ASNE proposes taking 'paper' out of name, other significant changes to bylaws

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 12/16/2008 13:19:00
• In: ASNE business

RESTON, Va. -- The American Society of Newspaper Editors is planning to remove "paper" from its name and expand its membership to include editors of online-only news Web sites and journalism educators, President Charlotte Hall told members in an e-mail today.

The Society's board of directors unanimously recommended these and other changes that will be considered by ASNE members at a meeting during the group's convention in Chicago next April.

The new name would be the American Society of News Editors. The logo would remain the same: ASNE Leading America's Newsrooms.

"It is time for ASNE to recognize in its name and its membership that we are way beyond print-only newspapers," Hall said. "All journalists are now digital news producers, and while print remains an important delivery mode, more and more news is being produced only for the Web."

Under the proposal, editors from news Web sites, with or without newspaper affiliations, would be eligible to join ASNE. Founded in 1922, ASNE has limited membership to directing editors of newspapers, including top editors of newspaper Web sites.

The proposal would also extend full membership to deans, directors and endowed chairs from college journalism programs, as well as professional staff of journalism training programs and foundations focusing on journalism.

"These leaders are partners with editors in improving the state of journalism," said Hall. "They are heavily invested in our mutual future."

Another change recommended by the board would make it possible for the board to appoint members for limited terms to ASNE's board. This would enable appointment, for instance, of members from online news operations to represent that constituency as ASNE works to lead change.

The board also is asking members to approve a measure that would allow special meetings to be conducted electronically.

ASNE, founded in 1922, is the main organization of the directing editors of daily newspapers in the Americas. The organization is leading efforts to protect First Amendment rights and enhance the free flow of information, to promote the newspaper's role in providing information necessary to the informed practice of citizenship, to encourage innovation and celebrate creativity in newspapers and the new media environment, to drive the quest for diversity and inclusion in the workplace and news content, and to bolster media credibility and improve high school journalism.

For more information, contact Scott Bosley, executive director, 703-453-1120, sbosley@asne.org.

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