For Immediate Release:
Dateline: Indianapolis,
IN
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
CONTACT: Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins, SPJ National President, ashanti.blaize@gmail.com
Zoë Berg, SPJ Communications Specialist, 317-920-4785, zberg@spj.org
INDIANAPOLIS — Each year, Society of Professional Journalists delegates vote on resolutions submitted by members on topics of importance to the Society.
This year's resolutions were voted on by delegates during the Closing Business Meeting at the SPJ23 Journalism Convention.
Here are the resolutions that were approved during SPJ23:
Resolution 1: A Resolution Honoring Jerry Ceppos
Submitted by: Louisiana State University Manship School of Mass Communication Dean Kim Bissell and the Manship School faculty, staff, students, alumni and former Interim Dean Josh Grimm. Also included in this resolution are officers from the 2022 and 2023 LSU SPJ student chapter. 2022-2023 officers are Josh Archote, president; Gabrielle Jimenez, vice president; Piper Hutchinson, secretary; Domenic Purdy, treasurer; Claire Sullivan, social media coordinator; and Freda Yarbrough Dunne, LSU faculty adviser. 2023-2024 officers are Gabrielle Jimenez, president; Lizzie Falcetti, vice president; Maddie Scott, secretary-treasurer; Claire Sullivan, social media coordinator; and Will Mari. LSU faculty adviser.
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS Jerome “Jerry” Merle Ceppos was born in Washington, D.C., on October 14, 1946, and died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 29, 2022;
WHEREAS In a career spanning more than 50 years, Ceppos was a top editor at one of the nation’s foremost newspaper companies, dean of two major journalism schools and a 2016 fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists. As an editor and later an educator, he drove a focus on the new technology and its remaking of society. He also championed diversity in the newsroom and the classroom;
WHEREAS Ceppos led the “San Jose Mercury News” when digital media was exploding with innovation, winning two Pulitzer Prizes as its managing editor. He would rise to be the top news officer of Knight Ridder newspapers, including the “Mercury News,” “Miami Herald,” “The Philadelphia Inquirer,” “Detroit Free Press,” “The Charlotte Observer,” “The Kansas City Star” and 26 other daily papers;
WHEREAS as a self-described "geeky" student at Northwood High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, Ceppos edited the school paper, “The Red and Black.” At the University of Maryland, he edited “The Diamondback” and graduated in 1969 with a degree in journalism. After college, Ceppos was a reporter and editor at the “Rochester Democrat and Chronicle” in New York for three years. In 1972, he moved south to become an editor at “The Miami Herald,” the beginning of a long career with Knight Newspapers, later Knight Ridder;
WHEREAS In 1981, Ceppos moved to San Jose, where he quickly rose through the editing ranks. The “Mercury News” Pulitzer Prizes when he was managing editor were for reporting on massive transfers of personal wealth by President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines out of his country, and for coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake;
WHEREAS In 1996, a year after Ceppos became executive editor, the “Mercury News” published a three-part investigative series, “Dark Alliance,” which made the sensational charge that the crack epidemic raging in Los Angeles was largely sparked by two Nicaraguan emigres selling large amounts of cocaine to raise funds for a CIA-backed rebel army in their home country. An illustration accompanying the stories showed a person smoking crack, superimposed over the logo of the CIA;
WHEREAS When three newspapers, “The New York Times,” “The Washington Post” and “The Los Angeles Times,” published major pieces calling into question the reporting in “Dark Alliance,” Ceppos assigned a reporter and editors uninvolved in the original stories to re-report them;
WHEREAS On May 11, 1997, he published a front-page column, saying the Dark Alliance series had "oversimplified the complex issues of how the crack epidemic in America grew" and "did not include information that contradicted a central assertion of the series." He took personal responsibility for the flawed work, saying, "Few things in life are harder than owning up to one's shortcomings." He said the paper had failed to meet its high standards and would overhaul some of its editing processes;
WHEREAS Though Ceppos faced complaints he had caved to pressure, he was widely praised for accepting criticism and acting transparently. "His candor and self-criticism set a high standard for cases in which journalists make egregious errors," said “The New York Times” in an editorial. He would later receive an award from the Society for his "superior ethical conduct" in handling the aftermath of the series;
WHEREAS In 1999, Ceppos was promoted to vice president for news of Knight Ridder, a role in which, for six years, he identified and recruited top editors, set quality and ethical standards, oversaw the company's Washington and foreign bureaus and, as he put it, "led sometimes recalcitrant newsrooms into the digital age."
WHEREAS Ceppos left Knight Ridder in 2005, just before the publicly traded company was sold and broken up. After consulting for several years, he began a new career as an educator, telling friends he always failed at retirement;
WHEREAS Appointed dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada/ Reno in 2008, Ceppos raised the funds to renovate the school's building and update its technology for the future;
WHEREAS After three years at Reynolds, Ceppos moved in 2011 to the Manship School, where he was dean for seven years before transitioning into a full-time teaching role, giving courses on media ethics, American media history and a seminar on fairness in journalism;
WHEREAS Ceppos diversified the faculty and found the resources to endow a chair in race, media and cultural literacy;
WHEREAS As dean of the Manship School, Ceppos started a news service to help fill a void left by declining mainstream news outlets, assigning student journalists to cover state government and undertake investigative projects. He urged them to dig into unsolved murders by Ku Klux Klansmen during the civil rights era, and 90 news sites in Louisiana and Mississippi have run stories by Manship students;
WHEREAS Ceppos’ last published piece appeared several weeks before his death in the “Inter Mountain,” a newspaper in Elkins, West Virginia. It was an appreciation of his high school newspaper adviser, Mary Lee Ruddle, a West Virginia native who died at 95 in June 2022. She had recently told Ceppos how proud she was of his accomplishments. “That’s how Miss Ruddle — to this day, none of us dares call her anything other than ‘Miss Ruddle’ — was, an unrelenting coach who demanded high standards but, importantly, assured us that we could meet her requirements. Her confidence was important for a geeky high-school boy.”
WHEREAS Friends and family gathered on October 20, 2022, at LSU to celebrate Ceppos’ life, leadership, public service and friendship, The Manship School and the LSU SPJ chapter resolve to honor Jerry Ceppos with this resolution marking his remarkable career and life that was foremost led by his kindness, compassion and attention to details. As Ceppos would say to any student, entry-level or seasoned journalist – “Make Your Words Count”;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society, meeting in convention September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, honors Ceppos’ service and commitment to the field of journalism and the example he set;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be presented to Ceppos’ family.
Resolution 2: A Resolution Thanking Society of Professional Journalists President Claire Regan
Submitted by: Resolutions Committee
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS Claire Regan is completing her one-year term as the 106th president of the Society of Professional Journalists;
WHEREAS President Regan showed leadership and strength as we dealt with contentious issues within the Society and giving enormous amounts of her personal time to guide the organization during a time of leadership transition;
WHEREAS she set goals to increase diversity, inclusion and equity in our organization and kept this commitment by exploring all areas of the Society to make her vision a reality;
WHEREAS President Regan instituted a policy of making herself available for individual talks with members on a regular basis, thereby providing a more direct and open line of communication with the membership,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting at a convention September. 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, from members across the country thank President Regan for her years of dedication, commitment and courage to lead the Society
Resolution 3: A Resolution Thanking the Staff of the Society of Professional Journalists
Submitted by: The Resolutions Committee
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS the headquarters staff of the Society of Professional Journalists is a small but mighty band of first-rate people who work hard every day to make journalism and journalists themselves stronger;
WHEREAS the Society headquarters staff has stayed connected and committed to the cause of journalism on behalf of the Society’s members despite working from home and during a time of staff changes and financial insecurity,
WHEREAS every staff member is responsible individually for the success of the Society, and all of them are the backbone of the Society every day of every year,
WHEREAS Interim executive Director Jennifer Royer, managed the SPJ team in a tumultuous time to help make the Society a better place for all journalists;
WHEREAS even with the fiscal and staff issues facing the organization, Jennifer Royer and her team stepped up to organize the 2023 SPJ National Convention in Las Vegas with exciting and innovative programming;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting in convention September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, offers deeply felt and greatly appreciated thanks to the Society staff for its commitment to excellence for the Society all year round, especially during yet another great convention.
Resolution 4: A Resolution on threats to Press Freedom in Nicaragua
Submitted by: International Journalism Community
Co-signers: Louisiana Pro Chapter
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS, Nicaragua is a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19 of which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” and
WHEREAS, Nicaragua is also a signatory to the 1994 Declaration of Chapultepec, which states in its preamble: "Wherever the media can function unhindered and determine their own direction and manner of serving the public there is a blossoming of the ability to seek information, to disseminate it without restraints, to question it without fear, and to promote the free exchange of ideas and opinions. But wherever freedom of the press is curtailed, for whatever reasons, the other freedoms vanish," and
WHEREAS, Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec also states: “Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, pressure, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators,” and
WHEREAS, the government of President Daniel Ortega Saavedra has persisted in his policy of closing independent media outlets and arresting, imprisoning and exiling journalists, and
WHEREAS, in February 2023 the Nicaraguan government stripped more than 300 Nicaraguans of their citizenship and sent them into exile, including several prominent journalists, among them Carlos Fernando Chamorro; and
WHEREAS, more than 180 Nicaraguan journalists remain in exile in Costa Rica trying to keep press freedom alive in Nicaragua by reporting from abroad, including Lucía Pineda Ubau, a television journalist imprisoned in 2018 for reporting on the street protests against President Ortega’s dictatorship; Néstor Arce Aburto, who livestreamed protests before making a narrow escape, and Octavio Enríquez, whose family faced threats as he reported on corruption,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, condemns these violations of freedom of the press in Nicaragua, and expresses solidarity with its Nicaraguan colleagues as they seek to report the news factually despite a climate of hostility and intimidation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that SPJ calls upon President Ortega to respect the Nicaraguan government’s obligations under the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of Chapultepec by releasing any and all journalists being held for exercising their rights and duties as journalists, by allowing all those in exile to return to Nicaragua to practice their profession, and by desisting from further arrests of journalists, from police raids on media organizations and from acts of intimidation and repression against journalists and their organizations; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the Nicaraguan ambassador to the United States, to the office of President Ortega, to the secretary-general of the Organization of American States and to Volker Túrk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.
Resolution 5: Resolution on Iran and Press Freedom
Submitted by: International Community
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS following the outbreak in Iran of demonstrations protesting the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini a year ago while in police custody more than 20 journalists were arrested merely because they covered those demonstrations, and
WHEREAS the Iranian government also arrested journalists covering Amini’s funeral, and
WHEREAS many of the journalists who were arrested were also placed in solitary confinement and forcefully interrogated at Evin Prison, considered one of the worst prisons in the world, and
WHEREAS threats have been made against Iranian journalists in the United States and against organizations hosting those journalists
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting in convention September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, strongly asserts that journalists in Iran must be allowed to report freely and do their job to keep people around the world informed of what is happening in Iran. All journalists who have been arrested must be released without charges, their equipment should be returned and they should not face further persecution.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Society also condemns efforts to silence journalists speaking out on behalf of those arrested in Iran.
Resolution 6: Resolution on threats to journalists in Central America and Mexico
Submitted by: International Community
Delegate action: Approved with amendments
WHEREAS journalists in Central America remain under threat from government and paramilitary organizations; and
WHEREAS a free press is the cornerstone of democracy and civil society, and
WHEREAS the people of Central America have expressed their desire for more equitable societies and freedom of expression, and
WHEREAS dire threats remain against press freedom in Central America, and
WHEREAS, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 73 news media workers have been killed in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua in the past 30 years, and
WHEREAS the governments of these four countries are also taking actions that restrict the ability of journalists to carry out their job, and
WHEREAS the Guatemalan government has regularly engaged in actions to prevent media outlets from reporting on corruption, and
WHEREAS a primary focus of the Guatemalan government efforts are aimed at elPeriódico, including arresting its founder on financial violation charges and four of its reporters for “violence against women” because of a story that linked the daughter of the president of the Constitutional Court to corrupt practices, and
WHEREAS a growing number of journalists in El Salvador are finding that their mobile phones have been infected with the Pegasus spyware, which is only available to government agencies, and
WHEREAS a proposed law in El Salvador includes a prison sentence of 15 years if a news organization reports on gang activity in the country, and
WHEREAS Honduras has the largest numbers of journalists killed in Central America with no progress on arresting their murderers, and
WHEREAS the court system in Honduras is being used by major landowners to prevent journalists from covering indigenous affairs, and
WHEREAS the Nicaraguan government has continued its long-time feud with La Prensa, the oldest newspaper in the country, including charging reporters with conspiracy against the state because of their reporting on a group of nuns deported by the government, and
WHEREAS the Nicaraguan government arrested, charged and convicted the publisher of La Prensa of money laundering and “fake news” without allowing public access to the proceedings, and
WHEREAS in 2023 alone the Nicaraguan government has closed about 20 independent news outlets, accusing the operators of disrupting society,
WHEREAS, according to press freedom organizations around the world, Mexico has been called the most dangerous place for journalists outside an active war zone, and
WHEREAS the Committee to Protect Journalists has reported 152 media workers have been killed in Mexico since 1992, and
WHEREAS the Mexican government has not aggressively investigated most of the killings of Mexican journalists, putting Mexico among the Top 10 countries in the CPJ Index of Impunity,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting in convention September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, calls on the governments in Central America and Mexico to immediately order prosecutors to move with all due haste to identify, charge and try the murderers of our colleagues; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Society calls on these governments to respect their obligations under the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of Chapultepec by releasing any and all journalists being held for exercising their rights and duties as journalists; and by desisting from further arrests of journalists, from police raids on media organizations and from engaging in acts of intimidation and repression against journalists and their organizations, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Resolution 7: A Resolution in Support of Electronic Media Coverage of Former President Trump’s Criminal Trials
Submitted by: Resolutions Committee
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS the United States Supreme Court has recognized that trials are “public property,” and that the First Amendment and Sixth Amendment guarantee both the accused and the public a right to a publicly conducted trial, assuring that justice is dispensed legitimately and without favor;
WHEREAS the former president of the United States has been indicted on felony changes and is facing trial in at least two federal jurisdictions, the U.S. district courts for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of Florida;
WHEREAS the offenses charged in these indictments go to issues of paramount public concern, including efforts at destabilizing the nation’s electoral system by, according to federal prosecutors, attempting to overturn the results of a legitimately conducted election for president of the United States, manifesting in deadly violence at the United States Capitol;
WHEREAS the rule that prohibits cameras or other electronic recording devices in federal criminal trials is 77 years old, a relic of a time when videography was a novelty and not an everyday reality of American life, and when cameras were noisy and obtrusive and difficult to operate in a courtroom non-disruptively;
WHEREAS while cameras in courts were a rarity at the time the federal prohibition was enacted in 1946, all 50 states now make allowances for photographic and videographic coverage, with no indication of any detrimental impact on the ability of courts to dispense justice;
WHEREAS two successful federal pilots of cameras in civil trials and appellate hearings demonstrated conclusively that it is eminently possible, using contemporary technology, for cameras to operate unobtrusively in a way that contributes to public understanding of the judicial system;
WHEREAS the interests of history require that these groundbreaking criminal cases – the first involving a former president of the United States as a defendant – be memorialized in a form other than artists’ pencil drawings;
WHEREAS the same type of civil unrest that resulted in the lethal attack on the U.S. Capitol and its police force on Jan. 6, 2021, is foreseeable if the public doubts the legitimacy of the
former president’s trials – as former president Trump himself has foretold, using social media to warn of “death and destruction” if his followers perceive that he has been treated unjustly;
WHEREAS the advent of social media, “deepfake” technology and other developments antedating the enactment of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, and the leading federal court cases interpreting it, renders it impracticable for judges to control the flow of inaccurate or even wholly fabricated information about trials that is calculated to inflame outrage, without the antidote of reliable first-hand observation to inoculate a distrustful public;
WHEREAS the courtrooms in which the former president’s trials are scheduled to take place are so small that only a handful of public observers will be able to view the proceedings in-person, and;
WHEREAS legal counsel for the former president has publicly declared that electronic media coverage would in no way interfere with Mr. Trump’s ability to obtain a fair trial, and to the contrary, would be desirable for public understanding of the proceedings.
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting in convention September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, calls on Congress and the federal judiciary to take every necessary step, with immediate dispatch, to ensure that still and video cameras – whether operated by the news media, or by the courts themselves – memorialized the proceedings in each trial in which the former president is a defendant;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Society calls on the Judicial Conference and the applicable district courts to use routinely available technology – including technology already in use successfully in the state-court prosecution of former President Trump in Fulton County, Georgia – to livestream the trial proceedings on YouTube or a comparable public-facing platform, with reasonable safeguards the courts may find necessary to protect legitimate interests in juror confidentiality and the security of classified documents;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Society urges the federal judiciary to ensure that, at a minimum, the public receives what it received from the U.S. Supreme Court during the height of the COVID pandemic – the ability to listen to real-time audio of the court proceedings, and an archival copy of each proceeding accessible for playback – which is the very least that history requires of these unprecedented trials.
Resolution 8: A Resolution Opposing Improper Information Gatekeeping
Submitted by: Kathryn Foxhall, SPJ Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS the Society of Professional Journalists knows that the control of information by people in power is one of the most abusive, corrosive and deadly things in human societies;
WHEREAS the Society of Professional Journalists has documented the pervasiveness of bans in organizations on employees or others speaking to the press or on their speaking to the press without reporting to authorities, often through public information offices;
WHEREAS the Society of Professional Journalists, as the world nears four years of the Covid pandemic, recognizes that former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention media relations director has said these controls and others became tighter on that agency over several presidential administrations, that they constrain the agency’s ability to get its messages out,
WHEREAS the Society of Professional Journalists understands that such controls cannot be in effect without frequently limiting what people will tell journalists, including information that is critical to public understanding;
WHEREAS the Society celebrates what is believed to be the first suit by a journalist challenging these gag rules in a U.S. public agency; that is, the legal action filed in August by Brittany Hailer against the Allegheny County Jail;
WHEREAS the Society understands that such limitations on the independent information gathering will severely harm journalist’s ability to overcome existential threats including pandemics and climate change;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting in convention in September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, calls on reporters, editors and publishers everywhere to eschew such arguments as “good reporters get the story anyway” and actively explain and openly oppose these permission-to-speak restrictions, just as journalists would expose other corruption;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Society communicate with Freedom House; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; and the World Health Organization to ask them to recognize these controls as violations of press freedom and threats to public health and urge those organizations to oppose them in all nations.
Resolution 9: Resolution Title: Ensuring Fiscal Accountability and Transparency within the Society of Professional Journalists
Submitted by: Jennifer Ellis, Region 12 Coordinator
Co-signers: Donald W. Meyers, Region 10 Coordinator; Loretta McGraw, Region 7 Coordinator; Joe Radske, Region 6 Coordinator; Sue Kopen Katcef, former SPJ National Vice President Campus Chapter Affairs; and Lauren Bartlett, former national director at large
Delegate action: Approved with amendment
WHEREAS the Society of Professional Journalists is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of journalism and fostering a commitment to ethics, accuracy, and transparency;
WHEREAS SPJ is funded by the dues of its members and various sources of revenue, and it is essential to maintain fiscal responsibility and transparency in the management of these resources;
WHEREAS the SPJ Board of Directors is legally obligated in its role as a Board to uphold its fiduciary responsibility to the organization and membership and is, in fact, annually briefed on those responsibilities, which include approving the annual budget and making financial decisions on behalf of the organization;
WHEREAS, the SPJ Board of Directors has a fiduciary duty to share information about significant budget shortfalls with all of its members;
WHEREAS it is imperative to ensure that any significant expenses that significantly deviate from the approved budget receive proper scrutiny and approval to safeguard the financial stability of SPJ;
WHEREAS transparency and inclusivity in decision-making processes are fundamental principles that SPJ should uphold;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED:
1. The Society of Professional Journalists Board of Directors will ensure, at minimum, quarterly meetings of the Finance Committee, whose responsibility includes ongoing reviews of the current and future budgets. Minutes from the Finance Committee meeting and the quarterly financial reports will be posted to the SPJ website.
2. The Society of Professional Journalists Board of Directors shall require a vote in public for any expense that represents a drastic deviation from an approved budget.
3. The Society of Professional Journalists Board of Directors will notify all members by email when a budget shortfall of 25% or more has occurred during an existing budget year or is projected in an upcoming budget.
4. For this resolution, a "drastic deviation" shall be defined as any expense resulting in an overage of 25% or $5,000, whichever is greater, beyond the line-item budgeted amount as approved by the Board of Directors.
5. Prior to the vote, a thorough explanation and justification of the proposed expense, including its potential impact on SPJ's financial health and objectives, shall be provided to enable informed decision-making.
6. In the event that a majority of the board rejects the proposed expense, the Board of Directors shall reassess the budget as a whole and consider whether amendments are necessary.
7. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption and shall be communicated to all SPJ members to ensure their awareness and understanding of the new fiscal accountability and transparency measures.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption and remain in force until it is amended or repealed by convention delegates or membership vote.
Resolution 10: A Resolution to Study and Present a Bylaws Amendment Increasing the Number of Directors Serving on the SPJ National Board
Submitted by: Jennifer Ellis, Region 12 Coordinator
Co-signers: Donald W. Meyers, Region 10 Coordinator; Loretta McGraw, Region 7 Coordinator; Joe Radske, Region 6 Coordinator; Ginny McCabe, Region 4 Coordinator; Sue Kopen Katcef, former SPJ National Vice President Campus Chapter Affairs; and Lauren Bartlett, former national director at large
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS following recommendations by a task force headed by Patti Newberry, the Society of Professional Journalists voted in 2017 to shrink its 23-member Board of Directors to nine positions to attract qualified leaders without barriers such as geography and special interest, and
WHEREAS after much debate and deliberation, board members and delegates came to believe that a smaller board would be more nimble, better able to make decisions quickly, and
WHEREAS two appointed director positions were added to the board to bring particular expertise or address any gaps in diversity, and
WHEREAS there is no specific mechanism to ensure that students and regional coordinators who work directly with chapters have representation on the board of directors, and
WHEREAS some members are concerned about encouraging a diverse and robust pipeline of experienced Board leadership into SPJ’s highest offices, and
WHEREAS some members feel the current model, with a third of the board consisting of the president and two one-year appointees, too narrowly consolidates power, especially as the delegates consider for a second time a governance change eliminating delegates as the supreme legislative body of the organization, and
WHEREAS some members would like to see fairer representation of the membership on the board, and
WHEREAS some members believe the current board structure does not serve the Society’s needs and should be reviewed, and
WHEREAS the SPJ Board of Directors acknowledged in 2017 that the proposed restructuring of the Board might need to undergo review and changes in the years ahead;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting in convention on September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, calls on the Society President and Board of Directors to appoint a task force consisting of Regional Coordinators, Chapter leaders, past leaders, Community leaders and unaffiliated members to explore alternative board configurations and lengths of service including removing appointed directors, adding at least one Regional Coordinator representative, and increasing the number of directors serving on the national board.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the SPJ Board will consider the task force’s recommendations and share them with all Society members no later than the April board meeting, with an opportunity for feedback and suggestions.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board is directed to implement the recommendations of the taskforce,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board is directed to implement the recommendations of the task force;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this task force will consist of at least one current Society board member who cannot be the chair, and all meetings will be open to Society members, with recordings of the meetings available on the Society’s website.
Resolution 11: Establishing an Official Year-Round Communication Channel for SPJ Members
Submitted by: Jennifer Ellis, Region 12 Coordinator
Co-signers: Donald W. Meyers, Region 10 Coordinator; Loretta McGraw, Region 7 Coordinator; Joe Radske, Region 6 Coordinator; Sue Kopen Katcef, former SPJ National Vice President Campus Chapter Affairs; and Lauren Bartlett, former national director at large
Delegate action: Approved
WHEREAS the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) is dedicated to fostering excellence in journalism and promoting the free flow of information;
WHEREAS SPJ members are spread across the country, and it is essential to facilitate communication and collaboration among members year-round;
WHEREAS members enjoy a communication platform through an app at the annual convention, it is insufficient to meet the need for ongoing communication and exchange of ideas among SPJ members;
WHEREAS technological advancements offer options for creating a digital platform to facilitate year-round communication among SPJ members at little to no cost;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Society of Professional Journalists, meeting in convention September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, directs the Board of Directors and Headquarters Staff or another appointed SPJ member volunteer to take the necessary steps to establish an official year-round communication channel for SPJ members.
1. Establishment of a Year-Round Communication Channel: a. The SPJ Board of Directors and Headquarters Staff shall collaborate to create and implement a little to no-cost digital platform or communication channel accessible to all SPJ members. b. This platform shall be designed to enable members from across the country to communicate, share information, and exchange ideas throughout the year.
2. Features and Functions: a. The year-round communication channel shall include discussion forums, chat rooms, message boards, and private messaging capabilities. b. It shall also provide a platform for sharing resources, organizing events, and seeking input from the SPJ membership on matters of importance. c. The platform shall be user- friendly and accessible to members of all backgrounds and technological proficiency levels.
3. Privacy and Security: a. The SPJ Board of Directors and Headquarters Staff shall ensure that the year-round communication channel maintains the privacy and security of member information. b. Appropriate measures shall be put in place to safeguard against unauthorized access or misuse of the platform.
4. Promotion and Training: a. The SPJ Board of Directors and Headquarters Staff shall develop and implement a plan for promoting the new communication channel to all SPJ members.
5. Regular Updates and Maintenance: a. The year-round communication channel shall be subject to regular updates and maintenance to ensure its effectiveness and relevance to the needs of SPJ members. b. Feedback from members shall be actively sought and used for continuous improvement.
6. Implementation Timeline: a. The SPJ Board of Directors and Headquarters Staff shall establish a timeline within a year for the development and launch of the year-round communication channel, with progress updates provided to the membership.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption and remain in force until it is amended or repealed by convention delegates or membership vote.
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