2024 Meeting Minutes

Board members in attendance: Brandon Willman, Emma Hewitt, Augustine Triumph Attah, Cooper Howe, Alexandria Osborne, Ben Shors, Jennifer Ladwig, Emma Ledbetter, Matt Haugen, Anna Adams and Richard Miller.

The board meeting was held online.
Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Richard Miller
Minutes from Feb. 29 read and approved.

Presentations by EIC candidates followed by Q&A
1. Gabrielle Bowman
2. Kedzie Moe
3. Josiah Pike
Executive Session: The board was in executive session from 4:58 p.m. to 5:14 p.m.
Public Session:
The board vote resulted in a tie between the two leading candidates. The board advanced those candidates to a runoff and voted again.
Kedzie Moe was elected the EIC for summer, fall 2024.
Reports: Canceled for lack of time.
Public Comments: No comments given.

New Business: Miller said the next board meeting would include a presentation by a design manager candidate.

The meeting adjourned at 5:19 p.m. Minutes taken by K. Denise Boyd

Board members in attendance: Alexandria Osborne, Emma Hewitt, Augustine Triumph Attah, Ben Shors, Jennifer Ladwig, Lorena O’English, Emma Ledbetter, Anna Adams, Cooper Howe, Matt Haugen, Richard Miller.

The board meeting was held online.
Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English
Minutes from Jan. 25 and Feb. 8 read and approved.
Election. Presentation from interim editor-in-chief Alexandria Osborne, seeking board confirmation after Brandon Willman left to pursue professional opportunities.
Board votes unanimously to elect Alexandria Osborne as spring EIC.

Reports
Daily Evergreen Editor-in-Chief Alexandria Osborne
• Hiring new reporters, and preparing for two special editions
Yearbook editor Emma Mahler
• Absent, no report
Graphics manager Emma Hewitt
• Considering potential covers

Advertising manager Richard Miller
• Student Ad Fund has given away $5,100 in ads so far. This week’s paper has $1,750 in ads, which is good for spring. Hoping new software will let us sell yearbooks online.

Fiscal specialist K. Denise Boyd (report given by Miller)
• Year-end projected balance as of January is $10,977.
• Preparing to ask for 2.3% budget increase at S&A hearings.

New business
Cooper Howe relayed information from an ASWSU officer that a potential guest speaker canceled after his fee was revealed in a fall Evergreen report. Board members said that information presented in a public meeting is public information, and that a journalist’s job is to report that information. It was suggested that ASWSU make us of the executive session option for discussing contract negotiations.

Augustine Triumph Attah offered several story ideas. The board suggested he share those with the Evergreen editors though their tip portal.

Meeting adjourns at 4:54 p.m. Minutes taken by Richard Miller

Emergency Board Meeting

Board members in attendance: Brandon Willman, Emma Hewitt, Emma Mahler, Augustine Triumph Attah, Ben Shors, Lorena O’English,  Matt Haugen, Alexandria Osborne, Richard Miller, Sam Taylor, Emma Ledbetter, Maccabee Werndorf  (for Cooper Howe). Meeting held online.

Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English

Issue at hand: Can the editor-in-chief remain in that position after taking an internship with Athletics? If so, how would their duties be changed to avoid conflict of interest issues?

Presentation by EIC Brandon Willman: He would recuse himself from all football coverage, and football-related coverage. He’d provide maximum transparency through a Letter from the Editor, as well as notes appended to stories. Further, other editors would monitor his work for any indications of favoritism.

After lengthy discussion, the board votes that an Athletics position would be incompatible with concurrently acting as EIC. The board asks the EIC to weigh the advantages of each position, and choose one by the following Monday, Feb. 12.

Meeting adjourns at 5:10 p.m.

Minutes taken by Richard Miller

Board members in attendance: Brandon Willman, Emma Hewitt, Emma Mahler, Augustine Triumph Attah, Ben Shors, Jennifer Ladwig, Lorena O’English, Matt Haugen, Richard Miller. Staff: Alexandria Osborne, Denise Boyd

The board meeting was held online.
Called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Lorena O’English
Minutes from Nov. 30 read and approved.
O’English: The minutes from Nov. 30 are incomplete. Because of time limitations, leaders had been asked to submit their reports in writing to Denise Boyd. Please submit those previous reports.

Reports
Daily Evergreen Editor-in-Chief Brandon Willman
• November/December: Goal setting, plans for spring, some staff turnover.
• Newsletter will expand to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; new design coming soon.
• Focus on increasing news; hired two more news reporters.
• Planning coverage of ASWSU elections, public affairs.
• Follow-up coverage on the graduate strike
• Working with Ben Shors on news coverage

Miller relays question from Emma Ledbetter, who was unable to attend: WSU alumni are noticing spelling errors. What type of training do copy editors receive?
Willman: We have two returning copy editors and one new one. There is a planned copy editor workshop the week of Jan. 29. It will cover copy editing and AP Style.

Question: How is the newsletter being changed?
Willman: We are adding more stories and visuals. We are also having reporters carry cameras to better cover breaking news.

Yearbook editor Emma Mahler
• Steady progress so far.
• Cover graphics have been created.
• 40 to 50 percent of the pages have been laid out.
• Working with WSU Photo to get more pictures.
• Photos are archived on the Evergreen server.

Graphics manager Emma Hewitt
• Basketball season coverage planned.
• Considering potential covers for spring graduation

Advertising manager Richard Miller
• Four or five new advertisers are now on board.
• Sold about $10,000 in ads in January.

Fiscal specialist K. Denise Boyd
• Current YTE projected balance as of October is $2,122.

Questions from board/public
Attah: What plans do you have to increase coverage of graduate students?
Willman: We’ve recently covered GPSA, and the strike on campus. We plan follow-up articles as well as increasing features coverage.

New Business
• Archiving of materials
A discussion on how student work is being archived, and if that complies with university policies. Students were urged to archive their work on university servers.

• Newsroom at-large positions
Miller proposes that one of the two newsroom at-large positions be allocated to the managing editor. This would increase student participation. Passes unanimously.

Meeting adjourns at 4:45 p.m. Minutes taken by K. Denise Boyd