SND Statement
I don’t have all the answers. It would be so easy if I did — if anyone did. What I am is a team player, someone passionate about journalism and design and loyal to the cause.
I want to hear what people paying membership fees want to know about, what people want from the organization, how we can help each other, and I want to know these things every day of my term. I want to have an open door, an approachable reputation. I want to take risks to see what sticks. I know being elected to the board will not bring solutions overnight. It will take more than just this group of people to build up the organization to thrive — that is why one of my areas of focus would be membership retention and engagement.
We have a whole lot of talent just waiting on the sidelines. I want to use the expertise and the tools we have already to build a better organization. Each of us brings our own unique set of skills and network to the organization and for those reasons, we should have a thriving community of designers at our fingertips, if not face to face. I want to be on the Board of Directors not because I think I have all the answers, but because I think, collectively, the Society can come up with some. I joined SND many years ago in the hopes of becoming part of a community I could grow up in. As I settled into my career, I became familiar with the names of people in the industry, so eager to learn from them, maybe even possibly work with them one day. I got involved by volunteering at contests and conferences, saying hello to presenters after sessions, and to fellow young professionals at happy hours. I want to be on the Board of Directors to help foster that same kind of sense of possibilities for designers just starting out.
Bio
Tara McCarty is a designer at The Washington Post, focusing on A1 design and the presentation of investigation, national and politics stories. Previously, she worked at the Tampa Bay Times in St. Petersburg, Fla., in many roles, first as a post-press staffer at the printing plant in 2008, eventually becoming the director of print design in 2019.
McCarty is also a member of the Poynter Women’s Leadership Academy, October 2020 class, and has previously served as a judge for the James Beard Foundation Media Awards and the American Society of Business Publication Editors Awards of Excellence.
McCarty has worked as a news designer for almost 10 years. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, where she wrote and illustrated a book for the honors program entitled, “50 things I learned as a designer without going to design school.” She has won numerous awards for her work from the Florida Scholastic Press Association, Florida Society of News Editors, the Society for News Design, and others, and counts her work on a story that was a 2019 Pulitzer finalist as one of her most rewarding experiences.
McCarty has been a volunteer at SND conferences and has been involved in the print competitions as a facilitator for the last five years, in-person and virtually. She has also joined several committees including for the 2020 conference and for the recent membership survey.