• February 8, 2024

    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

     

  • January 25, 2024


    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