Membership

 

Membership in The Deadline Club, which is the New York City chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, now stands above 300. The organization sponsors meetings for its membership and guests throughout the year. They include an annual awards dinner, a freedom of information program, networking mixers, tours of the city’s leading news organizations and evenings with distinguished journalists and newsmakers.

Join one of the nation’s most prestigious journalism organizations and take advantage of these special benefits:

National Society Benefits

Local Chapter Benefits

  • Networking opportunities with top NYC print, broadcast and online journalists
  • Free or reduced admission to monthly Deadline Club programs and events, including the annual Deadline Club Awards
  • Wining, dining and membership privileges at the Salmagundi Club, a Center for American Art, our home base on Fifth Avenue
  • Attendance and participation in members-only events, including newsroom tours and seminars
  • Opportunities to participate in our speakers’ bureau and mentorship programs
  • Stay informed: sign up for the Deadliner Express newsletter.

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Club Elects 2013 Governing Board, Amends Bylaws

November 28, 2012 — On Tuesday night the Club’s members, while braving the season’s first snow, huddled down inside the back room of Kennedy’s for the annual election and general membership meeting. This was a red-letter year for The Deadline Club, a time when members must vote on long-overdue amendments to the bylaws as well as electing the 2013 governing board.

Past President John C. Long, the chair of the Bylaws and Operations committee, kicked off the evening by explaining to the members why the board felt it was necessary to make substantial amendments to bring the bylaws up to date. The board had the satisfaction of seeing the proposed amendments approved unanimously by the membership present. The board had not attempted such a comprehensive line-by-line revision of the bylaws for many years. This meant there were some ancient provisions that no longer reflected today’s Deadline Club modus operandi, either because of changes in technology or requirements by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Club’s parent organization.

On taking the podium, President J. Alex Tarquinio recited the long list of the 2012 governing board’s accomplishments, pointing out that modernizing the bylaws had been one of her most important goals upon taking office, despite involving a “hellacious” amount of work. She went on to single out many of her fellow board members for particular praise, among them: Michael Arena, the awards contest chair, who lead the mammoth effort to convert the contest to an electronic system, thereby increasing submissions to an all-time high of 440; Allan Chernoff and Heather Struck, who both stepped into key vacancies in the middle of the year, with Chernoff organizing exemplary panels as Events chair, and Struck completely revamping the website as the new Communications chair; Mark Prendergast, the chair of the brand new Police Relations committee, which met with New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly; Jackie Leo, the Awards Dinner chair, who helped make this year’s dinner a resounding success by inviting Steve Kroft, of 60 Minutes, and Stephen Shepard, the dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism as guest speakers; Polly Whittell, the Membership chair, who organized many popular mixers; Claire Regan, the new Scholarships committee chair; and, of course, Long’s terrific work on the bylaws.

Tarquinio also noted that the board had voted unanimously in May to change the way revenues from the awards contest and dinner would be handled in future. From now on, all revenues and expenses for both the contest and the dinner will be accounted for by The Deadline Club’s treasurer. And, starting next year, the Club will make a donation to the Foundation after the contest. “By the way,” she added, “that’s exactly how The Deadline Club handled revenues from the contest until about a decade ago.” In recent years, the revenues were divided between the Club and the Foundation, with each paying some of the bills for the contest and dinner, and as Tarquinio emphasized, returning to the old ways “will be a huge improvement.”

The members also unanimously approved the slate recommended by the Nominations committee, led by Deadline Club Chairwoman Rebecca Baker, who is also the SPJ Region 1 Director. Tarquinio was reelected to serve another term as president, while all but two of the current board members will be returning next year in the same or different capacities. Treasurer Peter Szekely, of the Newspaper Guild of New York, will become the First Vice President. The other Vice Presidents will include both familiar and new faces. Arena, of the City University of New York, was reelected as the Vice President of the Awards Contest. Leo, of The Fiscal Times, was reelected as the Vice President of the Awards Dinner. Jessica Seigel, of New York University, will join the board next year as the new Vice President of Events. Struck, of Thomson Reuters, who joined the board mid-year to fill the opening for a Vice President of Communications, will continue in that position. Whittell will return as the Vice President of Membership. This position was made permanent with the new amendments to the bylaws. Whittell was elected as the Vice President of Special Projects this year because the bylaws did not include a Vice President of Membership, but from now on this will be a regular post.

The Club will have a new Secretary and Assistant Secretary next year, with Melissa Heule, a freelancer, and Anastasia Economides, of The New York Times, replacing Catherine Gin and Ashley Milne-Tyte, the only current board members who won’t be serving again next year. Colin DeVries, of the Times Ledger Newspapers, will step up from Assistant Treasurer to Treasurer, with Nicholas Hirshon, of St. John’s University, joining the board as Assistant Treasurer.

Three past presidents who have been the bedrock of the Club—Betsy Ashton, who is also a board member of WNET, Steve Dunlop, of CBS, and Long, who is retired from The Wall Street Journal—will continue on the Advisory Council. As the immediate past president, Baker, of The Record, will continue as Chairwoman of the Executive Council. Several current members of the Executive Council will return next year, among them: Jonathan Dahl, of The Wall Street Journal, Howard Goldberg, of The Associated Press, Lauren Young, of Thomson Reuters, Robert Greenman, an author and educator, Prendergast, of St. John’s University, and Regan, of the Staten Island Advance. Chernoff, of Fleishman-Hillard, who graciously stepped in to fill a mid-year opening for the Vice President of Events, will join the Executive Council. Rich Barbieri, of CNNMoney.com, Anjali Mullany, of Fast Company, and Abi Wright, of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, will join the Executive Council as new board members. Some of the current Executive Council members will move to the Professional Council, a group of non-voting board members with prior experience on the board. Next year, the Professional Council will include: Past President David Joachim, of The New York Times; Karen Kaiser, of The Associated Press, who is also the chair of the First Amendment committee; Keith Kelly, of The New York Post; Nick Clark Judd, of Personal Democracy Forum; Brandon McCoy, of Condé Nast; Alberto Riva, of International Business Times; Janell Crispyn, of Clear Channel Communications; and freelancers Tricia Couture, Pamela Kawi and Karen Loew.

Congratulations to all of the members elected to the 2013 governing board, who by the dedication of their time and talent will ensure the success and continuation of The Deadline Club.

PHOTOS: Jika González