Oct 12 2009 board meeting minutes

October 12, 2009 board meeting minutes

Attendance: Jennifer Monnin, Jane Beathard, Robin Hepler, Chuck Nelson, Kevin Kemper, Barbara James, Mike Lorz, Jonathan Peters, Sharon West, Julanne Hohbach

President Kevin Kemper called the meeting to order at 12:10 p.m. with a quorum present.

Minutes of the Sept. 14 meetings were amended and approved.

Robin Hepler provided the treasurer’s report. The balance in the checking account was $9,233.01 on Sept. 18. As directed by the board, she moved $4,600 from the checking account to the investment account that day. The movement in the accounts will be reflected in the October statement.

Bills paid included Kemper’s trip to the national conference: $1,053

Additional receipts from the regional conference: $155
Dues received from the national organization: $352.50

The index fund has a balance of $12,656.91. The value of the combined investment funds at the end of June was $21,994.41

Currently, there is also $173.97 in the PayPal account.

Programming: Jonathan Peters reported record attendance at the 2009 Law & Media Conference on Oct. 2. About a third of attendees were attorneys, another third were journalists and the final third were students. Peters said he tried to get more law students to attend. If we want to add law students to the solicitation in the future, it can be done through the Ohio State Bar Association.

Kemper announced the Columbus Metropolitan Club is not interested in co-sponsoring a diversity program. However, he will pursue finding a venue and date for a panel examining the Rifqua Bery controversy.

He is currently looking for a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel to serve on the panel. He’s applied for a $500 grant from the national organization to pay travel expenses.

Mike Lorz suggested contacting another Ohio SPJ chapter to co-sponsor the event. He also suggested the board contact religion reporters to serve on the panel. Jane Beathard suggested a judge or domestic relations attorney to explain legal principles involved.

Jennifer Monnin asked about the objective of the panel discussion. Sharon West suggested an evaluation of the media coverage. Has it been fair? Has it been ethical?

West also suggested Joe Blundo or Ruth Sternberg serve as panel moderator. Ann Fisher was another suggestion. West also suggested a Nov. 19 evening event at the Worthington Inn.

Membership: Julanne Hohbach said she is looking for ideas to entice new members into SPJ.

Old Business: Central Ohio SPJ is now represented on several social networking Web sites. Katy Waters is working on a Facebook page.

Beth Gianforcaro was unable to attend the board meeting. However, she submitted a written report regarding her LinkedIn activities. The new LinkedIn page has an overview of the chapter and links to the Web site. Invitational e-mails went out to all board members, inviting them to join the page. Following the launch, invitations went to 140 local and Ohio journalists, as well as those working in news-related fields. To date the Central Ohio SPJ has 82 people connected on the LinkedIn page, with 60 outstanding invitations. Only one invitation has been rejected.

Those on the network include working and retired journalists and those working in news-related fields. The Law & Media Conference was promoted through the network, as were Candidates’ Nights. It is an avenue for promoting events. It also works as an electronic Rolodex.

Kemper said he is working on a newsletter and hopes to get one published by the second week in October.

New Business: Barb James asked what issues the board wants to address in regards to an ethics program. She suggested a program about the pressures of getting a story on the Web site and getting the facts correctly. She also noted the problems commentators like Glenn Beck cause for mainstream newsrooms. He urges his listeners to call their local daily newspapers if conservative issues (ie. Acorn) are not being heavily covered.

Lorz noted that most people don’t seem to know the difference between journalists and media personalities today.

The meeting adjourned at 12:50 p.m.