APME Proposes First-Ever Annual Dues At Conference

By: Joe Strupp For nearly 75 years, Associated Press Managing Editors have never charged its members dues. As the group gathers this week in Washington, D.C., for its annual conference, that may end.

APME leaders, claiming a need for more revenue to hire additional paid staff and offset cost increases, are asking members to approve a yearly $150 fee per person. Those who attend the conference, which runs Wednesday through Saturday, will be asked to approve the new fees on Friday.

"We realized that in order to build a strong foundation for the future, we need to build new revenue streams," said Karen Magnuson, APME president and editor of the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle. "We cannot rely on corporate sponsorships as we have in the past."

APME Executive Director Mark Mittelstadt said the organization's annual budget is about $500,000, with most of that coming from sponsors and corporate donations. He estimates that $150 annual dues would raise about $23,000 the first year, with hopes for $75,000 annually within five years.

"By doing a much more aggressive outreach and urging people to be members, the organization can raise more," he said. "It requires support."

APME boasts up to 1,400 members since its organization automatically counts at least one editor from each AP member newspaper. The group began several years ago seeking voluntary dues of $100 for "supplemental membership" and $250 each to join the "editors circle," but most of that money went to the APME Foundation.

But no mandatory dues were charged, unlike most other journalism organizations such as American Society of Newspaper Editors and Society of Professional Journalists. 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.

"We have spent 75 years doing work as a voluntary organization," Magnuson said. "Everything outside of the executive director is done with volunteers."

The dues will not alter the annual conference registration fee, which is $470 per person for this year's convention. APME had been receiving about $35,000 yearly from AP, but that ended about three years ago, Mittelstadt said.

In a release on the APME Web site, the organization sought to explain the need for dues, stating, "For many years, APME was largely a social organization whose main activity was its annual convention. Our financial records amounted to receipts in a box that traveled from city to city as one volunteer treasurer handed off to the next.

"Today the core of APME is year-round editor training and development. We need administrative support to keep those programs going and to help us keep in regular contact with members. At the same time, non-profits such as APME must meet new state and federal requirements. Both the government and our large funders expect us to have professional bookkeeping and outside audits. All of those things demand that we have a reliable source of funds."

Among the items paid members would receive if the dues are instituted are: A copy of the quarterly magazine, APME News, and weekly e-mail newsletter; the annual "Great Ideas" book; a $50 discount on conference registration; a $25 discount on contest fees.

In other news at the conference, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been added as guest and will address the members at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.