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MINUTES
MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS
FEBRUARY 27, 2012
CONFERENCE CALL

Meeting Called to Order

With President John Ensslin presiding, the meeting of the executive committee of the Society of Professional Journalists was called to order at 9 a.m. EST on Monday, Feb. 27, 2012, via conference call.

In addition to Ensslin, the following were present: Past President Hagit Limor; Secretary-Treasurer David Cuillier; Vice President for Campus Chapter Affairs Neil Ralston; Director at-Large Bill McCloskey; Region 2 Director Brian Eckert. Staff members present for the meeting were Executive Director Joe Skeel and Associate Executive Director Chris Vachon. Guests included Membership Chair Holly Edgell and past Digital Media Chair Jennifer Peebles.

Digital History Timeline

Former Digital Media chair Jennifer Peebles demonstrated a digital timeline of SPJ’s history that she is developing. Peebles is using material that was gathered from the development of the centennial book. No completion date for the project has been established yet.

Institutional Memberships

Membership chair Holly Edgell presented the executive committee with information about developing an institutional membership offering for newsrooms. The pricing was tiered based on the number of newsroom staff. The news organization would receive the member rate on SDX award submissions; a Quill subscription; $10 off the $75 membership rate for a certain number of staff members.

The executive committee recommended that the program be tried for one year and then reviewed. They also recommended that the program only be utilized for a limited number of newsrooms, maybe 10, in the first year, to see how well it can be implemented. The executive committee recommends that the program be brought to the board of directors for review.

Whistle Blower Policy

SPJ’s Whistle Blower Policy has been reviewed by Baker Hostetler and they added some language based on board direction. The executive committee reviewed the revised policy.

Upon proper motion and second by McCloskey and Limor, respectively, the executive committee accepted the whistle blower policy.

Copyright Law and Fair Use

The Center for Social Media at American University has approached SPJ about supporting their efforts to develop a best-practices document for journalists when it comes to fair use. The Center has the financial support of the McCormick Foundation. With the support, they conducted a survey of journalists. The next step is for them to meet directly with journalists, which they will do with the assistance of SPJ. After the document is developed, SPJ can sign its name to the document if it so chooses.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 10 a.m. EST.