It was 1992. I’d met journalism trailblazer Nancy Woodhull at a conference somewhere – and she urged me to come to JAWS CAMP. (My first reaction was: I ain’t going out in the woods in Montana to integrate the entire state!) And yet I found myself in Montana, hanging out with legends like Nan Robertson and Betsy Wade. 

At one point, Nancy Woodhull turned to me and asked: “What do you think, Rachel?”

That shifted something in me. Women of that caliber were addressing me as a colleague and a peer. In that less formal setting, not a newsroom, I could see that I don’t have to be threatened or intimidated or afraid of being judged. I can move through this world and share my opinion and shape the news. 

Five years later, I was president of JAWS. 

After being away for some time, I’ve again joined the JAWS board and committed myself to JAWS. Because JAWS matters, right now. And JAWS needs our support. 

JAWS matters right now because journalism is under threat. Local news and legacy news are being devastated. It worries me that regional news sources, so central to a vibrant and democratic civic life, are eroding. With that, women’s voices are once again going to take a hit. Disappearing beats and publications will drain opportunities for women to shape the news, to decide what’s worthy of coverage. 

And JAWS matters right now because our country’s efforts toward a racial reckoning are under threat. JAWS and other organizations must show we understand that threat, that we have people of color in leadership, that we see what’s underway. JAWS has had growing pains as we meld the past with the future, but folks like me can help keep JAWS’ original spirit while still moving forward. 

JAWS matters right now because we give so much to women journalists: that sense that we can be in this business as long as we want to be, that our insights matter, that we can achieve, that we are important. We help each other all along the way.

JAWS has given me so much. And so I’m giving back to JAWS. 

Please give back to JAWS, with me. And let’s be the legends we once admired, helping other women step forward in journalism.