Members present (17): Joe Corrado (President), Colin O'Donnell
(1st VP), Pam Lannom, Roger Ruthhart, Lois Self (executive secretary), Jim
Killam (communications coordinator), Lonny Cain, Rich Rostron, Rick Nagel,
Pete Nenni, Randy Swikle, John Etheredge, Wally Haas, Sharon Boehlefeld,
Jay Dickerson, Greg Rivara (2nd VP), Jim Slonoff (Treasurer).
Members absent (2): Tom Martin (Past President), Jeannine Otto.
Corrado called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.
Minutes of the Dec. 3 board meeting were approved (Lannom motion / Etheredge second)
Treasurer's report: Slonoff
As of Oct. 31, the savings account balance was $5.94. Checking account balance
was $3,030.87. Income included $1,575 in fall conference fees and $270 in
late dues. Expenses included $190 to Castle PrinTech for printing, $465.99
for the board dinner in October and two $25 charges for a received check
that bounced.
As of Nov. 30, both account balances remained the same.
As of Dec. 31, the savings balance remained $5.94 and the checking balance
was $6,440.87. Income of $3,810 was received from fall conference fees.
$400 in expenses were incurred as part of the payment for Tom Hallman at
the fall conference. Slonoff noted that about $2,000 in fall conference
expenses will be subtracted soon from the checking balance.
$310 in checks received from the February 2004 design workshop were never cashed. Slonoff will contact the newspapers affected and rebill them.
Also during the treasurer's report, the board unanimously approved $1,200 for high school scholarships in 2005, and $2,000 for scholarships to NIU journalism students in 2005. (Rivara motion / Rostron second)
Treasurer's report accepted unanimously (Rivara motion / Self second).
Executive secretary's report:
Self said a breakdown of fall conference income and expenses will be available
soon. She also is checking on the possibility of using rooms at NIU's Naperville
and Hoffman Estates campuses for the spring conference.
President's report:
Corrado nominated Penny Wiegert, editor of The Observer for the Catholic
diocese of Rockford, to fill the board vacancy left by the resignation of
Owen Phelps. Penny plans to attend the April 1 meeting. The board approved
unanimously (Boehlefeld motion / Self second).
Corrado nominated Rich Rostron to serve as this year's at-large member of
the executive committee. The board approved unanimously (Lannom motion
/ Ruthhart second)
Corrado also encouraged board members to bring to meetings copies of major
projects or other cool stuff their papers have been doing.
Report accepted (Rivara motion / Ruthhart second).
Program Committee report:
O'Donnell outlined a plan for a headline writing workshop as NINA's spring
conference April 29 at NIU-Naperville. A Daily Herald copy editor would
serve as moderator, and four to six reader/panelists would discuss what
makes an effective headline. The workshop will run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. and cost $25 for members, $50 for nonmembers. Killam will put directions
to the Naperville campus on the NINA Web site.
Report accepted (Ruthhart motion / Haas second).
Education committee report:
Rivara said four workshops are being planned for the next 14 months. Tentatively,
they are:
- June 2005: grammar workshop
- September 2005: Newsroom management / leadership
- November or December 2005: Covering elections
- February 2006: TBA.
Report accepted (Rostron motion / O'Donnell second).
Membership committee report:
Lannom (for Martin) said the committee will update "buddy" assignments
for board members soon. A survey also will be sent to board members, to
send to "buddy" papers. A possible membership drive also was discussed,
along with more promotional materials aimed at nonmembers (including correspondents)
who attend NINA workshops and conferences. Killam and the resource committee
will work on updating the NINA brochure and creating promotional flyers
listing upcoming conferences and workshops.
Report accepted (Ruthhart motion / Haas second).
Communication coordinator / Resource committee report:
Killam met Dec. 11 with representatives of the Kettle Moraine Press Association,
a high-school journalism organization in Illinois and Wisconsin. NINA will
offer to help coordinate and/or host occasional programs at NIU, including
a possible career day, as well as offer to supply presenters for KEMPA events
and for the national Journalism Education Association convention Nov. 10-13
in Chicago. NINA also will promote its high-school scholarship program to
KEMPA. The committee also plans to develop a promotional poster for high
school journalism classrooms. Swikle added that a big contribution NINA
can make to high school journalism is support for the First Amendment.
Report accepted (Haas motion / Cain second).
Old business:
None.
New business:
Scholarship applications will be posted on the Web site by day's end, and
mailed to high schools in the next couple of weeks, Killam said.
Shop talk:
- Corrado: The Sun developed a movie-poster theme for its high school basketball
preview sections. Joe brought in some of these sections to show the board.
- Nenni: The Daily Herald used its Web site to post, as a PDF, a 50-page
transcript of a meeting where the Illinois Open Meetings Act was violated.
The page got more than 1,000 hits the first week it was up. The paper also
is using its Web site to update political filings each day.
- Swikle: The Illinois Press Foundation is expanding the First Amendment
curriculum he developed, with separate curricula for early elementary, elementary,
junior high and high school students. Randy is traveling to Washington,
D.C., next week for a Knight Foundation presentation of a look at First
Amendment education. The conclusion is that the First Amendment is not being
adequately taught in high schools.
- Self: NIU has spent $65,000 to $70,000 in Scripps Foundation Trust money
for digital photo equipment.
- Rivara: Greg asked if anyone has had success in implementing anti-spam
software. There is potential for employees to file complaints or grievances
if the problem continues, especially when the spam is pornographic. Anyone
with suggestions should e-mail Greg at grivara@kcchronicle.com.
- Rostron: The Independent is now FTPing its pages to the printer, with
a noticeable improvement in print quality.
- Killam: Jim asked if anyone has a good policy regarding confidentiality
between newspaper departments. For instance, if an ad contains newsworthy
material, is that considered fair game for the news department? Please e-mail
suggestions to jkillam@niu.edu.
- Cain: Lonny is looking for Quark vs. InDesign advice. It was suggested
that this might be a good topic for the next newsletter. An InDesign workshop
also would be a possibility. Killam said Adobe representatives probably
would be willing to do a program free of charge.
- Haas: Along with preparing for a new press and a Spanish-language weekly,
the Register Star is searching for a new managing editor. There are three
advisory committees giving recommendations to the executive editor: one
from the newsroom, one from management and one from the community. The new
managing editor is scheduled to be in place by March 12.
- Ruthhart: Victory was won in a Rock Island High School censorship case.
Two months after the initial problem, the principal released all of the
previously censored material, unedited. Also the paper received 80 applications
for a teen columnist position, and as a result has created four teams of
teen writers to develop Saturday Life sections. A teen-oriented Web site
also will launch in March.
- Dickerson: Galena Publisher P. Carter Newton is recovering from some health
problems.
Meeting adjourned at 12:20 p.m.
Next meeting: Friday, April 1 at the Northern Star, NIU.
Minutes submitted by Jim Killam,
communications coordinator, 1-26-05.
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