Emily Bloch for vice president
Michael Koretzky for treasurer
Nicole DeCriscio for director
Wesley Wright for director
SPJ faces a historic budget crisis that its current leaders admit will get worse before it gets better. We disagree.
It will never get better.
With membership dropping by two-thirds since 2010, there’s no reason to believe it will ever rebound. Those membership dues are SPJ’s major source of money, eclipsing all other sources.
SPJ sold its headquarters last year, and that money is already gone, eaten up by the budget deficit. SPJ is broke, and its revenue model is broken.
Michael Koretzky has been saying that since 2013, when he first proposed renaming SPJ as the Society for Professional Journalism. But he added…
A name change is not enough. We need to evolve from a trade organization to an advocacy group.
In other words, SPJ must expand its membership to anyone who supports journalism.
It’s not a novel concept. You don’t need to be a woman to join the National Organization for Women. You don’t need to be Black to join the NAACP. In fact, you don’t need to be Hispanic to join the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Like the journalists we are, we researched other organizations that have made similar changes. You can read about those, and you can read our plans for SPJ.
If you’re still unconvinced, we understand. We’re running to give SPJ members a choice. If you believe SPJ can survive on its current path, we disagree but respect your vote.
Endorsements
SPJers who support these candidates and this vision…
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- Lynn Walsh, SPJ past president and former Ethics chair
- Andrew Seaman, former Ethics Chair and Wells Key winner
- Sue Kopen Katcef, former national VP Campus Chapter Affairs, former Awards Committee Chair
- Sergy Odiduro, SPJ Louisiana president and diversity fellow
- Andy Schotz, former national board member, former chair of the Ethics and Awards committees
- Lauren Bartlett, former national director at large, former Ethics Committee member
- Ben Meyerson, Chicago Headline Club past president
- Gregg Trusty, Louisiana Pro treasurer and continuous SPJ member since Spring 1969
- Bill McCloskey, Wells Key recipient, former Bylaws committee chair, former Finance committee member former Foundation and Society board member, former DC Pro chapter president.
- Rebecca Tallent, Wells Key recipient and former national board member
- Kelly P. Kissel, former SPJ national board member and former SPJ Arkansas president; initially joined SPJ in 1979
- You? Contact us to add your name.
