Margaret Sullivan is the editor of The Buffalo (N.Y.) News. Reach her at
mmsullivan@buffnews.com.
Margaret Sullivan talks with ASNE President Charlotte Hall about proposed changes to the ASNE bylaws that would open up membership and address the future of news
CHANGE IS IN THE AIR - IN NEWSROOMS, in Washington and no less at ASNE. As Charlotte Hall prepares to hand over the leadership baton to Marty Kaiser this spring, she and others have taken a hard look at the organization and its future. The results are some significant proposed changes in ASNE's bylaws. Perhaps the most notable one would be a small but important change in the organization's very name. It would become American Society of News Editors.
We pinned Charlotte down in mid-January to ask about the reasons for the changes and her hopes for ASNE as it moves into the future.
Q. What is the thinking behind the name change? What other names were considered? Anything radically different with, perhaps, just a couple of random letters or numbers like my favorite band U2?
A. We wanted to accurately reflect our organization and the reality of the media world, recognizing that delivery platforms are expanding and we are all more than print newspaper editors now. The board talked briefly about doing something totally different, but I can't recall the alternatives because none gained traction.
At one point, I briefly mulled American Society of Editors, but the acronym wasn't so tasty (ASE?). Then we asked ourselves whether taking "paper" out of the name made us seem like a group for production editors. But we quickly decided that was just a term of art without much meaning in the larger world.
Under Dave Zeeck's leadership in 2006-2007, we had already moved to a new way of using our name by adding the underline, "Leading America's Newsrooms." That underline will stay in the new name.
Finally, like marketers, we realized that there is brand value in our acronym for our members, and that our name continues to reflect what we do and what we are - news, editors, American, society (well, a group). The brand enjoys wide recognition and respect on a broad range of issues - journalistic values, freedom of information, the First Amendment, diversity and ethics.
The name wasn't broken - it just needed updating.
Q. Would all educators be allowed to join? What about high school journalism teachers who double as volleyball coaches?
A. Well, a little beach volleyball would liven up our conventions, that's for sure, but that's not in the works. The extension of full membership for educators would apply to leaders of college and university journalism programs and professors with endowed chairs.
Q. What is the status of ASNE's membership base, and to what extent are all of these changes an effort to turn around a decline in membership? In short, to what extent is this a desperation move? (Not that that's bad; we're all doing it.)
A. Our membership has been declining for several years - that's true - and in the last year the trend has accelerated as the business has shrunk dramatically. So, yes, to be viable we need to expand our base so that we can carry on our vital work in areas ranging from high school journalism to FOI.
But the most important driver is the revolution in the way news and information is produced and consumed. We are no longer bound by the platform on which we deliver news, and so our membership should reflect the new reality. We also need to deepen our relationships with our academic counterparts, an increasing number of whom were recently in newsrooms, as well as with foundations and other organizations with journalism at their core. Many of these institutions are helping shape the future of journalism, and we want a strong partnership with them.
And, by the way, desperation sparks innovation and action.
Q. What do you see ASNE looking like in 10 years? Will it be a much smaller organization? Will its mission change?
A. Anyone in our business, or any business, who thinks he or she can predict 10 years out - even two years out - is a charlatan.
That said, I'll give you my vision. ASNE will continue to be the most influential organization of newsroom leaders. But it will look very different. It will be larger. Many, if not most, of its members will be leaders of digital journalism, although there will still be a strong print component, ranging from weeklies, to dailies, to niche publication to news magazines. Television news will have morphed into a digital, on-demand product, and some of its leaders also will be in ASNE. The organization will be more democratic, inviting the public to join the conversation in ways we don't yet envision.
ASNE will act as a productive journalism think tank, bringing together the top minds from newsrooms, universities, foundations and the community. At the same time, it will continue to champion core journalism values - credibility, diversity, FOI, journalism education, ethics, the First Amendment.
ASNE's mission statement will probably have been rewritten a couple of times - isn't that what editors like to do? But I doubt it will have strayed too far from the principles in today's mission statement: "The American Society of Newspaper Editors is dedicated to the leadership of American journalism. It is committed to fostering the public discourse essential to democracy; helping editors maintain the highest standards of quality, improve their craft and better serve their communities; and preserving and promoting core journalistic values, while embracing and exploring change."
In other words, we will still be a bunch of idealists trying to save the world. And get a good job.
Q. What was the process of coming up with these proposed changes? Are they mostly your ideas? Have they been a long time coming?
A. I think many of us have known for a while that we needed to change as the industry changed. The name-change seed, for example, was sown at our strategic retreat in 2007.
When I took office in April, I had in my mind that ASNE needed to reflect the rapid changes in news media in its membership, programs and convention. I also was concerned with erosion of our membership.
I wanted to fully engage the future leaders - the ASNE ladder - in the decisions about our future since I would be gone in a year. So the officers and Scott Bosley began conversations in the late spring. We talked on several conference calls, but two key face-to-face meetings took place, the first at UNITY, and the second before the convention planning committee meeting in September.
By early fall, the officers had a plan. Scott and Kevin drafted the bylaw changes, and we sent them to the board a couple weeks before our mid-year meeting. We tried to talk to as many board members as possible before the meeting to hear their ideas. At our board meeting, we had a full-throated discussion and came to agreement on the changes the full membership will vote on in April.
I want to thank my partners, Marty Kaiser, Milton Coleman, Caesar Andrews and Scott - we were a team the whole way - and also my predecessor, Gilbert Bailon, and the full board for their wise counsel and support.
Q. If these bylaw changes are approved, how will you rank them in terms of the overall accomplishments of your tenure?
A. They rank right up there with our efforts to reinvent our convention. The bylaws, if approved by the members, will be a significant step forward - but their implementation by the leaders who follow me will tell the tale of whether they truly transform the organization.
Q. Has ASNE changed its bylaws frequently in the past?
A. We have made a few changes in recent years - for example, to include online editors (though we assumed then that we meant online editors at print newspapers), allow for electronic communication and to bring some language in line with current practices. But this is the most fundamental change.
Q. If the membership eligibility changes are approved, will ASNE be actively recruiting new members - and if so, how? Will we consider getting the word out in text messages and RSS feeds?
A. Yes, if the changes are approved, we will immediately begin to market ourselves actively. We will target editors of news-only Web sites, academics and friends at foundations. We haven't discussed yet all the digital avenues, but thanks for raising the possibility - maybe Twitter too! And I think we will need, horrors of horrors, a marketing committee! The board and staff will draw up the plans in the next couple months.
Q. Why the expansion of the board by appointment? Would such appointments require a majority vote of the board?
A. In order to make sure that all of our constituencies are represented, we felt that the president needed the ability, on occasion, to nominate up to two members to the board. The full board would approve the appointments.
For example, as we seek to include digital editors on the board, we may need to jump-start that process with an appointment or two. When our membership includes more digital-only journalists, then the normal process of nomination and election, we hope, will ensure representation.
Q. Would you explain the online membership meetings? Is there a down side to this?
A. We included this change to enable us to move more rapidly. The way the bylaws read now, a vote on changes can occur only at a meeting of the society. That means we have to wait until our annual convention or call a special meeting that requires travel and expense for members.
On the current changes, for example, the board would have been ready in December or January to put them to a vote. If the changes had been approved, we would have been able to start recruiting new members immediately.
We all live in a digital environment, and so we should be able to meet and vote digitally. I see no down side.
Q. I'm intrigued by the dropping of the word "daily" from the bylaws. Isn't the news cycle getting shorter rather than longer? Why is this necessary?
A. Daily to me implies once-a-day publication and therefore invokes the old print model. 24-7 seems like far more than "daily." On the flip side, some newspapers are dropping print publication on certain days, and this may become a growing trend. We felt that "daily" dated us amidst very rapid change.
And yes, with "daily" gone, weekly newspaper editors are welcome.
Q. How would you expect ASNE's inclusion of online editors and educators to affect other organizations already in existence? Are we going after their membership in some way?
A. We do not intend to compete with other organizations. Our distinctive niche is leadership of newsrooms. That's very different, for example, from the Online News Association, which has a broad membership. We would hope that leaders of digital newsrooms would belong to ONA and ASNE.
Q. If we have a larger membership base, is there a chance that dues will go down? Have dues ever gone down in the entire history of journalism organizations?
A. We will have to look at the dues as we grow (we hope!). I would love to be able to reduce dues, and we regularly review the way dues are structured. Most of all, we need to grow to be healthy financially.
I plead ignorance about whether dues ever went down in journalism organizations. If anyone has heard of anything, let me know. The only thing I know that went down in the last year was my 401K! *