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An oasis in the land of grind
By Tom Martin
2004 NINA President
My first experience as a NINA board member in January 2001 was getting lost trying to find the meeting room.
En route to my second board meeting, I landed somewhere near Huskie Stadium. Then, after someone directed me to the Campus Life Building, I entered the meeting room about 20 minutes late. Lonny Cain, then president, looked up at me briefly while conducting business before a room full of board members.
"Good day," I said in a moment of nervous confusion. I quickly realized that "Good day" is not a greeting but a bidding of farewell. And at that, only in Australia.
I don't remember the rest of that meeting because the words "good day" played over and over, burning a brand into me. But instead of being identified as from a particular cattle ranch, I would be known as the tardy guy who inappropriately says "good day."
Well, a few things have changed since then. For one, I know how to find the meeting room. And two, somehow I became NINA president. I have Pam Lannom to thank for that. Now, she's going to have to teach me when to ask for motions and when to call for the vote. Make no mistake, she'll not coast under my administration.
But seriously, Pam has been a strong NINA leader. She has demonstrated the kind of passion for journalism that propels our craft beyond us. And that's what NINA is all about.
As exciting as journalism is, the daily barrage constantly grinds off our enthusiastic edges. We adopt a rope-a-dope routine, waiting in vain for a break that will allow us to summon that lost inspiration.
NINA is an oasis. It's a place where we can unfold our potential and the potential of our profession, where ideas are more important than tasks. And ideas are crucial.
Newspapers are in no position to trudge on blindly. Our older readers are dying and younger generations are not making us a habit. The competition for time and instant information demand more of us, yet, often, we are fewer. Budgets are tight, and the cavalry is not on the horizon.
We are not exactly lost, but many of us are stalled. NINA can provide the jumper cables. I look forward to a year of strengthening our organization and generating sparks through scholarships, conferences and workshops.
And now that I've found it, I will work to ensure the meeting place never changes.
Good day.
Tom Martin is managing editor of the Galesburg Register-Mail. E-mail
him at tmartin@register-mail.com.