APME First-Time Dues Draw 300 Voluntary Payments So Far

By: Joe Strupp Seven months after Associated Press Managing Editors asked members to pay voluntary dues for the first time in its history, more than 300 have agreed to fork over the annual payments.

That is higher than the 250 members that APME leaders had hoped would pay up the first year when the dues were approved at the group's annual convention last fall. APME has 1,600 members, each representing one of the Associated Press member newspapers.

"We hope to get 500 by '09," said David Ledford, APME president and editor of The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. He added, "I think we will get more by the convention" in October. "We had never before asked for dues and I think it is a success so far."

The $150 dues were put in place in an effort to raise more money as the industry faces financial problems and APME seeks to expand its offerings.

Ledford cited the group's recent earmark training program, as well as the longtime Newstrain sessions and its credibility roundtables, as among those needing financial help: "We need the money to keep it going."

Karen Magnuson, editor of the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle and APME past president, said members are feeling they get a lot for their money: "We feel like we are building real momentum with the dues strategy. We are engaging more editors than ever before."

APME officials said last fall they hoped to raise about $40,000 in the first year, and as much as $75,000 by 2009 and $120,000 by 2012. APME Executive Director Mark Mittelstadt has said the organization's annual budget is about $500,000, with most of that coming from sponsors and corporate donations.

The new dues mirror those charged by other journalism organizations, such as the National Association of Black Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

ASNE charges dues ranging from $195 to $675, depending on the newspaper's circulation while SPJ requires dues on a scale from $36 to $90 per year.??

"When you come to APME in Vegas," Ledford said about the upcoming conference there, "it is only $300 to register and $150 for membership. If you go to ASNE, it is $600 to register and $600 for membership. That is $1,200 before you pay for transportation and expenses."