By Jan
Larsen
Second Vice President
NINA president Rick Nagel set an ambitious goal for 2000: Increase
NINA membership by 25 percent.
A membership drive was launched in March, netting 12 new newspaper or
newspaper group members.
NINA welcomes new members Jean Dunning, Maria Krull, Catholic Explorer,
Copley Northern Chicago (including all four dailies and all 15 weeklies),
Freeport Journal Standard, DeKalb Daily Chronicle, Kenosha Bulletin, Sauk
Valley Newspapers, LaRaza, News Media Corps, Star Publications, LIFE newspapers
and Liberty Chicago. Some of these were members in NINA years ago and we're
glad to have them join us again.
Membership dues were restructured to allow increasingly larger newspaper
groups to join at a bargain rate. But not all
groups are taking advantage of this and NINA membership committee needs
to work harder to attract individual newspapers within a large group who
can benefit from NINA membership. We also need to get the word out to those
"lone" sisters out in Northern Illinois who need to get a taste
of NINA to see how valuable membership is.
Join as a group, as a newspaper, as an individual: whatever way you join,
you'll reap the benefits of NINA membership. These include:
1. The chance to attend excellent programs on topics close to our hearts:
topics like better writing, better understanding of media law and better
research through the Internet. It's also a chance to meet people who do
similar jobs in other environments. It's called networking, and you don't
have to drive four hours to do it. It's in your own back yard.
2. The chance to receive this wonderful newsletter four times a year.
3. The chance to win prizes by competing with your Northern Illinois
peers. And winning feels good, so it's well worth the price of admission.
You'll also see what earns judges' respect in today's fast-changing newspaper
world.
If you didn't renew your membership this year, someone from the membership
committee will be calling you this fall. We
want to keep you. If you're not sure whether you renewed, call me at (815)
729-6047 or Dana Ditrichs-Kunkel
at (815) 753-1564.
The year 2000 has meant many changes in the way the NINA board tracks
membership. Keeping track of who is a paid member, and who has not renewed,
has fallen now to support staff at Northern Illinois University's communication
department. We hope from this solid base to grow NINA even more in 2001.