August 2023 Gleanings
Featuring proposed changes to the BIPC Bylaws
This is an important special edition of Gleanings, where we propose changes to the club bylaws. I hope you will read President Michael Phillips' message below. MEETING NOTICE: BIPC board meetings are open to all members. Next meeting via Zoom 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 16. Email Phillips at mphillips@weatherboy.com for a link.
Message from the BIPC President:
Aloha kākou Big Island Press Club Members!
This is an incredibly challenging time for the journalism ecosystem on the Big Island, elsewhere in Hawaii, and beyond. The number of reporters and the media outlets that hire them continue to shrink while people consume and share media in ways very differently than they did as little as 10 years ago. With the rise of various internet platforms that not only shape how people get information, but how the journalism enterprise is compensated, the industry finds itself in an unfortunate squeeze play where not only journalists are challenged, but the amount of quality information getting out to the public is too.
Since 1967, the Big Island Press Club has been protecting the public’s right to know. As the state’s oldest press club, our mission comes to life in two key ways. First, we fight for press freedoms by participating in the legislative process on a county and state level and celebrate people that champion causes that are great for media and the communities we serve. Through our annual Torch of Light awards, we celebrate those that help protect the right to know while our Lava Tube dishonor calls-out people that act in ways that are not consistent with a free press and/or open government. Second, we help inspire future generations of communicators by awarding scholarships each year to promising students on the Big Island pursuing higher education in journalism or communications. By doing these things, we’re helping make reporters’ jobs easier to shine lights on issues and concerns that impact our community while also making sure we have a future generation of reporters waiting in the wings to do the same.
As President of the Big Island Press Club, I’m very happy with things we’ve managed to do this year. We’ve managed to boost membership by 20% while also growing our balance sheets for our scholarship program. Traffic and interaction with our new website and Gleanings newsletter is also up. The number of scholarship applicants we had this year also grew, as did the amounts we awarded this spring. We’ve hosted three Newsmaker events already this year and have more in the works, taking advantage of the post-pandemic era to do more in-person events around the island. I’m so honored to serve alongside a creative and thoughtful board that helps with our vision and programming over the year.
But as President of the Big Island Press Club, I’m also concerned about the state of media on the island and the challenges that lie ahead for the journalism enterprise as well as the longterm viability of our club. It’s been more than 10 years since the Club updated its bylaws and I feel it is time to update them to make sure the club can ride out whatever turmoil is ahead for the media ecosystem here. On August 30, 1967, the Press Club adopted its first bylaws; fast forward to today, 56 years later, I want to make sure the Big Island Press Club continues to do its mission for at least the next 5+ decades too.
To do that, the Board assembled its Bylaws Committee earlier this year, with Jim Wilson, Nancy Cook Lauer, Bob Duerr, and myself working on revamping the last set of rules that were adopted in January 2013. Through that Committee and subsequent participation with our Board of Directors, we’ve drafted an updated set of bylaws that I feel continues to honor the club’s past while giving the club more flexibility to survive and grow in an ever changing future. At the August Board meeting, our Board unanimously approved the latest draft of the bylaws to be considered by the membership for its approval.
I am asking you to join me in approving these updated bylaws.
The founders of the Big Island Press Club wanted to protect its integrity by giving greater control to professional journalists than other groups and supporters and they developed membership categories and voting rules to be aligned to that thought. But with the number of professional journalist jobs dwindling on the island and a growing number of the general public wanting to join us in support of our missions, we felt the need to be in a position where we can still have a vibrant, participating club membership that can continue to move it forward. As such, the biggest change proposed in the new bylaws is to restructure membership categories and give every member equal footing when it comes time to vote on an issue.
These changes also allow people to join our club the moment they sign up; they’ll no longer need board approval. However, members can still be removed from membership for conduct detrimental to the club by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. And for people that want a seat on the Board, there will no longer need to be a Professional or Associate Member requirement for different positions there.
Other updates to modernize the bylaws include formalizing the use of things like Zoom and email to conduct board business, increase the spending limits of the club leadership from $500 to $1,000 without an Executive Board vote, and update requirements of Board Members to be active participants of every board meeting.
To move the bylaws forward, we welcome your feedback and input and will discuss such input at our next board meeting. At that time, after making any additional changes with that input in mind, the board will then present to current Professional Members a ballot to approve or reject these new bylaws. Our current bylaws require that at least 50% of our professional members must vote on the proposed amendment and at least two-thirds of those votes must be in the affirmative to pass.
I humbly ask of your support to approve these bylaws to keep the Big Island Press Club viable for a very long time ahead.
Sincerely,
Michael Phillips BIPC President
Please read below to see a marked-up version of the BIPC bylaws with proposed deletions and additions. Please contact nclauer@gmail.com if you'd prefer an alternative format.
2023 Big Island Press Club Board
Please feel free to contact any board members with your suggestions, or if you wish to volunteer!
President: Michael Phillips, journalist, meteorologist, Weather Channel <mphillips@weatherboy.com>
Vice President: Tiffany Edwards Hunt, former journalist, Middle school teacher <newswoman@mac.com>
Treasurer: Bob Duerr, filmmaker and journalist, Hawaii Fishing News <surf77@me.com>
Secretary: Nancy Cook Lauer, retired reporter for West Hawaii Today, blogger www.allhawaiinews.com <nclauer@gmail.com> Director: Ross Wilson, PR, Current Events <rossw@current-events.com> Director: Royelen Lee Boykie, exploring opportunities to serve The Big Island <Royelen@bigislandpressclub.org> Director: Patsy Iwasaki, professor, University of Hawaii-Hilo <piwasaki@hawaii.edu> Director: Nate Gaddis, former journalist, real estate agent, <nategaddis@gmail.com> Immediate Past President: John Burnett, journalist, Tribune-Herald <jburnett@hawaiitribuneherald.com>
