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Woolfolk to build membershipBy April Bethea Monitor Staff Two years after NABJ's financial woes dominated campaign debates, presidential hopeful Mike Woolfolk said it is now time to focus on building the organization's membership. Woolfolk, who currently serves as vice president of broadcast, said he's ready to lead the charge. "I'm running because I love the organization, what it stands for and what it can do for its members." Woolfolk is anchor and managing editor of WACH Fox News at Ten in Columbia, S.C. Since joining NABJ in 1995, he has held leadership roles in local chapters, chaired the Council of Presidents, and served as deputy director and director of Region IV. If elected, Woolfolk said he would push to have NABJ provide more professional development resources for members, diversify revenue sources beyond the annual convention, and create a strategic plan for the organization's future. He said NABJ should also focus on recruiting and retaining members, which would include creating a national position specifically for that task. Woolfolk wants the organization to survey black journalists to determine the kinds of programs to provide. "The key to our membership issue is services," he said, adding that the organization will grow when there is greater confidence in the quality of the resources it provides. Woolfolk said he supports calls to reduce the size of the national board of directors, but he opposes efforts to eliminate associate and student member positions. He would create a separate category for journalism educators. And he suggests restructuring the position of associate member to avoid any potential conflict of having associates decide policy for an organization of working journalists. But Woolfolk cautioned that there is no "overnight solution" to the debate on the organization's governance. As next year's UNITY convention approaches, Woolfolk said it is important to reevaluate the role of the coalition. Although he believes the alliance is a good means of promoting the needs of journalists of color, he said he does not believe hosting the convention makes "business sense." Nevertheless, Woolfolk said it is crucial for NABJ to strengthen its alliances with media organizations to increase the recruitment and retention of black journalists, especially in light of the Jayson Blair controversy and the industry's growing move toward consolidation. "Now is not the time to reverse course," Woolfolk said. "We don't need to make a U-turn." Hometown: Detroit Education: Southern University Job Experience: WACH-TV in Columbia, SC, anchors the nightly newscast. Worked at WBRZ-TV; WBRZ-TV (Baton Rouge,LA), KVBC-TV (Las Vegas, Nevada), and WAPT-TV (Jackson, Mississippi). Involvement: Vice president-broadcast of the National Association of Black Journalists. He served two years as Region IV director and prior to that, two years as chair of the Council of Presidents. Woolfolk also is a former chapter leader in Jackson, Mississippi and Columbia, South Carolina. |
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