SEJ Board Election

  Breanna Draxler
  Active Board Candidate

I, Breanna Draxler, would like to throw my hat in the ring for the SEJ Board of Directors. Today, more than ever, I want to share the narratives that too often go untold, and to empower fellow journalists to report on critical environmental issues with integrity.

I am currently an editor at bioGraphic, where I edit features and manage production. Previously, I was an editor at Popular Science, and a staff writer and editor at Discover. I have worked as a science and environment reporter at the Boulder Daily Camera and the Amery Free Press, freelanced for publications including Audubon, contributed audio reporting to How on Earth science show and launched the Futuropolis podcast. Throughout, SEJ members have provided invaluable guidance, beginning with mentors at the University of Colorado, where I earned a Master’s degree in environmental journalism and worked at the Center for Environmental Journalism.

In running for the SEJ board, I am motivated to contribute to the SEJ community that first inspired me, with a focus on mentoring, inclusion and ethics.

I have played an active role mentoring up-and-coming journalists, both formally and informally. I ran Popular Science’s internship program, guiding grad students to become critical members of the editorial team. I want to help SEJ find ways to encourage and enable new members to become journalists at a time when our society is rarely investing in — and is sometimes even hostile to — the field. I also want to help the organization support mid-career journalists and those in transition, who may lack clear mentoring opportunities in competitive, remote or under-staffed work places.

I would love to expand SEJ’s reach so we can meaningfully engage a larger, more diverse group of journalists. Environmental issues impact all people, and the voices that report on them should reflect that. Having been an active member of science journalism circles in Colorado, Wisconsin, New York, San Francisco and now Seattle, I can offer perspectives that could help bridge, for example, the rural-urban divide. In addition, through a group of diverse women in radio in NYC called Ladio, I have seen firsthand the benefits of participating in a representative organization that offers support for a diverse range of members and open discussion on hard-to-bring-up topics like pay rates, inappropriate advances in interviews and racial or gender discrimination.

I also want to try and provide SEJ members some clarity on the ethical murkiness inherent in communicating science in today’s media landscape. Freelancers need to navigate conflicts of interest with institutional clients; magazines facing budget cuts have to decide if fact checking is worth the cost; and non-profit publications must choose whether to accept funds from controversial donors. My experience working for many types of media organizations has given me helpful insights to brainstorm how journalism in all its forms can maintain objectivity.

It would be an honor and a joy to contribute to this community; thank you for considering my candidacy for the SEJ board. 

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