CHICAGO HEADLINE CLUB
Board of Directors meeting
Fri. Dec. 4, 2020
President Madhu Krishnamurthy called the Zoom meeting to order at 9 a.m. Also present: Howard Dubin, Greg Karp, Taylor Moore, Mike Ewing, Grace Wong, Suzanne McBride, Ash-har Quraishi, Nader Issa, Amanda Vinicky, Greg Karp, Tahman Bradley, Rob Elder, Maria Zamudio, Mike Ewing and Susan S. Stevens.
Minutes from the November meeting were approved as submitted by Susan.
President’s report: Dart research director has not yet confirmed for a Dec. 14 program on trauma and how to cope, though we approved a $500 speaker fee. A second choice was considered if Elana Newman does not respond in a few days. Board decided on a holiday happy hour and fundraiser for journalism if Dart doesn’t work out. Madhu and Taylor will talk off-line. Taylor will look for a template for future speaker fee contracts.
Board approved being a community partner with the Illinois Holocaust Museum on a virtual program Dec. 14 with author of a book “Saving Free Speech… From Itself.”
Lisagor: Flynn said the entry form is going on the website and printed forms will be mailed mid-December. Categories are all the same as last year. A meeting of the Lifetime Achievement Awards Committee will be next week.
100th Anniversary: Madhu wants to start publicizing in January. Who do we know who can contribute, interview? She will reach out to media to publicize. She wants a short documentary which we will pay a professional to create with the help of students. Board member Raza Siddiqui will be consulted.
Treasurer’s report: Greg said he paid $3,824 to Better BNC to handle Lisagor entries. Same as the last couple of years. CHC has a bank balance of $75,711; CHC Foundation has $82,097. He is looking for a bill from R.S. Owens for Lisagor plaques.
Membership: Amanda has a phone meeting scheduled with SPJ HQs to discuss our roster. Among other things, we need to know who accepted our offer of free memberships.
FOIAFest: Nader said the McCormick Foundation liked all our ideas. While he asked for $7,000, McCormick suggested $15,000. He has many plans to use the additional funds, if they come through. He wants to pay mentors a few hundred dollars and pay a freelance event organizer. He wants to cut ticket prices in half. FOIAFest tickets should be offered free to journalists of color, students and smaller schools. Eighteen or 19 panelists have committed, and the list will be finalized by the end of the month. Half will be people of color and half women. He has a good option for a virtual platform.
Rob said to keep in mind CHCF as a fundraising resource, Maria said it was not helpful this year, Susan said she didn’t get a request while CHCF president. All agreed we need to keep communications channels open. Current CHCF President Molly McDonough is interested in fundraising, and will be asked to attend the next meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 10:06 a.m. Next meeting will be Fri. Jan. 8.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan S. Stevens, secretary