SPJ DC Letter on National Transparency Concerns — With Updates

Dear national board of directors:

We wish to register our concern about the way that the departure of Society of Professional Journalists executive director Alison Bethel McKenzie was announced. As journalists ourselves and as active members of the premier U.S. nonprofit representing the values of transparency, public service, oversight and accuracy, we believe this could have been handled in a much more transparent way.

The sole description of this departure was that Bethel McKenzie “resigned.“ This statement was not attributed to anyone.

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UPDATE: SPJ’s elected president, Alex Tarquinio, two nights later issued a lengthy blog post about some of the circumstances surrounding Bethel McKenzie’s departure. She said there will be an interim executive director.

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(Back to our original letter.) We fully appreciate that this is a personnel matter and that many details must be kept private. However, it is incumbent, we believe, among all organizations to be as transparent and detailed as possible under such circumstances. Indeed, the boilerplate information directly below the two sentences announcing her resignation and wishing her the best in future endeavors starts by saying: “SPJ promotes the free flow of information …”

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We write to you in a cooperative spirit in hoping to positively contribute to the organization’s well-being. We hope you will include local chapters as much as possible in this process.

This brief news release was issued at around midnight on April 29, 2019. Unlike with most other press releases from this association, it was apparently not sent to members of the media. Nor was it sent to members themselves.

This announcement was not released on social media, either. Unlike most other announcements from our group. Best communications and public relations practices dictate releasing even negative information in the same or similar ways as positive information.

We request that going forward, the association and its board do a better job communicating to all stakeholders about such important issues. For starters, who is the point person or people to whom questions can be addressed, such as what will be the process for picking a successor to Bethel McKenzie. How can they be contacted?

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

UPDATE: We understand from some national board members that there may be a board meeting on Monday, May 6, to discuss this issue. We have asked to be allowed to participate in the public portions. We hope all SPJ members can so participate. Our group has added some members, so please see the full signature line below.

FURTHER UPDATE: Thanks to an alert member, we’ve now learned that SPJ indeed will meet as a board Monday at 3 p.m. Eastern time. People can participate remotely. Details are here.

Respectfully,

The boards of the DC Pro, Chicago Headline Club, Florida Pro, San Diego Pro, Louisiana Pro, SPJ Western Washington, San Antonio Pro, Utah Headliners and Pittsburgh Pro chapters of SPJ

And on their own behalf:

Anna Walsh, Maryland Pro Chapter president
Jordan Frias, New England Pro Chapter president
Stephanie Bluestein, Greater Los Angeles Pro Chapter president
Amanda Waldroupe, Oregon Territory Chapter president
Adam Powell, SPJ Alabama president
Beth Konrad, SPJ Detroit Chapter president
Frederick Melo, Minnesota SPJ board secretary
John Russell, Indiana Pro Chapter president
Ben Trefny, SPJ Northern California chapter president
Tim Eigo, Valley of the Sun Pro Chapter president
Kathryn Jones, Region 8 coordinator (Oklahoma and Texas), and SPJ members from that region
John Brewer and DeWayne Smoot