Time for NINA to revisit its mission

From Sharon Boehlefeld, NINA's outgoing president:

As we’ve talked about conferences and workshops during the past few years, the NINA board has repeatedly discussed what we can do that will be most valuable to newspaper journalists in a multi-media world.

Last summer, we started talking about whether we should redefine ourselves in light of the new media realities. After all, even the smallest papers among our members are dabbling with Web sites. The largest are leading the way with a variety of multimedia platforms and partnerships with radio and television.

Board members also have talked briefly about whether we should change our name from Northern Illinois Newspaper Association to Northern Illinois News Association. In a straw poll at our fall banquet, about half the room supported a change. We aren’t yet bringing that to a membership vote, but we welcome pro and con discussion from our members here on Digital Ink.

At our October board meeting, an ad hoc committee (Rick Nagel, Lonny Cain, Roger Ruthhart and Jim Killam) presented a proposal for a new mission statement. Our current statement reads: "NINA is an organization of newspaper professionals dedicated to advancing print journalism, print-journalism education and training in northern Illinois."

Knowing that few of us are still only “print” journalists – even as we acknowledge a preference for the medium – the committee attempted to come up with a broader statement. The proposal reads: "NINA’s mission is to advance the quality, integrity and credibility of journalism and journalism education in northern Illinois."

We all know our industry is reeling from changes, both in and out of our control. Printed newspapers are, in a sense, an endangered species. Yet, it was the printed word – the press – for which the First Amendment was penned.

We all believe our medium is still critically important in our communities, and will probably have some kind of future for years to come. We remain dedicated to professional standards in news gathering and reporting, professional standards that we believe should not disappear just because our means of delivering news may change.

But, just because this board thinks our organization might need some redirection as we move into the future, that doesn’t mean our membership sees things the same way. At our fall conference, I briefly explained the board’s discussions and read the current and proposed versions of the mission statement. I also invited comments here on Digital Ink. The comment period remains open until Jan. 15.

A change of the mission statement requires approval of two-thirds of members voting at a general membership meeting. A general meeting, part of our Jan. 16 board session, will begin at 10 a.m. in the Student Life building on the campus of Northern Illinois University. Please join us as we take the vote on our mission statement.