Dear members,

On March 27 we held our General Membership Meeting, where the budget and business plan for next year were approved, along with an amendment to our Articles of Association. We needed two-thirds of Regular members to vote, and through your participation and our General Manager’s persistence, we were able to approve all matters, including a continuation of the levy. At the GMM, we welcomed for the first time in recent history all Professional Journalist Associate and Associate members, and the input from all made for a more informative and compelling evening.

Many committees were represented in person, while the budget, business plan, and work of the Task Force on FCCJ long-term sustainability were shared. I’d like to thank in particular Treasurer Anthony Rowley and the Finance Committee as well as Michiyo Nakamoto and her team for their hard work and contribution to the Club’s future prosperity. In addition, I’d like to recognize the efforts of our Membership Marketing Committee under Gary Bremermann with contribution from Bob Peterson, who are spearheading efforts to expand our numbers and find new financial support streams for our organization.

Separately, our Professional Activities Committee capped the month with two timely news conferences featuring the head of the Unification Church and lawyers for plaintiffs seeking damages from the church. These events were held just days after the Tokyo District Court ordered the church’s disbanding after a government investigation. The press conferences were heavily attended and saw substantial coverage in domestic and international media, underscoring the FCCJ’s mandate to be where news is made. I thank the PAC team and in particular Akiko Saikawa for her team’s quick work in bringing quality news events to the Club.

Staying with journalism, this month the No.1 Shimbun has a number of stories on recent challenges facing our vocation, including the closure of the Voice of America, which directly affected former FCCJ President Steve Herman and thousands of his colleagues. Steve shares his experience in the article. Moreover, I wish to thank all No.1 contributors as well as editor Justin McCurry for the hours devoted to keeping the publication relevant and laser-focused on our journalistic mission, even in these trying times.

Finally, this Board of Directors has three months left in its tenure before we hold elections at the next GMM in June. There remains much to do, but we would like to express our appreciation of the entire membership for your efforts to keep the FCCJ the best journalists’ organization in the world through patronage and promotion of our organization. I greatly encourage you to go even one step further and consider becoming a candidate for Club office. The time flies.

I regret to inform you of the passing of Gwen Robinson, a veteran journalist for Nikkei Asia, the Financial Times, and other publications, and an exceptionally strong contributor to this organization, including Mary Corbett's memorial in the fall. We will have more to share in the coming days about plans to remember Gwen. She made those around her stronger and better, and she will be deeply missed.  

All the best,

Dan Sloan
President, FCCJ