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No images? Click here  Dear Reader, When my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, one thought broke through my mounting dread: “Wait, I edited an article on this exact situation.” A few years ago, a cancer researcher from the University of Florida reached out to me, asking if she could write about what it was like to help her father decide whether to pursue prostate cancer treatment. She wanted to share her experience and expertise as both a daughter and a scientist, in hopes that it could help families facing similar challenges. I was standing on the sidewalk as I pulled up her story on my phone, backpack of groceries biting into my shoulders and my dad's bad news straining through my headphones. He told me what his doctor told him, which is what our expert’s father's doctor told her. But our story had some key information my father’s doctor left out that, once we brought it up, proved pivotal to how my dad chose to move forward. As I dug into the archive of articles I had worked on with scholars across what seems like every facet of the field of oncology, these stories took on a new feeling of immediacy. I was no longer the editor of these stories, but a reader who found the information I wanted when I needed it most. “News you can use” is now a hackneyed phrase, with the metastatic growth of mass media – a way to market a product whose sellers seem countless, and whose ability to fulfill its promises of revealing truth and changing your life is just as varied. But this year has shown me exactly the kind of power the news can have to empower and inform. My time at The Conversation has shown me that our stories make it to the hands of patients and caregivers looking for a lifeline; our articles fill the feeds of curious students and informed citizens wanting to understand the world; and our pieces inform policymakers and leaders shaping the very fabric of society. And my time at The Conversation has shown me that creating useful, meaningful stories that can have this kind of impact takes work, around the clock and around the world. It takes time, and it takes effort, and it takes no small amount of irreplicably human labor – because what gives these stories power is the interface it creates for connection: people reaching toward each other on either side of the page and coming away changed in ways neither can fully predict. It cannot be overstated how vital your support is to the work my colleagues and I do. Every dollar counts – as does every story it makes possible, every reader those stories touch, and every shift in the world that might result. As much as that one cancer researcher’s story altered my father’s life for the better, so does your generosity have the capacity to transform many other lives. Thank you for being part of this work. Thank you for helping us continue to reach across the page toward readers like you. And thank you, especially, for reaching right back. Sincerely, Vivian Lam The Conversation US, Inc. is a tax-exempt public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. All donations made are fully tax deductible if you itemize. Our tax ID number is 46-0906774. How to donate: |
