Board Proposes Streamlined Membership Categories; Club Votes 6 pm Oct. 8
The Board of Governors voted Sept. 14 to recommend that the Club membership approve changes in the Constitution and Bylaws to streamline and rationalize the Club's membership category structure. The membership will be asked to vote at the fall membership meeting at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8.
The new approach reduces the complexity of the Club's current 12 membership categories and 49 sub-categories while giving greater recognition to the contributions of the Club's non-journalist members through a name change from the current associate/affiliate categories to "Communicator."
The current active category is changed to "Journalist." The revision does not change who can qualify for Club membership, but the goal is it will make membership more accessible and easier to navigate for both existing and prospective members.
The proposed changes to Article III of the Constitution are below. Changes in other parts of the Constitution and Bylaws would make the wording consistent with the change in the category names. (IE, references to "active" members would be changed to "Journalist" members.)
A complete list of the proposed chages is posted on the bulletin board in the Reliable Source and is available here:
Constitution: http://cfc.press.org/members/secureDocument.cfm?docID=434
Bylaws: http://cfc.press.org/members/secureDocument.cfm?docID=433
-- Angela Greiling Keane, membership secretary
Proposed changes are in bold.
Article III
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1.The Club shall consist of persons whose professional qualifications and character, in the judgment of the Board of Governors, hereinafter constituted, shall warrant their election to one of the following classifications:
(a.) Journalist Members: Persons whose principal occupation for the previous twelve months meets one or more of the following criteria:
(i) Reporters, editors, writers, bloggers, publishers, editorial and news cartoonists and artists, news photographers, producers, librarians, presidents, general managers, videographers, web masters and other editorial employees who work for qualified news outlets. Qualified news outlets include publications, news services, broadcast outlets and news internet sites that meet the following criteria:
-- They are regularly issued and supported by advertising or paid subscription, or they are published or funded by non-profit organizations and operate with editorial independence from any political, governmental, commercial or special interest.
-- Their primary purpose is the dissemination of news and information.
-- They are not house organs of any organization or movement.
(ii) Those persons whose primary professional occupation is teaching journalism at college level, such as instructors, professors, or deans, but excluding those who serve in a public information capacity for educational institutions.
(iii) Non-fiction authors whose work has been published by a commercial publishing house and whose principal occupation is writing books.
(iv) Persons who joined the Club as Active members prior to the Jan. 1, 2004, change in the Club's constitution and who remain in the jobs they held at the time they joined the Club.
(v) Persons who are enrolled as full-time students in undergraduate or graduate journalism programs; or who can prove involvement in producing the editorial content of collegiate publications, broadcast outlets or news internet sites or who are working as interns in jobs that would qualify them for Club membership.
(vi) Full-time freelancers for qualified news outlets.
(vii) Former presidents: All former presidents of the National Press Club and the
Washington Press Club shall be entitled to continue as Journalist members after the expiration of their terms in office.
(b.) Communicator Members:
(i) Former Journalist - Persons who have been Active or Journalist members of the Club but who no longer qualify as Journalist members, persons who are actively engaged full-time in public information or editorial duties for a foreign or domestic government agency or have retired from such a position, and those persons who have been employed for not less than five years of the past ten years or ten years overall in jobs that would have qualified them as Journalist members.
(ii) Non-Editorial Staff - Persons who work full-time for the qualified news outlets identified in (a)(i) as business managers, advertising managers, circulation managers, promotion managers, systems operators, and other non-editorial employees.
(iii) Government/Non-Profit - Persons whose profession or business involves regular contacts with members of the press or whose duties involve preparation or dissemination of news and information as employees of a domestic or foreign government or a 501c3 non-profit.
(iv) Communications Professional - Persons whose profession is public relations, public affairs, marketing or corporate communications, including staff whose work would qualify as a journalist if done for an independent media outlet; persons who by principal occupation or business are fiction or play authors, book or film editors, poets, television or script writers or book publishers; and bloggers who do not qualify as Journalist members.
(v) News Source - Persons whose profession or business involves regular contacts with members of the press or whose duties involve preparation or dissemination of news and information. A letter from a member of the working press is required to validate source status.
(vi) This class includes the following individuals, not to exceed thirteen in all, who shall not pay fees or dues: the Superintendents of the United States Senate and House of
Representatives Press Galleries and their immediate assistants, the Superintendents of the
Radio-Television and Periodical Galleries of the House and Senate, the Superintendent of the Senate Photographers Press Gallery, and at the discretion of the Board of Governors, up to four other employees of those Galleries, and the Director of the Washington Foreign Press Center of the United States Information Agency (or its successor organization). This waiver of fees and dues shall not be considered as honorary membership, but rather, granted in consideration for and for the purpose of the service of these individuals in supervision of Club elections.
(vii) No persons shall be elected as Communicator members if the total number of Communicator members exceeds, or by their election would exceed, 45 percent of the combined number of Journalist and Provisional Journalist members.
(c.) Provisional Members: Persons who would be eligible to be Journalist members, but who have less than twelve months of working-press experience.
(d.) Spouse/Widow/Widower Members: The widows or widowers of former members who, upon application, shall automatically be admitted to Widow or Widower membership and who shall be charged an annual membership fee. Spouses or domestic partners of Club members shall be granted such Club privileges as the Board of Governors may confer, including non-voting membership subject to dues and fees.
(e.) Honorary Members: Persons, numbering no more than 25 at any given time, to whom the Board of Governors, by a three-fourths vote of Governors entitled to vote, has granted honorary membership, which membership shall be examined at least annually by the Board and, in accordance with its guidelines, may be revoked at any time by a three-fourths vote of those members of the Board entitled to vote. Honorary members shall not pay dues, vote, hold elective office or sit on the Board of Governors.
Section 2. Admission to membership shall be by vote of the Board of Governors, under procedures established in the Bylaws of the Club. All determinations regarding professional standing of applicants and members shall be made by the Board at its sole discretion. The Board at least once each year shall examine the roster of Journalist members to ascertain if any such member by change of occupation or otherwise has ceased to be eligible for Journalist membership. In carrying out this duty the Board shall have the power to require applicants and members to submit written representations on issues bearing on their qualifications for Journalist membership.
Section 3. The Board of Governors shall have the right to suspend or expel a member. This shall be done only by a majority of all the members of the Board entitled to vote, after a hearing before the Board Ethics Committee, at which the accused member shall have the right to be present, and in conformity with rules that the Board shall adopt. This provision notwithstanding, under House Rules that the Board shall adopt and from time to time revise, a temporary suspension of a member for reasons of disorderly or disruptive conduct within Club premises may be imposed. This suspension may remain in effect for two weeks or until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Governors – whichever occurs first.
Section 4. Unless otherwise provided pursuant to law, or the Club's articles of incorporation or its bylaws, all members shall have equal privileges in the Club; however, except with respect to the Governors elected by Communicator members, only Journalist members shall be eligible to vote and to hold office in the Club.
Section 5. Not more than 100 professional and executive tenants of the National Press Building shall be granted full Club privileges, with the exception of voting or holding office, so long as they are tenants in good standing. Persons who qualify for these privileges shall be subject to review by the Board of Governors. Such persons shall pay fees equal to the fees and dues paid by Communicator members.