Minutes

Meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists, Valley of the Sun Pro Chapter

May 15, 2022, 10 a.m.

Started: 10:13 a.m.

Attendees: Tim Eigo, Mark Scarp, Teri Carnicelli; Absent: Deb Krol, Doug MacKenzie

Opening

• Secretary’s report/approval of minutes from March 13, 2022 – Moved (Teri) and seconded (Tim) — unanimously approved.
• Treasurer’s report – Teri reports our investments with Russell Life Points/Northwestern Mutual as of May 14 lost $1,003.41 in the past quarter, to $18,201.53. Our checking account as of the same date contained $4,274.20, compared to $4,623.30 on March 12, 2022.
• Mark’s Mighty Minute! – Mark suggested he and Tim getting together for dinner soon to start work on a list of potential chapter members from the staff directories of Arizona media. Goal would be to send out 40 or 50 individually addressed messages to such people from Tim.

Old Business

• ASU West 3/26 event Ní Una Más: Preventing Violence Against Women, Lessons from Mexico, dialogue and film screening of the documentary The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo, followed by Q&A with the film’s director.
• Amicus brief request to sign on to a petition that asks for revision a California state assembly bill to protect workers who should be treated as employees for benefits, but as written was vague and might include freelancers as employees when they are not. Several SPJ chapters and national HQ signed on to it. No word so far as to progress of AB 5.
• Amicus brief in support of freelance journalists: Our chapter and others, including SPJ national, voted to join in an amicus brief in a lawsuit seeking to overturn part of a California law (called AB 5) applying a definition of freelance journalist called the ABC test: It allows employers not to provide unemployment compensation to independent contractors. The test for whether an individual is an independent contractor as opposed to an employee is threefold: 1) does the individual work independently of the employer’s control (A = alone); 2) does the individual maintain his own place of business (B = business); and 3) does the individual practice or work at an established trade, and exercise control over his own schedule and method of operation (C = control)? The name derives from the letters normally used to designate the three parts of the test. If successful, the suit might head off similar efforts that might be under way in other states’ legislatures. Lawsuit is still ongoing; Tim will monitor.

New Business

• Summer Solstice mixer/elections proposed date: Tuesday, June 21. Confirm and select location – Board members asked Tim to ask Helton Brewing Co. in east Phoenix if their separate gathering room is available. As an alternative, Tim will also check into Half Moon Windy City Sports grill at 20^th St. and Highland Avenue, which also has a nice separate room the chapter has used in the past at no charge.
• SPJ chapter annual report due by Friday, June 17 – Tim plans to have it filed by then after having three non-board members look over and approve the financials portion of it
• News to share with members: SPJ Delegate Analysis Task Force Report, bylaws questions and upcoming Town Halls on May 17 and June 1 (https://www.spj.org/delegatetaskforce.asp). Board members discussed the issue. Mark and Tim plan to attend one Town Hall each. Teri also might.
• Annual chapter awards: Proposed honorees and renaming awards for such notables as Kent Dana (deceased from 12News) and Al Macias (recently retired from KJZZ). Mark will look into putting together a list of possible people to honor and categories to match them with.
• 2022 Publicity Summit: Mark and Tim met March 23 with PRSA Phoenix officers Erica Featherstone and Heather Vana and proposed several ways for their chapter to support the Oct. 15 Summit. As of May their board hasn’t discussed it; Mark said Heather told him May 12 that their board is meeting May 16 and will discuss the ideas then.
• Programming and membership-building suggestions – Tim will circulate a list of L.A. and Utah chapter programming ideas among board members to find out which ones Phoenix chapter could emulate here,
• AAJA request for August speaker suggestion on “how to pitch your business story” (maybe a morning assignment producer from a past Publicity Summit)
• Proposed new board member: Nicole Greason, ALMA, Barrett-ASU, Tim nominated, officers Mark and Teri voted to approve her. She will attend the next board meeting July 10.

PROPOSED NEXT MEETING: Sunday, July 10, 2022, 10 a.m.

Adjourned: 11:33 a.m. (80 minutes)

Respectfully submitted,

Mark J. Scarp, Chapter Secretary