Members present: (9) Joe Corrado (president), Greg Rivara (2nd VP). Jay Dickerson, Pam Lannom, Roger Ruthhart, Sharon Boehlefeld, Penny Wiegert, , Jim Killam (communications coordinator), Lois Self (executive secretary).
Members absent: (10), Tom Martin (past president), Pete Nenni, Colin O'Donnell (first VP), Jeannine Otto, Rich Rostron, Rick Nagel, Randy Swikle, Jim Slonoff, Lonny Cain, John Etheredge.
Guest present: Steve Ralston, chair, NIU department of communication
Corrado called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m.
Minutes of the April 1 board meeting were approved
Treasurer's report:
No report. Slonoff will be at the October meeting.
Executive Secretary's report:
Self introduced Steve Ralston, new chair of the NIU communication department.
Steve comes to NIU from the University of Michigan at Flint, where he taught
business communication. He told the board he hopes to help maintain the
good relationship between NIU and NINA.
Two tenure-track journalism faculty searches are under way: one for a senior
level faculty member and one that's more of an entry-level position.
Program Committee report:
No report. The committee will work out plans for the Oct. 28 fall conference
and share them with the board soon via e-mail.
Several board members mentioned that the spring conference, a headline-writing
workshop held at NIU-Naperville, was extremely valuable.
Education Committee report:
Rivara said the June 17 grammar workshop was canceled due to low registration
numbers, but it will be kept on the table as a regular workshop for next
year. Killam said late marketing might have been one reason for the low
interest. Members received their summer newsletter just two weeks before
the workshop date.
There was some discussion, but no consensus, about a possible February 2006
workshop. Boehlefeld asked if a telephone or Internet conference might be
an option, via either NIU or the Northern Star. The board decided to look
further at February workshop options after the fall conference.
The high school scholarship competition was a big success again, with a
record six student journalists being honored from among 35 applicants. Three
papers provided matching awards for their local winners: the Daily Herald,
the Daily Times (Ottawa) and the LaSalle News Tribune.
Membership Committee report:
Lannom asked board members to e-mail their "buddy" newspapers
once the fall conference has been announced. She earlier had asked board
members to send an e-mail survey to their "buddies," but only
one has been returned thus far.
Communication Coordinator / Resource Committee report:
Killam said the fall newsletter will be assembled as soon as the fall conference
plans are known. It's generally mailed in mid-September. A couple of committee
projects have been on hold this summer: updating NINA's promotional brochure
and developing a promotional poster that would emphasize the connection
between NINA, education and the First Amendment.
Old Business:
Corrado relayed two concerns he's heard about the contest: wondering why
the rules are distributed while the contest period is still open, and wondering
why Sunday papers are excluded from some contest categories.
Self noted the issues and said they'll be considered in a post-mortem report
after this year's contest.
New Business:
Corrado is leaving the Beacon News at the end of this month and is starting
a home-based communications business. He asked board members if they thought
the president's term would better be served out by a newspaper representative
or an educator. Board members were unanimous in their sentiment to ask Joe
to finish his term this year.
Shop Talk:
Killam: The Northern Star is in the process of switching from QuarkXpress
to InDesign as its page design software. The Star is adopting the K4 editorial
system, which includes InDesign, InCopy and the K4 database, produced by
Managing Editor, Inc.
Rivara: Shaw is launching weekly newspapers in several communities - one example being Sycamore, which recently debuted a new tabloid format.
Boehlefeld: Sharon taught for a week in July at the Kettle Moraine Press Association summer camp in Whitewater, Wis. This represents the first significant cooperative effort between NINA and this active high-school press organization.
Wiegert: The Observer is redesigning this summer. Penny's also looking for a part-time reporter.
Ruthhart: The Argus/Dispatch are revitalizing several niche publications. Roger also mentioned that two other Small Newspapers, the Daily Times of Ottawa and the Times-Press of Streator, are being combined into one paper, based in Ottawa. Board member Lonny Cain is heading up the transformation on the editorial side.
Lannom: The Doings has three full-time reporter openings.
Dickerson: The Galena Gazette's monthly arts magazine went weekly in June, and now runs as the second section to the regular weekly paper. The paper also is suing Joe Daviess County and the city of Galena for alleged violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. They're being joined in the suit by the Freeport and Dubuque papers.
Self: Following the death of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean Fred Kitterle, Joe Grush has been appointed acting dean.
Corrado: The Beacon News went live this week with its switch to InDesign and a Unisys editorial system.
Next board meeting: Thursday evening, Oct. 27, 2005, in Sycamore for the annual board dinner meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 11:50 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Jim Killam,
communications coordinator, 8-8-05.
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