Journalism organizations get organized.

Traditionally, journalists have been an unorganized lot. Prided themselves on it, in fact.

Changing times are forcing more journalists to get their acts together and -- gasp! -- cooperate.

As a result, there are now dozens of professional organizations for journalists. So many, in fact, that a Council of Presidents of National Journalism Organizations formed in 1991 to encourage the exchange of information and ideas. At this year's spring meeting, some 28 presidents showed up to compare notes.

I thought you might be interested in what other groups are doing. In general, they are struggling with similar challenges - technology shock, diversity needs, member morale, and downsizing.

* The National Press Photographers president said they are struggling with the effect of digitization on street photographers. He recently sent them a list of 14 reasons why they should stay involved in the professional organization.

* The National Association of Black Journalists president said he is concerned about feedback from his members that they feel excluded in their news organizations, that they feel their views are not being heard by managers. One of his priorities is to look for ways to build bridges within papers.

* The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is conducting more workshops with high school journalists because many have been losing interest in writing careers by the time they reach college.

* The president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication said she is troubled by the trend to merge (and often submerge) journalism schools in other disciplines. She said many universities are cutting back their support of journalism programs and cited a school that had its budget slashed in half in recent years.

* The Society of Professional Journalists, one of the oldest groups at 90 and the largest at 14,000 - is leading a campaign against the new CIA policy of allowing agents to pose as journalists.

* The Society of Environmental Journalists, although only five years old, drew more than 500 people to its last convention.

* The Association of Women Journalists is tracking gender influences in the development of news stories. The group will present the results at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

* The American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors is thinking of changing its name to "Features First," the name of its Web site. The group also is considering expanding its membership criteria to include all forms of electronic media because it has lost four board members this year to new media. Also, since 70% of newspapers have circulations of 50,000 or less, the features group is providing a "traveling lab" to visit smaller cities and support feature sections.

* The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has started a financial writing award and is trying to underwrite a groundbreaking course on business writing for j-schools.

* The Associated Press Managing Editors is focusing extensively on writing this year, devoting a full day at this year's convention to news as story-telling.

* The American Society of Newspapers Editors is leading the campaign to expand the Freedom of Information Act to include computerized government documents.

By day's end, the presidents agreed to share information on job banks, diversity efforts, Web sites, fund-raising ideas and membership recruitment.

It reminded me of writer Kurt Vonnegut's line that the best way for angels to succeed is to be as organized as the Mafia. Certainly nobody's rushing to hand out halos to our journalistic crowd. But you know what? We're getting organized enough to make the Mafia a little nervous.