B O A R D M I N U T E S
Chicago Headline Club
Board of Directors Meeting
March 13, 2004
President Ben Bradley called the meeting to order at 8:05 a.m.
Present: Ben Bradley, John Camden, Casey Bukro, Andy Dunning, Anupy Singla, Michelle Stevens, Phil Kadner, Steve Rynkiewicz, Bob Roberts, Diane Carbonara, Phil Potempa, Meg Tebo, Molly McDonough, Susan Stevens and guest Mary Wisniewski.
Minutes: Board approved January minutes.
President’s Report: Ben noted “outstanding” attendance at recent events. He noted the Bartman Brown Bag drew a standing room only audience. He asked board members to keep an eye out for other programs with such potential success. He wants to do a Sun-Times program, probably the first week in April.
Membership: John Camden said the total is around 350 and he wants to get it back up to 500. He has a new flyer and will make calls to major newsrooms. He said a pre-Lisagor event such as the Sun-Times program is a good idea.
FOI: Bob Roberts said the CTA the previous week complied with the letter but not the spirit of the law by posting notice of a meeting exactly 48 hours in advance. He said the agency is beginning to move toward compliance, but with a negative attitude.
Lisagor: Steve Rynkiewicz said there were about 700 entries, second-highest. Contest is almost completely judged. He’s looking for volunteers and ideas for presentation. A southwest side boy who made good and has a fund, Driehaus, asked about making a $1,000 cash award presentation for five years to support investigative journalism in Chicago. CHC would decide who gets the award and why. Molly said it’s off the table for this year but should be considered later. Her contact made the proposal after the Sun-Times leased truck program expose.
Ethics: Casey Bukro said SPJ approved a $1,000 grant for ethics week programming in Chicago. Gary Gilson, executive director of the Minnesota News Council, will speak May 20 at a venue to be decided, either Tribune Tower or Loyola University’s downtown campus. The public will be invited. Casey also asked CHC to approve $8,000 for its share of the AdviceLine for another year. No action was taken. A new toll-free number has been set up: 866-DILEMMA. The Ethics Award presented at the Lisagor banquet will go to Virginia Gerst, formerly of Pioneer Press. (Please keep this confidential until the announcement at the dinner!) Board members approved the award recipient. Gerst received four nominations; the only other nomination was not for an ethics-related matter. Bob Scheiffer, keynote speaker, will be asked to present the award.
Brownlee: Molly is de facto chair again. The CHC Foundation got its tax status, so that now everyone can legally claim contributions as charitable deductions. Susan Stevens moved and Bob Roberts seconded transferring Brownlee profits to the foundation account.
PR Newswire: Seminars we’ll do for them will start in May.
Slating Committee: Ben will chair it. Karen Callaway and Jason Jedlinski are board selections for committee members. John Camden and Andy Dunning volunteered.
Office work: Molly asked Pat Kosar to find a mailing service that can do that and take care of our other needs.
Quill: Molly, Ed Avis and Cindy Dampier are on an advisory committee. Let them know about any concerns you have.
Next meeting: 8 a.m. Tues. April 13.
Meeting adjourned around 9:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan S. Stevens
Secretary