By Denise Dunbar
As one of our chapter’s two delegates to the annual SPJ conference held Oct. 27-30 here in Washington, I wanted to give you a report back. In a nutshell, our SPJ DC Pro Chapter board was well represented, as a number of us planned, moderated or otherwise participated in panels – more details below (and here, where some of the panels are previewed).
The business meeting of the national organization’s delegates was truly the most bizarre such gathering I’ve ever attended. The controversial change to the national bylaws that would have changed the current delegate system did not advance. Wouldn’t you know, it involved procedural wrangling, a close and contested vote and a dramatic recount. The result was a 48-48 tie, meaning the proposal to change from a system of delegates representing 50 chapter members or other apportionment if delegates were representing members in a region but unaffiliated with a chapter to a one member-one vote method of governance, and the other provisions within that section of proposed bylaws revisions, failed by one vote.
For the record, Stephenie Overman (a chapter member but not a board member, and also Region 2 coordinator) and I voted on opposite sides of the delegate issue: I voted against the one member-one vote proposal and Stephenie voted for it. Stephenie said thankfully no one was physically harmed during the session. It did at times feel like an insurrection, though, and we were locked in the room.
Students made up a significant percentage of MediaFest22 attendees and they were for the most part extremely impressive. The future of our profession is in good hands with young people like these moving into the ranks. We need to figure out how to keep them involved with SPJ and infuse our organization with new energy and ideas. Of course, there were two college media organizations co-hosting the event with SPJ, so having a lot of students on hand should come as no surprise.
A panel put together by DC Pro Chapter President Dee Ann Divis, “Up in the Air – Using Drones to Cover Stories,” had 48 sign-ups to attend the Thursday, Oct. 27, session, with presentations made by Greg Agvent of CNN and Chuck Tobin of law firm Ballard Spahr. I moderated the panel in place of Dee Ann, who as you know was unable to attend the conference after all the planning she had done with the national conference planning committee. There was tremendous interest from students in being able to learn how to be drone journalists through their colleges.
The panel was also popular when Dee Ann debuted it in 2018 at the Medill School of Journalism Washington, D.C., campus near Metro Center.
Celia Wexler, a director on the DC Chapter board, led a panel Thursday afternoon called “Elections in a Time of Turmoil: What Every Journalist Needs to Know.” Panelists included attorney Shannon Jankowski, Liz Howard from the Brennan Center for Justice and Jeanette Senecal from the League of Women Voters. A whopping 151 people signed up for this panel!
On Friday, Oct. 28, Dan Kubiske, DC Chapter treasurer who also co-chairs the national SPJ International Community, was part of the panel “Safety in the Field: Physical and Digital Concerns” along with Alison Macrina from Library Freedom Project, which drew 23 participants.
Also on Friday, there was a panel organized by DC Chapter Immediate Past President Randy Showstack, “Covering Climate Change: What Journalists Need to Know,” with the panelists Bobby Magill, a reporter for Bloomberg Law, Marianne Lavelle, from Inside Climate News, Emily Holden, founder of Floodlight, and Justin Worland, senior correspondent for Time. This panel had an impressive 120 attendees.
On Saturday, Oct. 29, Dan led the panel “Covering Press Freedom as News,” which I was able to attend and found fascinating. Dan conducted an interview with Jesica Jerreat, who leads Voice of America’s press freedom coverage. They had 45 people sign up to attend.
Also on Saturday, Stephenie led the panel “Nonprofit News to the Rescue?” This panel included Sarah Vogelsong, editor-in-chief of Virginia Mercury, and Len Lazarick, president and chairman of MarylandReporter.com. This was a really interesting panel with 70 attendees.
Dan was part of a third session, “Threats to Journalists in Mexico and Why it Matters” on Saturday, along with freelancer Katherine Corcoran and Cristina Caicedo Smit from Voice of America. This panel had 84 attendees.
Kathryn Foxhall, a DC Pro Chapter board director, was part of a panel moderated by Haisten Willis of the Washington Examiner, with Cinnamon Janzer, a freelancer, and Glen Nowak, a professor at the University of Georgia. The topic was “Obstruction of Reporting through PIO Controls and Other Means: Responding to the controls on free speech and free press.” Kathryn explained why this issue is so important and the panelists emphasized the need to state in stories who was obstructive and what questions weren’t answered by the officials. This panel had 68 attendees.
Denise Dunbar was elected SPJ DC Pro Chapter vice president and sworn in at the June 14, 2022, annual meeting during the chapter’s Dateline Awards and Hall of Fame Dinner at the National Press Club. She has been acting president of the chapter while President Dee Ann Divis is temporarily unable to perform the duties of the office of president. She also was one of the two chapter delegates to the SPJ convention held during MediaFest22, also stepping in to replace Divis as delegate.