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From the President's Desk

June 2008

Paging Eleanor Rigby . . .

by Russell Wild

With our 120-channel TV sets, telecommuting lifestyles, and automatic garage doors from which we enter and exit our suburban homes, we live in an increasingly isolated, lonely world.

Robert Putman, author of Bowling Alone, reasons that loneliness has become pandemic, and with it, increasing unhappiness, illness and even premature death. Being a professor type, and from Harvard no less, Putnam talks not so much of "loneliness," but of a "disconcerting, precipitous decline in social interactions over the last three decades across all forms of social capital."

"Social capital," he explains, is "not just warm and cuddly feelings, but a wide variety of quite specific benefits that flow from the trust, reciprocity, information, and cooperation associated with social networks."

It will come as no news to any reader of this column that the profession of freelance journalist can be a particularly lonely one. And that's where ASJA comes in. Ours is not only a strong professional organization, it doubles as well, for those who wish it to be, as a pretty darned good source of "social capital." There's trust, reciprocity, information and cooperation ... often some laughter and silliness, too.

For "proof" that we are much more than a dry, professional organization, I look to the ASJA Forum and note that there are now almost 65,000 posts on the Water Cooler section of our website. When I look at the tally of all the posts on all of the other sections of the forum, only "Magazine and Newspaper Writing" comes even remotely close, with 45,000 posts.

New software being added to our website (which will probably be just operational as this column appears) allows for even greater "building of social capital." To whit: You can now add a smiling photo of yourself! You can tell ASJAers something personal by adding a mini-bio of yourself. You can reach out more easily than ever to make real connections with real people with whom you share much in common, and with whom you just may want to become friends, as well as trusted colleagues.

Putman would argue that reaching out in such fashion could make you happier and healthier. Who am I — other than a possible friend — to argue?

ASJA Board and Staff Personal Tidbits
Can you match the board member or staff member (left) with the mini-bio (right)? Please note that there are two correct answers for "C." Can you also name the board or staff member's home state? (Answers to both questions at bottom of page.)

ASJA President Russell Wild asks that he please not be teased about having once worked as a "young girl" au pair. He now lives and works in Allentown, PA, 3703 miles (5960 km) from Paris.

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