Submit your name by Nov. 22
As the year comes to an end, we get to participate in a tradition that is a cornerstone of our community and country. Elections.
It’s once again time to hold board elections for your SPJ Rio Grande chapter.
We have a total of 11 seats on the board, including the offices of president, two vice presidents – membership and communications – secretary and treasurer. The immediate past president serves as an ex-officio member of the chapter.
The most often asked question is, “Well…what do I have to do as a board member?”
The answer is pretty straight forward – support and advocate for journalists.
Yes, there are board meetings – technically we only have to meet every other month – but we usually meet monthly. Depending on the capacity of any given board, some years are heavy on training and professional development, while others, like this one, are focused on giving local reporters a time to relax, socialize and decompress.
This is your board. We work to support you, our members, in whatever way is needed. Do you have an idea for programming? Have the desire to bring in training? Want to help host an evening of fun?
Then let us know you want to be a candidate by dropping us an email at spjriogrande@gmail.com before 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22.
To run for the board – and to vote in the board election – you do need to be a member in good standing with SPJ. If you aren’t already a member, joining is easy. When you join the national chapter, be sure to indicate you want to become a member of the New Mexico Pro Chapter. We don’t charge additional dues to belong to your local chapter.
As with the board, the question often asked about joining SPJ is “What do I really get out of it?” We could enumerate the benefits touted on the SPJ website, but you can read that for yourself.
The benefits of belonging to a 115-year-old professional organization dedicated to journalism can be expressed in a number of ways, but there is one that should stand out above all.
We are closing this year preparing to enter – or re-enter – a period of time when the work of journalists is not just criticized, but labeled as fake and derided as completely unnecessary. It has been made abundantly clear by many who are about to ascend to high places of power that not only is our work irrelevant but so are our very lives.
Now is the time to present a cohesive front, to support one another and the very foundation of our craft. We speak truth to power and our voices must be united.
