LAUSR

Writing about political science and politics for a non-academic audience is rewarding and challenging in roughly equal measures. This piece offers suggestions for academics interested in branching out into mass media writing, including a look at the process and why it can be a valuable part of your professional endeavors. For some political scientists, contributing to mainstream media outlets is as simple as opening an e-mail solicitation from an editor. More commonly, however, we begin the process cold by making pitches to editors who do not know us. At first it can be intimidating, not entirely unlike publishing in academic journals. The expectations and demands are different, but the need for persistence and time spent honing the craft of writing is the same.