Feb. 5, 2016

SPJ/LA Board of Directors Meeting MinutesMonday, Feb. 5, 2016Louise’s Trattoria10645 W. Pico Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90064Present: Joel Bellman, Stephanie Bluestein, Christina Cocca, Sarah Favot, Khalil Garriott, Elizabeth Marcellino, Navid Nonahal, John Schwada, Lori Streifler, Alice Walton, Roberta Wax, Natalie Windsor, David Zahniser.I.               Approval of minutesa.     Bellman moved to approve with fix of small typo on retreat minutes. Bluestein seconded. The motion carried.II.             President’s Reporta.     No reportIII.           Treasurer’s Reporta.     No report. Bellman moved to accept the report. Favot seconded. The motion passed. Marcellino later noted an error in the gain/loss, which is $646.11, instead of $46.11.IV.           Standing Committeesa.     Awardsi.     No reportb.     Banqueti.     Walton spoke with the Omni for a potential date of April 14. The cost of dinner has increased so Walton is negotiating on the price. The Universal Hilton is another option. The group reviewed some of the event’s past speakers. Wax suggested two speaking candidates.c.     Courtsi.     No reportd.     Diversityi.     Upcoming program: Nonahal spoke with Adolfo Flores about planning this year’s diversity event, March 24, 6 to 8 p.m., at USC Annenberg. The topic will be #JournalismSoWhite. Flores is planning to moderate himself and is reaching out to journalists for the panel.e.     Ethicsi.     Event update: Bluestein has four panelists confirmed for the event, “Is Objectivity Overrated?” The panel is Thursday, March 3, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at KPCC. Panelists will be Pilar Marrero, senior political reporter for Impremedia; Robert Scheer, founder and editor of Truthdig; Karen Ocamb, news editor for Frontiers Magazine and FrontiersMedia.co, and Marc Cooper, retired USC Annenberg School journalism professor. The group discussed the search to find journalists who would stand behind traditional journalism objectivity. Bluestein will moderate. Garriott suggested reaching out to SPJ National to get coverage of the event in Quill magazine.f.      FOIi.     Zahniser said he is working to get the authors of BuzzFeed’s award-winning H-2 investigation to speak at an event in July.g.     Generation Ji.     No reporth.     Membershipi.     Nonahal is planning to get new ad hoc membership committee together for an update at the next meeting.i.      Nominationsi.     No reportj.      Scholarshipsi.     No reportV.             Old Businessa.     Karaoke mixer recap: Walton said another karaoke mixer is being planned for March 2. The event drew many non-members so Walton is hoping to make the next event more journalism-focused and SPJ/LA-branded to improve networking and membership growth.VI.           New Businessa.     Local sunshine ordinance: The group discussed looking into a local sunshine ordinance.b.     March 2 karaoke mixer.c.     iMovie workshop at CSUN on May 14. Journalists will create a one-minute clip on iMovie. The group discussed whether the workshop would be open to the public or for working journalists only, and whether it would be free.VII.         Next board meeting: March 7 at Louise’s at 7 p.m.VIII.       Adjournment: Zahniser moved to adjourn, Nonahal seconded. Meeting was adjourned.Respectfully submitted,Christina Cocca