Daniels Takes Seat on SPJ National Board

INDIANAPOLIS-- It's definitely a day to remember for me here in Indiana's state capital. This morning I participated in my first Board of Directors meeting for the Society of Professional Journalists.

It was neat sitting between two veteran board members, Jeremy Steele (who I mistakenly thought was a "STUDENT" rep to the board-- SHAME on me! ) and Scott Cooper. Steele represents chapters in Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Cooper is representative for chapters in the states of Oklahoma and Texas.

Yesterday, it just so happens that the president of the Cincinnati SPJ Chapter James Pilcher, in the market where I used to work at WLWT-TV, officially nominated me for the position. The election and installation during the convention business session Saturday was the culminating event to a relatively short campaign that began on this very blog June 19.

You can read all about the issues that I will be tackling as Campus Adviser At-Large.

Being the nation's largest and most broad-based organization for journalists, SPJ is the top of heap when it comes to being involved in the line of work that I chose more than 20 years ago when I went off to college to major in journalism.

It's been almost 20 years since I received a scholarship from the Washington D.C. Chapter of the Sigma Delta Chi (the old name for SPJ). One of the members of that chapter, Bill McCloskey remembers.


Today I joined McCloskey as a member of the SPJ National Board. We both were elected this weekend. He's an at-large member. I'm one of two campus advisers at-large.

The job of an SPJ Board member is much larger than just attending the semi-annual meetings. It's the work we do with the local SPJ chapters and at our regional gatherings as well as with SPJ committees where we can make the most difference.


In two weeks, I'll be back here in Indianapolis as I am a part of an eight-member search team interviewing applicants for the next executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists.

I look forward to serving those who have elected me to this post. But, I also look forward to using this platform to help encourage the students in my own campus chapter to do even more.