By Lois Kazakoff

The business side of the Association of Opinion Journalists is looking up after years of dismal reports on finances and declining membership (under the historic 1947-2011 name, National Conference of Editorial Writers).

Finances are stable and membership grew, rising to 267 members from 256 last year, said AOJ President Froma Harrop. The strategy to lower dues as an incentive to join has worked. New efforts to use social media and make more website content available to the general public helped attract those members.

The website has changed, too. �We have more services geared toward individuals,� said Harrop. �We can help our members build their brand.� The plan for the coming year is to build on the website offerings and ramp up a speaker�s bureau.

Members are invited to link their blogs to the website and promote their books. There is also a link on the website to Amazon.com. AOJ gets 6 percent of anything a member buys on Amazon through that link.

The email discussion list, however, will remain a private, members-only forum. 

Ideas for hands-on shop-talk

Former president Tom Waseleski ([email protected]) has proposed offering �critiques to go� on columns, editorials or other opinion page features, perhaps as a teleconference or other Internet-based forum. Check the web page for more details as the project is rolled out.

Miriam Pepper, secretary-treasurer, also proposed organizing ad hoc weekends in different locales around the country to talk shop and socialize. These weekends could be anywhere � Chicago, Jackson Hole, Los Angeles � but first up is Sanibel Island (near Fort Myers, Fla.), the site of the Dec. 2, 2012 AOJ board meeting. All members are welcome.

Officers

AOJ has elected new leadership:

Kate Riley, editorial page editor of the Seattle Times, is the new secretary-treasurer;

Bob Davis, editor and associate publisher of the Anniston Star (Annison, Ala.) moves up to president; and

Miriam Pepper, editorial page editor of the Kansas City Star, is now vice president.

Christian Trejbal, Larry Reisman and Rosemary Goudreau (left) were elected to the AOJ board.

Candidate info (pre-election):
Riley 
Goudreau  
Reisman
Trejbal  

AOJ Foundation President David Holwerk reported that foundation assets are rising again, and that the foundation wants to restructure its board. Chuck Stokes will head up the new finance committee of an expanded board. Holwerk invited members interested in serving on the foundation board to contact AOJ manager Lisa Strohl ([email protected]). 

Lois Kazakoff is the deputy editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle.

 (posted 10/1/12 3pm edt; updated 10/2/12 9:30, 11:30am edt)