Minutes of NINA Board of Directors Meeting

Members present (14): Greg Rivara (President), Colin O'Donnell (past president), Roger Ruthhart, Sharon Boehlefeld (1st VP), Jim Killam (communications coordinator), Brian Thornton (executive secretary), Pete Nenni (2nd VP), John Etheredge, Rick Nagel, Mike Cetera, Denise Renckens, Kim Kubiak, Lonny Cain, Randy Swikle.

Members absent (7): Josh Albrecht, Pam Lannom, Joe Corrado, Jim Slonoff (treasurer), Jay Dickerson, Penny Wiegert, Wally Haas.

Rivara called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.

Minutes of the Dec. 8 board meeting were approved.

Treasurer's report:
No report (Slonoff absent).

Executive secretary's report:
No report

President's report:
Rivara noted the 2007 committee assignments, as listed on the Web site at http://www.northernstar.info/nina/board.html. Swikle was moved from the Resource Committee to the Education Committee.

NINA's over-arcing goal in training opportunities this year, Rivara said, is making our communities better places to live.

The annual contest's structure will be reviewed, with Killam and Thornton bringing a preliminary report back to the board at the March meeting. Killam will e-mail membership for suggestions, too.

Rivara also formally thanked O'Donnel for his leadership of NINA in 2006. O'Donnell in turn presented Rivara with the prestigious and highly sought-after Rhino Award which, according to Nagel, is given to the board member who does the best job at "charging forward and making a mess of things."

Program Committee report:
No report. The Spring Conference is set for April 27. Details to come soon.

Education Committee report:
Nenni said three workshops have been set for this year:

• March 22 at NIU: News writing, with an emphasis on leads and the first five paragraphs.
• June 14, probably in Rockford: New media, with an emphasis on audio, video and blogging
• Sept. 13, site TBA: Alternative beats and alternative storytelling for the 21st century.

The board unanimously approved spending $1,200 for this year's high school scholarships (O'Donnell motion / Ruthhart second). Etheredge and Killam will get promotional material out via Internet and snail mail within the next few days.

The committee also is considering …

• A "State of the High School Newspaper" forum, with experts talking about censorship and First Amendment issues, the dwindling number of high school media, and the Internet's role in high school media.
• "Adopting" a high school whose newspaper needs a boost, or a high school that wants to launch a student newspaper.

Swikle mentioned that the Freedom Museum in Chicago is hosting a program at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9 dealing with free speech and free press in high schools. According to a Knight Foundation report, he said, only one in five high schools have any student media at all.

Membership Committee report:
Rivara said the committee will look at the complete membership list and develop a strategy for retaining and recruiting member newspapers.

Resource Committee / Communication Coordinator Report:
Killam said the next newsletter will be published in early March. Material should be turned in by the last week of February.

The Illinois College Press Association job fair is Feb. 16 at the Holiday Inn City Centre in Chicago. Anyone interested in signing up to interview student journalists should contact Killam at jkillam@niu.edu, or 815-753-4239.

Old Business
None.

New Business
Cetera asked Beacon News staffers for ideas regarding workshops. They suggested:

• Roundtable discussions among reporters about how they cover particular beats;
• Investigative reporting tips for reporters who work on a small scale and under short deadlines; and
• Web reporting from a reporter's perspective.

Next board meeting: Friday, March 23, at the Northern Star, NIU-DeKalb.

Meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

Minutes submitted by Jim Killam, communications coordinator, 1-19-07.


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