1513 MINUTES – BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – NOVEMBER 9, 2001 Minneapolis The meeting originally scheduled for Sept. 21, but postponed due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, began with board members, legal counsel, and staff present. The committee chairs joined them later in the morning. Board members attending: Tim J. McGuire, editor, Star Tribune, Minneapolis, President Diane H. McFarlin, publisher, Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune, Vice President Peter K. Bhatia, executive editor, The Oregonian, Portland, Secretary – Creating Newspapers’ Future in Tough Times Karla Garrett Harshaw, editor, Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, Treasurer Susan C. Deans, assistant managing editor/Weekends, Rocky Mountain News, Denver Frank M. Denton, editor, Wisconsin State Journal, Madison Charlotte H. Hall, managing editor, Newsday, Melville, N.Y. – The American Editor, co-chair Pamela J. Johnson, Leadership & Management Faculty, The Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, Fla. Edward W. Jones, editor, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va. Wanda S. Lloyd, executive director, The Freedom Forum Institute for Newsroom Diversity, Nashville, Tenn. Robert G. McGruder, executive editor, Detroit Free Press Gregory L. Moore, managing editor, The Boston Globe Rick Rodriguez, executive editor, The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee – Readership Issues Paul C. Tash, editor and president, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times – Leadership David A. Zeeck, executive editor, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. – Convention Program Committee chairs attending: Susan Bischoff, deputy managing editor, Houston Chronicle – Education for Journalism Byron E. Calame, deputy managing editor, The Wall Street Journal, New York – Craft Development Debra Flemming, editor, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn. – Small Newspapers Carolina Garcia, managing editor, San Antonio Express-News – Diversity Anders Gyllenhaal, executive editor, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. – Freedom of Information Deborah Howell, editor, Newhouse News Service, Washington – Nominations Pamela K. Luecke, professor, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va. – The American Editor, co-chair Gil Thelen, executive editor, The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune – Interactive Media Others attending: J. Scott Bosley, ASNE executive director LaBarbara Bowman, ASNE diversity director Kevin M. Goldberg, Cohn and Marks, ASNE legal counsel Alison A. Hill, ASNE assistant to the executive director and meetings coordinator Diana Mitsu Klos, ASNE senior project director John M. Lavine, director, Media Management Center, Evanston, Ill. Sandy McCalvy, executive assistant, Star Tribune, Minneapolis Richard M. Schmidt Jr., Cohn and Marks, ASNE legal counsel Edward L. Seaton, editor-in-chief, The Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury, ASNEF president 1514 Kevin Wilcox, ASNE communications director Not attending: Richard Aregood, editorial page editor, The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J. Gilbert Bailon, executive editor, The Dallas Morning News – Partnerships and Diversification Jennie Buckner, editor, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer Kenneth F. Bunting, executive editor, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Joann Byrd, editor, editorial page, Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Ethics and Values Hunter T. George, executive editor, The Birmingham (Ala.) News – Membership Richard A. Oppel, editor, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, ex officio Tony W. Pederson, executive editor, Houston Chronicle – International N. Don Wycliff, public editor, Chicago Tribune – ASNE Awards Board The minutes of the April meeting were approved. The banking resolution was approved. President McGuire expressed that there were two issues that he wished to discuss: the future of ASNE and a proposal regarding minority association involvement in ASNE. McGuire addressed the fact that since September 11 events, ASNE membership and involvement has declined, noting that this comes as no surprise considering the economic conditions. The first discussion was focused on how ASNE can better serve the needs of editors and on problems that ASNE faces as an organization. Board members raised issues they felt were problem areas for ASNE. Among these were the ASNE-APME relationship, committee chairs being assigned to only one-year terms, the extent of disconnect between the ASNE board and ASNE members, getting small newspapers involved more with ASNE, and a lack of welcoming/mentoring for new members. After some explanation on how APME operates by Ed Jones, there was a lengthy discussion about how to forge a better relationship between ASNE and APME. As a result, the following motion was put forth by Ed Jones and seconded by Frank Denton: Be it resolved that ASNE and APME enter frank and open dialogue about the best way to serve the needs of American editors. Approval was unanimous. Tim McGuire invited further discussion by the board. A number of issues were raised, including mentoring new ASNE members, offering multiple memberships to newspapers, the relevance of ASNE conventions to members and possible improvements of the ASNE Web site. Tim McGuire appointed a committee comprised of Charlotte Hall as chair, Karla Harshaw, Pam Johnson and Rick Rodriguez to address the issue of multiple memberships and asked that they bring a proposal to the spring meeting for consideration. Charlotte Hall recommended that a program for mentoring new ASNE members be initiated. Tim McGuire asked Wanda Lloyd and Sue Deans to take a look at the mentoring issue and work with David Zeeck to fit new ideas into the convention program. Tim McGuire informed the board about the previous day’s meeting of the Diversity Committee, with the presidents of the minority associations and Unity. The purpose of this meeting was to brainstorm on retention issues with the key players involved. 1515 A discussion regarding a proposal to include minority association presidents as ex-officio board members ensued. Peter Bhatia stated that he had strong reservations. However, he noted that he strongly supported the idea of holding diversity roundtables each year. A number of others said that they supported the proposal. Frank Denton moved that the motion be amended to include the minority representatives as guests during the committee portion of the meeting rather than as ex-officio members. Legal counsel Dick Schmidt and Kevin Goldberg, along with executive director Scott Bosley, examined the ASNE bylaws and determined that for minority representatives to become ex-officio members, it would require a bylaw change and a 2/3 majority vote by those present at the following convention. At the conclusion of the board discussion on this subject the following motion was proposed by Diane McFarlin: ASNE will invite the presidents of NABJ, AAJA, NAHJ, NAJA and Unity, or a print representative of their executive committees, to attend the portion of the ASNE board meetings devoted to committee reports for the purpose of strengthening the interaction between ASNE and the largest minority journalist organizations as they work together to enhance the diversity of American newsrooms. These association representatives will be encouraged to participate in all other board functions, ASNE committee work and special projects. They will receive free convention registration. A "Diversity Roundtable" will be hosted by ASNE in conjunction with the ASNE convention each year, probably Tuesday morning before the Small Newspapers luncheon. This roundtable will include the presidents and executive directors of Unity, NAMME, NABJ, AAJA, NAHJ, NAJA; the officers, executive director and diversity director of ASNE; and the chairs of certain ASNE committees, such as Diversity, Small Newspapers, Leadership, Membership and Education for Journalism. This roundtable will allow for a review of the latest ASNE diversity census and a focused discussion of issues and initiatives related to diversity in our newsrooms. Approval was unanimous. The committee chairs joined the board at 11:30 am, prior to lunch Vice President McFarlin referred attendees to the list of her committee chairs for 2002-03. She said that her theme for the year will be “sharing the passion for journalism.” Diane noted that the Fall board meeting will be October 10-12 in Sarasota, Fla. at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. She also informed the board that there may be a fact-finding trip to Cuba at the conclusion of the board meeting. Peter Bhatia, reporting as secretary and also for the Membership Committee in chairman Hunter George’s absence, said that the board would need to approve all membership applications. He noted that all the applications were routine, except for the two from Australia: Cratis Hippocrates (deferred from April) and Mark Scott. He recommended that the board approve both applicants, as well as all other applicants. The following Secretary’s report was approved, and all the membership applications accepted: 1516 Since the board met in April, there have been three deaths and 53 resignations and ineligibilities, including 32 dropped for nonpayment of 2001 dues. There are seven members to be transferred to the retired rolls. The board will consider 33 applications for membership, including one held from the April meeting, one reinstatement for a late dues payment, and two former members. Assuming all are elected and the transfers approved, membership will stand at 827 dues paying; 644 active/distinguished service and 183 retired. This compares to 848 at the same time last year. Member applicants/reinstatements (33) Stephen Adler, deputy managing editor, The Wall Street Journal, New York Marty Bachman, managing editor, Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka,