Changes took place just before the 2022 year-end holidays to Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), our principal medium of contact and information, that deserve attention from the ACS membership.
An open letter to the membership of the American Chemical Society
This letter is meant to inform the membership of the American Chemical Society (ACS) about the detrimental changes that have been made to the operations of Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN). We, a group of current and former C&EN Advisory Board members, have recently been made aware of a major change to the focus and direction of the mandate of C&EN. As board members, we take it as our responsibility to inform the broader ACS membership of the potential impact of these changes on C&EN moving forward. We also call on Albert Horvath, the new CEO of ACS, and Susan Morrissey, Vice President of the Communications Division and Publisher of C&EN, to reinstate safeguards to C&EN’s editorial independence… Read the open letter in its entirety: https://kitchenchemistry.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-to-the-membership
These changes were made abruptly and lacked transparency. They evaded the safeguards of the C&EN Editorial and Advisory Boards for assuring member representation in matters of this magnitude that affect the whole membership. They also raise the worrisome aspects of lack of editorial independence, and an expectation that coverage of science will decrease. C&EN is one of the major benefits of an ACS membership. If the publication goes downhill, a decrease in membership and fewer institutional subscriptions could follow which would lead to less advertising income and less support for other ACS programs and efforts.
A petition has been started to condemn the changes: “…We urge the Society’s leadership to return the focus of C&EN to where it belongs as an outlet for esteemed journalists writing on the important stories that impact the chemical enterprise as a whole…”
Reaction to the lack of transparency in decision-making was swift from principals in the chemistry publishing community. Commentary by Science’s Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp, In the Pipeline’s Derek Lowe, and RSC’s monthly magazine, Chemistry World appeared before year’s end. The consensus: ACS leadership crossed a line. By changing the editorial direction of C&EN and firing its Editor-in-Chief and other staff, without consulting with the C&EN Editorial Board, ACS Regulations were violated.
“C&EN’s Editorial Board, as mandated by ACS’s constitution and bylaws, regularly reviews the editorial performance of C&EN. It serves as a communication link between the ACS Board of Directors and C&EN’s editor in chief and staff, as well as a bridge between ACS membership and C&EN. Its seven members include the chair of the ACS Committee on Publications (the board’s chair), the chair of the ACS Board of Directors, the president of the society, and four others appointed by the board’s chair.” (Source) For more details: ACS Governing Documents, pages 48-49 and C&EN’s Standards and Practices > Governance and Organization.
Members of C&EN’s Advisory Board first raised the alarm two years ago on learning that C&EN was moved from ACS Publications to a newly created ACS Communications Division, without consulting staff or any of ACS’s boards or committees. A potential for conflict of interest between C&EN’s journalistically independent editors and ACS corporate interests could be created by this change. Critics of the move feared that C&EN’s focus would change and that instead of providing balanced scientific, business, safety, and society reporting, the member magazine would project primarily ACS -centric news. ACS leadership’s indifference to these concerns resulted in the departure of multiple staff members in the following months.
The Advisory Board’s concerns materialized in an editorial from Susan R. Morrissey, ACS’s VP of Communications and Publisher of C&EN, where she announced in the December 19, 2022, issue that C&EN will increase its focus on ACS news. The editorial begins with “Change is never easy”, a choice of words that does not bode well for its recipients. Indeed, it did not bode well for C&EN leadership as Bibiana Campos Seijo and Jyllian Kemsley had already been fired. The new strategy runs contrary to user research over more than a decade from readership surveys indicating that 1) C&EN satisfaction scores are higher than ever and 2) ACS news ranks low in readers’ interests behind scientific topics (e.g., materials, environment, climate), business, policy and education. The loss of Jyllian’s deep expertise in lab safety undermines ACS adoption of safety as a core value.
While ACS reaffirmed its commitment to C&EN in a press release published on December 20, 2022, the quality of C&EN may still be at risk. Contributing to uncertainty are the worrisome aspects of lack of editorial independence, lack of ACS leadership decision-making transparency, and an expectation that coverage of science and technology will decrease. In a member-run organization there is not only cause for members to speak up, but responsibility as well. The ACS plays an important role in reporting science and technology to the public as one of the world’s largest scientific societies and premier home of chemistry professionals.
Speak up with your input to your ACS by contacting ACS President, Judith C. Giordan, ACS CEO Albert G. Horvath, the ACS Board of Directors, and cenfeedback@acs.org
By Jane Frommer, Madalyn Radlauer, and Grace Baysinger
