By Jan Larsen
NINA President

Becoming NINA president is the very last item on my "things to do before I die" list.

Visiting Machu Pichu is first, if you want to know.

So, you ask, why is this woman the 2002 president of NINA?
I love NINA. I love getting together with board members to find out what is happening at their newspapers. I admire the NINA board members; these are exciting people at the top of their fields.
I love the seminars we offer, like the computer assisted reporting workshops Bill Dedman has given twice in the past two years and the workshop on narrative reporting last spring.

I love the fall conference -- especially the speech Dirk Johnson, Chicago bureau chief for Newsweek, gave Oct. 26. His words stay in my heart.

I love the writing contests -- even though The Herald News didn't win as many awards as I thought we should have this year! (Note to self: What do judges want? Find out.)

I am happy we give scholarships to NIU journalism students and I have had a lot of fun with the high school journalism contest. Some of these kids are going to be our bosses one day.

I am excited about what NINA stands for -- improving print journalism through northern Illinois.

Hey, it's not like becoming president is a big surprise. I knew two years ago when I was asked to become second vice president that this day eventually would come.

But wow, I didn't think it would come this fast!

Let's confess. I am terrified.

And that is the No. 1 reason why I am president. It scares me. If I survive this year, then I've made my favorite Nietzsche quote come true: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

If I am to grow as a journalist, I must do something that scares me. I cannot allow myself to get stuck in the comfortable rut of being a NINA board member, but never the leader.

So here I am.

There is one more reason why being NINA president is not tops on my list.

Being a president takes time. It takes commitment. And we are in a tough era of journalism: most of us are making do with less every year. Most of our newspapers are improving, but we're on this tightrope, do more, get less, do better, but your budget is cut.

It is tough to carve out time for NINA committee work. For our board members, it might get done during that 15 minutes at the end of a hectic day. Or during a lunch hour when you're cramming a sandwich down your throat at your desk. Or on a Sunday afternoon when you'd rather be playing with your kids.

For our broader membership, it's getting off that Friday to go to a workshop or seminar when your big story for Sunday is due and you're not quite done with it. Or convincing your skeptical editor it's worth his or her time to let you go.

These are wild and crazy days in journalism. The big chains are buying most of us out. Newsrooms have always been pressure cookers, but the steam is building and building as we strive to get that profit our owners want.

2001 was a key year for NINA. Lonny Cain was a magnificent president and the year was a great success. With all the newspaper budget cutbacks, we lost only two NINA member papers. We gained three.

I am president today because Lonny Cain said I could do it. And because the late Marx Gibson asked me to join this board six years ago.

And who am I to prove those guys wrong?

2002 is another key year. Can NINA survive? Can we grow stronger? That's not just up to me. It's up to all of us.

This is what you do. Send your reporters to our seminars, our spring and fall conferences. I know you can't spare the time, but your reporters will come back invigorated, with new ideas, and the knowledge that their boss cared enough to carve out that precious time.

Tell people about NINA. Tell every journalist you meet. Maybe they can get their newspapers to join. Or maybe they can join as individual members.

NINA is right in your back yard. We've been around for almost 40 years and our mission becomes more important every year.

Join us. It's fun. It's educational. And who knows? You might grow a little bit, too.

Jan Larsen is features editor for the Herald News in Joliet. Contact her at (815) 729-6047, or JLarsen@suburbanchicagonews.com