Arizona Press Club 2004 Minutes

Arizona Press Club Board 2004 meeting minutes

Nov. 13, 2004, at board member Maureen West's home, Phoenix

Oct. 16, 2004 at NAU, Flagstaff

Aug. 28, 2004, at board member Dennis Joyce's home, Tucson

June 26 ,2004, at board member Maureen West's home, Phoenix

May 2004, no meeting (annual awards banquet held May 15)

March 20, 2004, at Nello's restaurant, Ahwatukee

Feb. 21, 2004, art The Arizona Republic, Phoenix

Minutes of the Arizona Press Club meeting Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004, in Phoenix

In attendance: Alia Rau, Arizona Republic; Laura Clymer, Arizona Daily Sun; Dennis Joyce, Arizona Daily Star; Rob Schumacher, Arizona Republic; Maureen West, Arizona Republic, Jill Jorden Spitz, Arizona Daily Star; Jennifer Sterba, Arizona Daily Star; Patti Epler, East Valley Tribune; Joe Watson, New Times; Francisco Medina, Tucson Citizen; Rebecca Allen, East Valley Tribune.

Jill moved to open the meeting, Francisco seconded and it passed unanimously.

FLAGSTAFF
Jill talked about the Flagstaff event, saying it was a success and a number of students and reporters attended. Laura said she didn’t get the NAU student attendance she had wanted. Laura said she sent personal emails to all the reporters in central and northern Arizona inviting them to the event, which she said made a positive difference. The group agreed that should be done next year and that a sign-in sheet should be passed around next year to find out where the attendees were from and how to contact them in the future. Alia suggested asking Republic writing coach Michael Roberts to give a talk next year on story mapping and writing a lot of stories fast. It was suggested that we also find a couple of reporters who would be willing to give talks about the same thing.

WORKSHOPS
Patti asked if there was any interest in doing workshops in other parts of Arizona.
Dennis said a statewide First Amendment Coalition tour is being planned in January to talk about access to information. He said one stop would be Yuma.
Jill said it would be easy to link a Press Club workshop with that. She suggested portfolio reviews and story brainstorming also be included in that. She suggested contacting the head of ANA, who is from Yuma, to find out what the interest might be out there.
Dennis also suggested Sierra Vista might be another good location.
Dennis agreed to contact the Yuma folks to determine interest. Maureen said she’d talk to Republic reporter Anne Ryman about giving a talk on beat reporting. Dennis said he would talk to Shannon Connor, the Arizona Daily Star regional editor. Joe said he’d ask John Doherty from the New Times.
Patti suggested contacting the community colleges to let them know about the events. She said she would contact Paul Giblin about participating.

IMPORTANT DATES
Jill reported that pack up day will be on Feb. 12, 2005, at the Arizona Republic. The banquet will be April 23, 2005, at The Heard. Jill suggested March 5, 2005, for the Yuma workshop, and April 2, 2005, for the Sierra Vista workshop. She suggested doing the First Amendment Coalition presentation from 1-2:45 p.m., the press club concurrent sessions from 3-5 p.m. and following with a portfolio review.

CONTEST
Rob said the photo rules have been graphically clarified, but no other changes were made. He will take Max’s name off the contact list and change Francisco’s email.
Jill suggested we stay away from sister newspapers when finding judges.
That includes USA Today, the Orange County Register and New Times papers.
Joe suggested next year we have another discussion about blocking out the names and newspapers.
Jill said part of the reason we decided not to block out the names is because we’re getting judges of such a high caliber.
Jill said she would look into getting nuts for judge gifts.

BANQUET
Beque said the Heard reservations had been taken care of, but someone else needs to find a caterer. She volunteered to take care of registration and said she’s talk to Colleen and Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor about helping her.
Laura said she would call Colleen and Monica.
Jill suggested we try to save some money with food this year.
Alia will ask Chris and the band to perform again.
Patti suggested having an intermission in the middle of the banquet and letting the band play.
The group also agreed to have someone look into getting rid of the stage and getting better chairs.
Because of deadlines, we will send out an email vote on the caterer.
We agreed not to do any giveaways.
Laura is still working on getting Hugh Downs to mc.
Maureen suggested displaying the work of the winners of Virg Hill, Community Journalist and Designer of the year at the banquet. She volunteered to do that.

SCHOLARSHIPS
Patti will call Kristen Gilger at ASU to try to help attract more scholarship applications from there. Dennis and Jenny will talk to University of Arizona folks.
March 1 will be the deadline for scholarships.

FINANCES
Beque reported that we have $4,607.07.
She said we need to pay $129 for the PO Box, and $107.40 for the Web site.
We need to pay Heard $875 for half the room rental by February.
We will pay the First Amendment Coalition in January.
Dennis moved to give Beque the authority to move the checking account to a bank that could offer a better deal. Patti seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Jill moved to let Beque pay the bank to get all the bank stubs from January-August 2004. Alia seconded and it was approved unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS
Patti moved to approve the October minutes, after changing the date to 2004. Jill seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
It was determined that the votes from October might not be valid because of a lack of a quorum, so the votes were re-voted.
Jill nominated Alia to serve as the new secretary. Beque seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Patti moved that the Don Bolles award rules be clarified because some entrants may consider entering a collection of work rather than their efforts on one big story. The new language will read, “A single investigative effort and any follow up.” Dennis seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Patti moved that the board endorse legislation proposed by the Arizona Newspaper Association to create an office of public access counselor in Arizona, similar to the one in place in Indiana. An attorney serves as counselor and provides advice to government agencies, the public and the media whether specific public records should be granted under Arizona’s Public Records Law. Beque seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

The next meeting will be held at noon on Saturday, Jan. 15, at Maureen’s house in Phoenix.

Minutes of Arizona Press Club meeting
Saturday, October 16, 2004

President Laura Clymer, Arizona Daily Sun; Treasurer Beque Allen, The Tribune; Rob Schumacher, The Arizona Republic; Francisco Medina, The Tucson Citizen; Jill Jorden Spitz, Arizona Daily Star; Joe Watson, The New Times; Le Templar, the Tribune; Becky Pallack; Arizona Daily Star; Dennis Joyce, Arizona Daily Star.

Dennis was drafted to take minutes in the absence of a secretary.

Rob moved that the meeting come to order, Jill seconded, it passed unanimously.

The board learned that Alia Rau of the Arizona Republic is willing to serve as secretary of the club. Dennis moved, Cisco seconded, and she was unanimously elected.

Jill as contest co-chairwoman raised a question about contest rules, which were adopted during the summer meeting at the home of Maureen West. The Don Bolles Award needs clarification, Jill said, because some entrants have said they are considering entering a collection of work rather than their efforts on one big story. The language arrived at: a single investigative effort and any follow up.”

There was further discussion of the rejection of the New Times photo entry from the last contest on the grounds that it was incomplete under the rules.

New language was agreed upon for the entry form introduction: “A complete entry consists of the following (provide details for writing, photo, design or online). Failure to submit the entry in this manner means it will be rejected and entry fees forfeited.”

Also, it was resolved that we will include on the entry form a list of the Top 10 Mistakes from the past.

Jill reminded the board about changes made during the meeting at Maureen’s, said she will incorporate them in the new rules and send them out. She also said she will be sending out judge assignments soon.

There was discussion of the number of judges who have had ties to Arizona papers and contest entrants in the past. A recommendation was made that we revert to the past practice of blacking out bylines and taglines to avoid a conflict of interest. After much discussion, it was resolved not to do and to leave the rules as they are in this regard.

We will, however, add a line to the letter to judges reminding them of the need to be objective and requesting that they inform the contest chair immediately if they feel after reviewing the entries that they are unable to fulfill this requirement.

The board was reminded about the date of the annual awards banquet, April 23, and Laura said she would contact Hugh Downs about serving as emcee.

It was resolved to ask new board member Becky Pallack whether she would work with Beque as banquet chair.

Our financial balance is 6,068.39, reports treasurer Beque. Beque will check whether we can do online banking through Wells Fargo and get other names on the account, including Laura. First we need to find our tax ID number.

Beque will check with former treasurer Tom Gibbons on whether we paid former Internet service provide Iguana the $718. 25 that we agreed we would send them.

Dennis asked whether the board would consider endorsing legislation proposed by the Arizona Newspaper Association to create an office of public access counselor in Arizona, similar to one in place in Indiana.
An attorney serves as counselor and provides advice to government agencies, the public and the media whether specific public records requests should be granted under Arizona’s Public Records Law.

Le moved that the board endorse the proposal, Jill seconded it and the motion passed unanimously.

The board presented Dennis an awards pot, “With grateful appreciation from your board of directors,” for his two years of service as president. He said hank you.
Cisco moved that we adjourn, Joe seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Minutes from the August 28, 2004 Arizona Press Club meeting at Board President Dennis Joyce’s house, Tucson
Attendance: Dennis Joyce, Arizona Daily Star; Jill Jorden Spitz, AZ Daily Star; Patti Epler, East Valley Tribune; Ric Volante, Arizona Daily Star; Gawain Douglas, Tucson Citizen; Laura Clymer, Arizona Daily Sun; Jennifer Sterba, Arizona Daily Star; and Colleen Sparks, The Arizona Republic.

The meeting opened at 1:12 p.m.
Minutes: Joyce said that board member Beque Allen, the board’s banquet chairwoman, told him that the minutes from the June 26 meeting incorrectly said that she wanted to look into other places besides the Heard Museum for

next year’s awards banquet. Allen said that board member Maureen West actually said that. Joyce also told board secretary Sparks that Gawain Douglas’ first name was still spelled incorrectly in the June 26 minutes; an “a” had been accidentally omitted from the first part of his name. Sparks said she would correct the minutes to include those two changes. Clymer made a motion to approve the revised June minutes and Jorden Spitz seconded it.
The board unanimously approved the changes in the June minutes.

New Board members: Jorden Spitz made a motion to approve new board members Patti Epler, who had previously been on the board and now works as an editor at the East Valley Tribune; Jennifer Sterba, a reporter at the Arizona Daily Star; and Gawain Douglas, a designer at the Tucson Citizen. Volante seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved the new members.

Officers: The board talked about who the board officers would be for the next year. Joyce said he had been president for about two years and was ready to step down from the position. He said he knew Tom Gibbons would not

be able to continue as treasurer, either, and said he had asked Beque Allen

to become treasurer and she had accepted his offer. Joyce also said he asked Clymer, the current vice president, if she wanted to be the new president, and she said she would. Epler said she would be interested in being the vice president.
Sparks said she had been secretary for a little over two years and was ready to let someone else take over the position. Board members talked about several possibilities for a new secretary, including Alia Rau, a reporter at The Arizona Republic. Board members informally said they would talk to different people to see who might be interested in becoming the new secretary.
Jorden Spitz made a motion to appoint Clymer as the new president for the next year, Epler as the new vice president and Allen as the new treasurer, all to take effect at the next meeting. Volante seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved the new officers for the board.
First Amendment Coalition: Volante said he would not be able to attend many
Press Club board meetings in the future because he wanted to spend more time with his family. Jorden Spitz said Volante has played an important role as a Press Club representative on the First Amendment Coalition. Volante said he could stay on the First Amendment Coalition. Joyce said Volante could just come to Press Club meetings when he is available, and he could remain as one of the club’s First Amendment Coalition representatives.
Jorden Spitz said the Press Club still needed another representative on the
First Amendment Coalition, which meets quarterly in Phoenix. Epler said she would start attending the coalition meetings, also. Volante made a motion to appoint Epler as another Press Club representative on the First Amendment Coalition. Jorden Spitz seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved Epler as another coalition representative. The next coalition member is Oct. 8, board members said.
Scholarship Update: Joyce said at the last meeting that the board had appointed he and board members Maureen West and Joe Watson to a committee that would approach Lloyd Clark, a retired journalist and early Press Club member, and others to see if they would be interested in helping pay for scholarships for college students awarded at the Press Club banquets. He said the three had not talked to anyone yet but would continue to pursue it.
Flagstaff in October: The Press Club plans to hold its next meeting Oct. 16 in Flagstaff and to include workshops and portfolio reviews for students from anywhere in the state on the Northern Arizona University campus.
Clymer said she would look into possible group discounts if Press Club members booked several rooms at downtown Flagstaff‘s Weatherford Hotel. Clymer also said she would try to reach college newspaper editors and advisors to invite college students to the event. She also said she would try to see if any of the three finalists for the Virg Hill and Photographer of the Year awards would be interested in speaking at the workshops at the event.
Joyce made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Douglas seconded the motion.
The board unanimously approved adjourning the meeting at 2:10 p.m.

Minutes from the June 26, 2004 Arizona Press Club meeting at Board member Maureen West’s house, Phoenix

Attendance: Dennis Joyce, Arizona Daily Star; Jill Jorden Spitz, AZ Daily Star; Alia Rau, The Arizona Republic; Rebecca Allen, North Scottsdale Independent; Le Templar, East Valley Tribune; Juan Villa, La Voz; Tom Gibbons, East Valley Tribune; Maureen West, The Arizona Republic; Joe Watson, New Times; Francisco Medina, Tucson Citizen; and Colleen Sparks, The Arizona Republic.
The meeting opened at 1:10 p.m.
Minutes: Templar said he wanted to clarify that he hadn‘t made as many comments as it said in the minutes from the previous meeting. Jorden Spitz, not he, talked about Gawain Douglas (his name was spelled wrong in the minutes, too) drawing pictures for the program cover. Jorden Spitz also talked about telling Lloyd Clark to write his column by April 26. Rau, not Templar, talked about the Tempe Unified School District being a good Brick Wall honoree. Rau, not Templar, also talked about the scholarships and the suggested dollar amounts.
Paradise Valley was accidentally spelled without an “e” at the end of it, also.
Templar made a motion to amend the minutes to attribute the comments to the proper person. Jorden Spitz seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved revising the minutes.

New Board member: Medina made a motion to appoint Joe Watson of the New Times as a member of the Press Club board. Rau seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved accepting Watson as a new board member.

Outreach: The board talked about ways to recruit new members from smaller newspapers in the state. Medina said he would try to find someone from Casa Grande to get involved with the board. The board decided to plan Oct. 16 for its Flagstaff meeting.

Contest Rules: The board discussed and approved several changes in its contest rules.
They are:
- Adding that money will be split if there’s a tie.
- Allowing one double byline in beat reporting.
- Moving design portfolio to the big awards, equal with Virg Hill, POY and CJY.
- Adding language that “newspaper and glossy magazines” are eligible for design categories, to make it clear that in-paper entertainment magazines qualify.
- Adding language that photographers must fill out the form and spell out their name and publication as well as sign the form.
- Asking designers to enter their pages as PDFs rather than tear sheets.
- Adding language that says Spanish language publications can enter any category as long as the stories, captions, etc. are translated.
These new categories:
- Splitting A and B beat/sustained reporting into two categories.
- Splitting A and B features into short and long stories
- Splitting C sustained reporting into two categories: one for a single reporter, one for a team.
- In C, adding a new section for special sections: words, photos and design
- Breaking news features into three categories, not four, with word lengths

that match those in lifestyle features categories: under 750 words, 750-1,500 and more than 1,500 - In G, splitting non-deadline design into two categories: news and features

Financial Report: Gibbons said the Press Club has about $8,000 in its account but has about $2,000 in outstanding checks. The board also talked about its bill to the former web site provider and decided to pay it
$718.25
for the three years of its web hosting based on what the company charges its clients. Watson made a motion to approve that expenditure and Rau seconded it. The board approved it in a 10-1 vote with West abstaining saying she wanted to study the issue more.

Next year’s banquet: West said she wanted to look into various options, besides just the Heard Museum, in an attempt to save the board money. The board talked about outside sponsors possibly helping to pay for the scholarships, including possibly Lloyd Clark, if he was interested. A committee of Joyce, Watson, Rau and West formed to look into soliciting scholarship money from people.

Next meeting: The board set Aug. 21 as its next meeting, to be possibly held at Joyce’s or board vice president Laura Clymer’s parents’ house in Tucson.
Joyce made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Rau seconded it. The board unanimously agreed to adjourn at 4:20 p.m.

March 20, 2004 meeting at Nello's, Phoenix:

Attendance: Le Templar, East Valley Tribune; Laura Clymer, Arizona Daily Sun; Colleen Sparks, Arizona Daily Star; Tom Gibbons, East Valley Tribune; Rob Schumacher, Arizona Republic; Max Becherer, Arizona Daily Star; Juan Villa, La Voz; and Maureen West, Arizona Republic. (Rebecca Allen did not attend, she was at the SPJ regional conference in San Diego)

Vice president, and acting president for the meeting, Laura Clymer opened the meeting at 12:36 p.m.
Several board members said they had not read the minutes from the Feb. 21 meeting, so the board passed on voting on the minutes. It decided to vote on the minutes at the next meeting.
Banquet Update: Templar said the board could set up a PayPal button on the Press Club Web site that would allow people to register for the banquet. Gibbons said the PayPal button is already there and it works.
Templar said he thinks the board should wait until the Press Club contest winners are announced before sending out a mass e-mail solicitation telling people about the banquet and APME luncheon earlier that day.
The board talked about whether it should pay for the dinners of past Press Club presidents who will be invited to the banquet in honor of the club's 80th anniversary. Becherer, Gibbons and West said they thought the club should pay for their dinners.
West said she already contacted Lloyd Clark, 1961 club president, and he was enthusiastic about helping the board plan the celebration. She said he said he would like to write a column about press clubs past, including how he pushed to have women allowed on the board.
West said the board could run a complete list of past presidents at the banquet.
No votes were taken, but the general consensus of the board was to pay for the past president's dinners if their current employers didn't already plan to or if they weren't winners who would receive free dinners, anyway.
West said she would contact the past presidents and that the board could ask them all to stand up at the banquet.
Clymer said she could ask Press Club President Dennis Joyce to see if Benson, the cartoonist for the Republic, would like to draw a cover reflecting the press clubís 80th anniversary, for the awards banquet.
West said the board should ask Beque Allen, press club member and banquet chairwoman, to tell the board how much the meals cost and to tell her about inviting the past presidents.
Contest Update: Schumacher said a New Times photographer had talked to him at length about that paper's photos for the contest that were returned because they had no entry form. He said the photographer told him he didn't think a piece of paper being missing should have kept the paper out of the competition.
West said she didn't want to run the risk of not allowing the best photographers to win just because they forgot to sign their name on the entry forms. Templar said he was not happy with what the board had to do on pack-up day, but he couldn't think of anything else it could do that he would have been comfortable with.
Schumacher said the photographer from the New Times said he was busy and didn't have time to read all the rules. Schumacher added that perhaps the board could have a pre-pack-up day to catch mistakes in the entries before the real pack-up day.
Gibbons said the letter from Michael Chihak of the Tucson Citizen last year complaining about some of his reporter's entries being disqualified for not entering properly was "harsh". He said Chihak's letter probably took about two hours to write when reading the contest rules takes much less time.
Becherer asked if the board could write a rule saying it would correct minor mistakes in contest entries.
West said in a way Chihak won because the board let his complaint influence its decision to change the rules about handling entries on pack-up day.
Gibbons said Chihak could have convinced The Arizona Republic and the Tucson Citizen from entering the contest.
Becherer said perhaps the board could computerize the entries to make sure there were no duplicate entries in different categories, a common mistake among those who participate in the contest. West said the board could give papers a week to fix mistakes, e-mailing them to ask them to pick which category they wanted to enter the duplicate entries in.
Gibbons said after some of the Citizen's entries were disqualified last year, some journalists were "left with a bad taste in their mouths."
Scholarship update: Templar said Allen is getting the entries for the scholarships from the club's post office box and will get them to scholarship chair Rau.
Financial Report: Treasurer Gibbons said Joyce estimated the board has about $25,000, but he estimates the board has about $28,000 in its accounts. The current balance was probably just over $30,000, Gibbons said.
Templar made a motion for the board to pay the $1,000 it owes the First Amendment Coalition for annual membership costs. Schumacher seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved the motion.
Clymer said the board should also try to get a better idea of what it owes the New Times for its reimbursement for the returned entries as there were some discrepancies in what Gibbons thought the board owes it and what Joyce thought.
Arizona Communications Council: Gibbons said, pertinent to the council's request for the Press Club to open an account for it that perhaps the council could agree to put some money into the account to pay for a mixer with writing coach Michael Roberts. He said maybe the Press Club and council could join forces to put on such an event.
Templar said at an SPJ board meeting this week, council representative Mark Scarp said he wants to keep the council very informal. Templar said he thinks it might be better if a smaller group managed the account for the council.
He said the council could possibly give it money for scholarships to award to college students. Gibbons said it could be hard for one press club board to the next to keep track of what the account was for in years to come. No action was taken but the general consensus was that board members were not comfortable opening an account for the council.
Gibbons said he would talk to Scarp more about it.
Several board members said they wanted to have the next board meeting somewhere closer to the freeway in the North side of Tucson. Sparks suggested the Old Father Inn on Ina Road, a short ways from the I-10 exit, for the next meeting April 17, and the board seemed to like that idea.
Clymer made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Schumacher seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m.

BOARD MINUTES – Feb. 21, 2004

held at The Arizona Republic, Phoenix

Attendance: Dennis Joyce, Arizona Daily Star; Jill Jorden Spitz, AZ Daily Star; Colleen Sparks, AZ Daily Star; Rob Schumacher, AZ Republic; Maureen West, AZ Republic, Max Becherer, AZ Daily Star, Le Templar, East Valley Tribune; Tom Gibbons, East Valley Tribune; Alia Rau, AZ Republic; Enric Volante, AZ Daily Star; Laura Clymer, AZ Daily Sun; Beque Allen, Scottsdale Independent; and Cisco Medina, Tucson Citizen.

President Dennis Joyce opened the meeting at 1:20 p.m.

Contest decisions: The board members who reviewed the photo contest entries for the annual contest said that three photographers from the New Times entered photo discs with no entry forms or explanation of the categories they were supposed to be entered in and no other pertinent information needed to place them in categories. Templar made a motion to say that "the photo discs submitted by the New Times are not an entry in this contest and the money associated with those discs will be returned to the New Times."

West expressed concerns about the Press Club, which is a volunteer group, developing a reputation for being "hard asses" if it decided to return the entries. Joyce said the board can be as nice as it wants to but others who have entered the contest "don't always act nice."

By not accepting the photo entries from the New Times, the Press Club board could "create more animosity," West said. She also said last year the board would have called the New Times to ask it which categories it meant to enter.

Schumacher said it is three people from the New Times involved in it.

Joyce said last year when some entries were not entered correctly and consequently some of the contestants couldn't be considered for awards, things got ugly.

Volante said he fully supported "the hard line" of not accepting entries not entered correctly.

Templar repeated his motion, at the request of some board members. Gibbons seconded the motion.

The motion passed 11-2 with West and Allen voting "no." (note: Allen did not oppose rejecting the entries, she rejected returning the entry fees)

West made a motion that the board e-mail contestants telling them why their entries were disqualified, if they weren't entered correctly. Clymer suggested that the board send a combined list of common entry mistakes to the entrants. Templar seconded West's motion. The motion was defeated in a
12-1 vote with West voting in favor of it and everyone else against it.

Volante made a motion authorizing the contest chairwoman, Jorden Spitz, to "make a decision on whether to disqualify entries." Gibbons seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Gibbons made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Templar seconded it. The meeting adjourned at 2:01 p.m.