Members present (10): Tom Martin (president), Pam Lannom (past president), Joe Corrado ( 1st VP), Colin O'Donnell (2nd VP), Greg Rivara, Roger Ruthhart, John Etheridge, Jay Dickerson, Pete Nenni, Sharon Boehlefeld
Members absent (11): Jim Slonoff (treasurer), Lois Self (executive secretary), Jim Killam (communications coordinator), Lonny Cain, Owen Phelps, Rich Rostron, Jan Larsen, Rick Nagel, Jeannine Otto, Wally Haas, Randy Swikle
Martin called the meeting to order at 10 a.m.
Minutes of the April 2 board meeting were approved (Rivara motion / O'Donnell second)
Treasurer's report:
Lannom (for Slonoff) reported a savings account balance of $5.94 for March,
April, May and June. Checking account balances for those months were $3,219.57,
$3,312.59, $2,712.59 and $2,512.59. Revenues were $2,415 in dues. Expenses
were $95 to Castle (newsletter), $84.98 to the Northern Star (spring conference),
$142 to NIU (mailing), $2,000 to NIU (scholarship) and $800 for the high
school scholarships. Items that came in after the report was finished were
income of $805 ($200 dues, $450 spring conference, $155 grammar workshop)
and bills of $245 ($95 newsletter, $100 gift cards for speakers, $50 for
funeral flowers)
Treasurer's report approved (Ruthart motion / Corrado second)
Communications coordinator's report:
Martin for Killam requested a date for the fall newsletter. Board members
agreed it should be mailed the last week of September. Borders gift cards
were sent to speakers as a thank you. Thirty-three people attended the grammar
workshop.
President's report:
Martin welcomed Sharon Boehlefeld, the features editor of the Freeport Journal
Standard, to the board. He also noted the passing of former board member
Richard Parmater, who devoted many years to NINA before resigning last fall
because of health problems.
Program Committee report:
Corrado reported that Tom Hallman of the Oregonian will be the speaker at
our fall conference
Friday, Oct. 22. The theme will be narrative writing. He will speak from
10 to 11:50 a.m., with a break from 10:50 to 11 a.m., and give a "rousing"
10 minute keynote at the lunch. The Rock Island Argus is covering his transportation
costs; NINA will pay for his lodging Thursday night and his $400 speaking
fee. He will be invited to dinner Thursday night and to the party at Lois'
(assuming she is having it again). The cost will be $60 for a newspaper
to register and the first participant and $30 for each additional participant
(same as last year). Corrado will talk to Self about arranging the room,
and Ruthart will ask Hallman if we can videotape him. O'Donnell suggested
a link from NINA's Web page to some of Hallman's stories to promote the
conference. Etheridge will check to see if his paper will print the "Best
of the Press" again this year.
Corrado also reported that the spring conference had some problems with room and technology arrangements, but attendance was good and Berens was good. Jim Slonoff was thoroughly blamed for all problems with the room and the technology. He was in Florida and unable to defend himself.
Education committee report:
O'Donnell reported the grammar workshop was successful and said the committee
thinks it should be an annual program.
Etheridge reported there were 41 applicants (up from 29 last year) in the seventh annual high school scholarship competition. This is the second-highest number of applicants. NINA presented $1,200, and the Daily Herald gave $600. Killam, Nagel and Etheridge judged. NINA board members went to the high schools to make the presentations. Honorable mentions were awarded for the first time this year, although no money was given. Winners were Kristen Sackley of Mundelein High School ($600 NINA, $300 DH), Michelle Sibery of Dundee Crown High School ($400, $200) and Molly Fergus of Maine Township West High School ($200, $100. Honorable mentions were given to Tyson Braun of Woodstock High School and Amanda Sheaffer of Rosary High School (Aurora). Etheridge asked for comments and suggestions. Nenni said we should notify the high schools about the scholarship in the fall so the kids can work toward it.
O'Donnell said committee members are continuing to look at a workshop for high school journalism advisors. He would like to e-mail them to see if there is interest in the program. Ruthart suggested a traveling conference any of us could do in our areas for two or three hours. O'Donnell said we might be able to get advisors join NINA if we could offer something useful to them.
Membership committee report:
Lannom soon will send board members an e-mail to send to their buddies to
promote the fall conference. She is holding off on the survey to send to
buddies until November (after the fall conference). People asked her to
check on an updated membership list.
Executive secretary's report:
Martin for Self reported that there are "tons of entries" for
the contest. Connie Davis will be a visiting professor, replacing Angela
Powers. Her husband, Bob, had knee replacement surgery and is doing well.
Resource committee report:
Martin for Killam reported that there is no report on the speakers bureau,
certifying high school newspapers or creating a general excellence contest
for high school papers.
Old business:
None.
New business:
Martin read a resignation letter from Jan Larsen. Dickerson moved to accept
it, with regret, and Ruthart seconded the motion. The vote was 9-1, with
Rivara voting no.
The board unanimously appointed Boehlefeld to fill the vacancy. (O'Donnell motion/Etheridge second) Her e-mail address is sharon.boehlefeld@journalstandard.com, and her name is pronounced Bowl-a-feld.
Shop talk:
Corrado: Sun Publications was excited to send one reporter to the DNC in
Boston and will send one to the RNC in New York.
O'Donnell: The Daily Herald sent 18,000 some people to the DNC and will
send more to the RNC. On a more serious note, the paper has expanded to
Sugar Grove and Lakemore and Volo. A stringer who used to work for Etheridge
will cover Sugar Grove.
Etheridge: The Ledger-Sentinel is experiencing some growth and has hired
part-time people in sports and advertising. He expects they will become
full time by this winter.
Nenni: The Herald is in the home stretch of shoring up its ethics policies.
It will be part of formal orientation for new hires and regular annual training
for reporters, editors and photographers. O'Donnell added that employees
annually will have to read and sign a code of business conduct policy as
well.
Dickerson: He is sad to be losing his last summer intern. He and his wife
celebrated their birth of their second daughter, Maya, in May. He met John
Kerry Tuesday and told a story about one county board that has "snapped."
Lannom: Her summer intern has been hired to fill a full-time opening. Reporters
and editors are writing personality profiles on each other to hone their
interviewing skills and to obtain some honest feedback on how well the stories
capture the subject's life.
Ruthart: The Argus was busy covering Kerry and Bush in Davenport. The paper's
resources were stressed, but he was on vacation. The paper sued Moline for
access to police reports about a party a number of police attended. Part
of the decision went against the paper (different privacy rules apply to
cops who are off duty), but the judge came down pretty hard on the city.
Boehlefeld: The Journal Standard recently adopted an ethics policy. Some
of staff didn't understand what plagiarism is. She's had a very interesting
several years, with a switch from a six day p.m. to a seven day a.m., three
changes of ownership, two publishers and four editors.
Martin: He has imposed a 10-inch limit on all stories unless the story has
a conflict or reporters can prove it's interesting. He is giving a "good
hustle" award to reporters who go above and beyond the call.
Next board meeting: Thursday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. for the dinner meeting at Carl's Fargo Restaurant in Sycamore.
Meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
Minutes submitted Aug. 9 by Pamela
Lannom.
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