June Board Call: Reg. 3 Conf. Sessions Discussed
Last Friday members of the SPJ board met via Skype to discuss sessions at the Region 3 SPJ conference scheduled for August in Orlando. Earlier in the week, Region 3 director and national SPJ board member Michael Koretzky asked the board to reconsider SPJ’s previous position on use of the national SPJ logo to promote AirPlay, a session at the conference dedicated to addressing concerns of ethics in gaming journalism. Previously, Koretzky had been asked to remove the national logo from the AirPlay site by SPJ’s executive director because this was not an event the national organization was endorsing.
The issue first came about in April during Ethics Week when we learned that a group of gamers, known as GamerGate, began using the #SPJEthicsWeek hashtag. SPJ leadership, including members of the Ethics Committee, and staff agreed to drop the hashtag and proceed with the week’s events. The week continued without incident, but we agreed to not further engage the gaming community and focus on other priorities instead.
Though national SPJ opted not to get involved, Koretzky felt it was important to address concerns of the gaming community by hosting a session called AirPlay at the summer conference where journalism ethics specifically related to gaming journalism could be addressed. As independent entities, SPJ chapters and regions operate autonomously from the national organization, and are free to put on their own events and programming. While SPJ did not want its national logo used in conjunction with the AirPlay session, it allowed the use of the national logo on the Region 3 conference site.
The purpose of last Friday’s call was to vote on use of the national logo on the AirPlay website. Following an overview of previous events, Koretzky explained his position and members of the board asked questions and held a discussion. At the beginning of the call, we had a quorum – enough board members to vote on the issue. However, during the call, a board member dropped off, leaving us without a quorum so we were only able to take an informal call. During the poll, only one board member endorsed use of the national logo on the AirPlay website. All others, including Koretzky, voted against it. Despite the poll results, the board commended Koretzky for taking a risk and being willing to address a potentially controversial issue.
In addition to discussing the AirPlay session, we discussed a drone journalism session also to be held during the summer conference. The program will mirror similar programs held by other chapters and regions.
After a 50-minute call, the SPJ board adjourned.
Tags: AirPlay, drone journalism, journalism ethics, Michael Koretzky, SPJ board of directors
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