Thursday, June 17, 2021
Virtual meeting held via videoconference on Zoom.
Present: President Randy Showstack; Treasurer Dan Kubiske; Vice President Dee Ann Divis; Corresponding Secretary Amy Fickling; Recording Secretary Kathryn Foxhall; board members Julie Asher, Denise Dunbar, Jacqueline Fuller, Ken Jost, Selma Khenissi, and Celia Wexler.
Special Guests: Stephenie Overman, SPJ Region 2 coordinator; Kathleen Burns, student chapter liaison; Marcel Reid, whistleblower coordinator.
Call to Order
President Randy Showstack called the meeting to order at about 6:47 p.m.
Minutes
Treasurer Dan Kubiske moved the minutes for the May meeting be approved as submitted by email earlier. Board member Selma Khenissi seconded the motion. The board voted to approve the minutes.
Treasurer’s Report
Kubiske had sent the board a financial report earlier. He moved approval of the report. and Khenissi seconded the motion.
The board voted to approve the report, with Vice President Dee Ann Divis abstaining.
Kubiske noted the chapter’s audit committee in 2020 had suggested looking at an online banking service and he said he would like to look into that. He said online banks offer better interest and would make it easier to switch authority when the chapter treasurer changes.
He said access to the account would probably be limited to the treasurer, assistant treasurer and the president.
He moved the treasurer be authorized to investigate different online banking service for the chapter and report back to the board. Divis seconded the motion.
The board voted to approve the motion.
Showstack reported that we have an audit committee for 2021, with Steve Geimann and Bill McCloskey agreeing to serve again. He also called for volunteers for assistant treasurer and said he might ask members about serving.
Committee Reports
Recording Secretary Kathryn Foxhall had previously sent a report about the work opposing restrictions on reporters through public information offices and other means. She noted national SPJ has accepted the proposal for a session on the topic at the September conference in New Orleans.
She said she would lay out the ethical issues in the face of the fact that some journalists want to go along to get along.
She also discussed the recent First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision on a hospital employee speaking to the press, saying in her opinion the ruling may be worse than nothing. Employees may be able to speak to the press about labor issues, but it’s difficult to discern what those include. The policy, she said, is enough to scare employees into silence.
Kubiske noted there is space on the chapter’s website for writing up such stories.
Divis said the last meeting of the PIO committee had been good, including ideas on focusing on education and outreach to press associations.
Programs
Divis said we have three potential programs: on training for Lexus-Nexus; on updated training on protecting sources; and on a new look at how journalists and newsrooms should protect themselves.
Website
Kubiske showed the board the new website design chosen by the website committee, with the layout of various elements. He said eventually he wants a photo of the city with the words of the chapter name over it.
He noted there was still work to be done and he was open to ideas. He said it’s easy enough for members to contribute articles and have them approved by website administrators.
Swearing In
The recently elected chapter officers took the SPJ oath of office, led by Region 2 Director Stephenie Overman. All officers and board of directors members continue in their same positions for the next chapter year, following the election in May. Re-elected to two-year director terms were Selma Khenissi, Celia Wexler and Denise Dunbar. (See meeting attendance at top of minutes for list of officers).
Proposed Event
Khenissi proposed a session on how diplomacy affects reporting in the U.S., with a focus on Israel and the Arab countries. A goal would be to look at how foreign journalists in the U.S. explain what is happening here to their audiences at home.
Member Appreciation
After brief discussion, Showstack asked the board hold off on deciding what to do about a member appreciation event.
Interviews by Young Journalists
The board discussed how to do the proposed project of having young journalists interview chapter members that are senior or even just somewhat older than themselves. Ideas included having someone train the young journalist in the art of the interview and giving them choice of who to interview.
Whistleblower Summit
Marcel Reid, who works with the Whistleblower Summit, noted that this year’s summit is July 26-30 and will celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the leaking of the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg. She said it has been her mission for the last several years ensure that whistleblowers and journalists can work together.
She said the summit is filled with stories that have not been told.
Reid asked that the chapter to be a sponsor of the summit and host a panel on the Pentagon Papers. Members of the board and Reid discussed the need for whistleblowers and journalists to know the rules of the road that apply to each other.
Divis moved that the chapter co-sponsor the Whistleblower Summit. Board member Denise Dunbar seconded the motion. The board voted to approve.
Board member Celia Wexler said she did not think most journalists understand how underprotected whistleblowers are. Dunbar said there is the difficulty for journalists deciding whether someone is a whistleblower or only a disgruntled employee.
Divis noted the chapter might be able to do something with this subject when the SPJ national conference is in Washington in 2022.
Wexler, Divis, and Showstack volunteered to be on a task force to pull something together for the summit.
Dateline Awards
Showstack said the chapter’s virtual presentation of the Dateline Awards had been fantastic. He thanked all the people involved. He said we may want to think about doing other things with the winners including programs for the chapter or making a book of the winning articles.
Kubiske moved the board express its thanks and appreciation to Jim Bohannon for his regular and spectacular support of the Dateline Awards dinners by serving as master of ceremonies and to the nonboard members who donated their time to the presentation.
Divis seconded the motion. The board voted to approve the motion.
Student Chapter Liaison Kathleen Burns suggested the board send out invitations to the award applicants to join the chapter and said she would follow up.
Reimbursement for Expenses for SPJ Meeting
In discussion of motions to reimburse certain expenses, Corresponding Secretary Amy Fickling noted that delegates from the chapter don’t have to register for the convention to serve as a delegate. She said there was no need for the delegates to have their registration paid. She also expressed concerns about tasking a delegate with official chapter business by attending the convention, if they go in person rather than attend online, with the COVID-19 pandemic not declared over yet.
Showstack said he would encourage delegates to go to the convention for the exceptional networking. Divis said it was worth the financial support for what people learn and bring back to the chapter.
Foxhall moved and Kubiske seconded the motion that the chapter agrees to reimburse up to four delegates to the SPJ convention in New Orleans Sept. 2-4, 2021, at the rate they paid for the early-bird registration and President’s Installation dinner, at approximately $345 each. The reimbursement requires that delegates successfully complete their duties, including attending and voting, as votes are called, during all convention business sessions and writing at least one report from the convention for the issue of the Dateline newsletter that follows. Delegates must provide a paid receipt — preferably from their registration packets — showing their registration rate and the dinner, if attended, to receive reimbursement. Any delegate who is reimbursed for or has comped the registration by their employer or other party, such as national SPJ, shall not also ask the chapter for reimbursement.
The board voted to approve the motion with Fickling dissenting.
Kubiske moved and Foxhall seconded that the chapter agrees to reimburse the chapter president at the rate he paid for early-bird registration to attend the SPJ convention in New Orleans Sept. 2-4, 2021, at approximately $260. The chapter also will reimburse the chapter president at the rate he paid for early-bird registration for the President’s Installation dinner on the final night of the convention, at approximately $85; the reasonable cost (at approximately $400) for roundtrip airfare booked at least two weeks in advance to travel from Washington/Baltimore to New Orleans to attend the convention; and the cost of staying at the convention hotel at the room rate at approximately $149/night plus local and hotel taxes for up to four nights. Reimbursement will be made following the president’s return from the convention, after paid receipts are presented.
The board voted to approve the motion, with Fickling dissenting.
Showstack called for ideas for promotions for the 2022 SPJ meeting in Washington, D.C., to be carried out at the upcoming meeting in New Orleans. Overman, Dunbar, and Showstack agreed to be on a task force to come up with ideas.
Showstack said we could discuss Fickling’s idea to have a local gathering to watch the conference online.
He also said he would like to get a member survey out within a few weeks because there is a door prize of free registration to the conference for answering. The chapter was awarded the free registration as a result of its participation in a promotion run by national SPJ earlier.
Adjournment
Kubiske moved and Divis seconded a motion that the board meeting be adjourned. The board voted to approve the motion.
The meeting was adjourned at about 8:29 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathryn Foxhall
Recording Secretary, 2021-2022