October 10, 2016

SPJ/LA Board of Directors Meeting MinutesMonday, Oct. 10, 20167 p.m.Louise’s Trattoria10645 W. Pico Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90064In attendance: Joel Bellman, Stephanie Bluestein, Sarah Favot, Khalil Garriott, Elizabeth Marcellino, Frank Mottek, Navid Nonahal, Richard Saxton, Lori Streifler, Jeff Wald, Roberta Wax, Alice Walton, Natalie Windsor.I. Approval of minutes from Sept. 12 board meeting: On a motion by Wald, seconded by Bellman (with Favot abstaining) the minutes from the previous board meeting were approved.II. President’s Report: Nonahal thanked Bluestein for attending Excellence in Journalism ’16 in New Orleans and serving as a chapter delegate along with Lauren Bartlett. Nonahal announced that at EIJ ’16, the chapter received an award for chapter communications and said it will be framed and placed in the chapter's office. She thanked Walton and Christina Cocca for their social media efforts and said. With regret, Nonahal said she would accept Wald’s letter of resignation, which was necessary due to work commitments. She warmly thanked Wald for his contribution to SPJ-LA and wished him well during what would be his last board meeting.III. Treasurer’s Report: Hendrickson was absent so Nonahal delivered the report. There are two outstanding checks—one to the Franchise Tax Board and another to the chapter’s accountant—that have not been cashed. It will be looked into. On a motion by Windsor, seconded by Wald the reporter was received.IV. Standing Committees:Awards—Marcellino said she sent out a notice about nominees, which included the deadline of Oct. 21. The board will choose honorees at its Nov. 14 meeting.Banquet—Walton announced the banquet will be Thursday, Jan. 26 at the Omni Hotel. The reservation has already been made.Courts—No reportDiversity—No reportEthics—A panel discussion exploring sexist and racist media coverage of the Summer Olympics was held Sept. 22 at USC Annenberg. Panelists were Jackie Pepper, a sports journalist who produced short-form videos for Yahoo Sports during the Olympics; David Wharton, lead Olympic reporter for the L.A. Times and affiliated newspapers who was in Rio; and Marcella De Veaux, Ph.D., a tenured Associate Professor of Journalism at California State University, Northridge (CSUN); Bluestein was the moderator. Board members in attendance were Favot, Michael Fleeman, Dick Hendrickson, Marcellino, Nonahal and Wax. Public attendance was lacking and a greater push will be made in the future to notify those connected with the host venue to ensure that locals are aware of the event.FOI—no reportGeneration J—A journalism competition, expected to be attend by 200 high school students, is scheduled at CSUN on Oct. 22. On a motion by Mottek, seconded by Bellman the board approved a $500 contribution towards expenses.Membership—Saxton suggested making a push to get newsrooms to join SPJ as a group. He will send emails to newsroom leaders asking them to share with their colleagues. It was suggested that we ask a student to capture testimonials at the banquet that could be used for a promotional video in exchange for complimentary attendance. Mottek said we need to push for more membership millennials. Marcellino suggested we should let the public know that if they join SPJ before the banquet, the discount they receive will cover their chapter dues for a year.Nominations—no reportScholarships—no reportV. Old Business—The last karaoke mixer for 2016 was on Oct. 4. Three people were in attendance, plus Navid. Claudia is the life of the mixer. Navid says we need to move on to another event. One month, board games, storytelling. Once or twice a year would be good--Navid. It would be more special if it wasn't as often.VI. New Business--On Nov. 2, a storytelling mixer titled, “Horror Stories from the Campaign Trail,” is planned with L.A. Press Club at the Redwood.Wax said she has an idea for a program at the downtown Central Library working in conjunction Wendy Horowitz, the librarian of the photo collection.Windsor distributed two articles about the issue of media embargos. Following some board discussion, in which Saxton said it was discussed at a previous regional conference, Windsor said she will send the information to SPJ Ethics Committee Chair Andrew Seaman. It was mentioned that perhaps there could be a panel discussion on the topic at a future national conference.VII. The next meeting will be Monday, Nov. 14, 2016 at 7 p.m. at Louise’s Trattoria in West L.A.VIII. Adjournment—Mottek adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. in honor of Wald’s excellent service to SPJ. Garriott seconded the motion.Submitted by Stephanie Bluestein