About

The Greater Charlotte Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists received its charter from the national society in January 2011. The chapter has almost 40 paid members as of March, and a steering committee is organizing elections for officers. Those elections will be completed by July 1, 2011.

Our chapter is the Charlotte metro area – roughly the area within a 60-mile radius of uptown Charlotte. That includes the I-85 communities from Salisbury south, and the I-77 communities from Statesville south.

A chartered North Carolina Chapter has recently reactivated. Those leaders live in Raleigh and Rocky Mount. The statewide chapter will take members who are not in Charlotte’s coverage area.

Officially, SPJ members are free to join any chapter they wish, but practically speaking, no one wants to see chapters competing to take each other’s members.

Hickory and Asheville are open territory for either chapter. We can take SPJ members in South Carolina, which does not have an active Pro chapter at this moment.

Steering committee members: Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman, independent journalist; Brad Broders, News 14 Carolina; Patricia Guilfoyle, The Catholic News and Herald; Andria Krewson, The Charlotte Observer; Chris Miller, WBT-AM/FM; Cheryl Spainhour, the University of North Carolina-Charlotte; Susan Stabley, Charlotte Business Journal.

The best way to reach the group: Follow and send a note to CharlotteSPJ on Twitter, or check the Facebook page.

The local chapter requires no local dues as of the moment, so you can examine costs and benefits of membership and join through the national Society of Professional Journalist’s site.