elected officers on the skills that new director will need to help SND pioneer at this pivotal point for rethinking how journalism, as well as journalism organizations, should work.
With all that started, I have every hope that the Society has a bright future. There’s much more work to be done, of course, and I trust that the volunteer spirit that has made SND one of the world’s leading voices for news design will continue. I’m certain this smart membership would not have it any other way.
The other officers and I have been in contact with the Society’s past presidents, who have pledged to help SND move forward as needed.
Thank you all very much for the opportunity to work with you. It’s been my pleasure.
Matt Mansfield will be president of the Society for News Design through Thursday.
After that, he’ll still be an associate professor at Northwestern University’s
Medill School of Journalism and co-director of its Washington program.
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