As amended June 18, 2000.
As amended June 24, 2006.
As amended Feb. 23, 2008.
As amended July 5, 2008.
As amended July 19, 2008.
As amended March 13, 2009.
As amended June 26, 2010.
As amended June 25, 2011.
As amended March 21, 2013.
As amended June 29, 2013.
As amended July 7, 2017.
As amended June 19, 2019.
As amended June 9, 2020.
As amended Feb. 10, 2021
As amended Sept. 18, 2021
As amended June 18, 2022
As amended Aug. 15, 2022
As amended Sept. 11, 2023
BYLAWS
1. THE ORGANIZATION:
A. The name of the organization is APSE (Associated Press Sports Editors).
B. The purposes of the organization are to improve professional standards of member organizations, to discuss and attempt to resolve issues faced by the same and to recognize professional excellence among the membership.
2. MEMBERSHIP
A. The following are eligible to become member organizations, regardless of whether an organization is a member of The Associated Press. All administrative sports executives, their supervisors, their assistants and other sports department employees within those organizations are eligible to become individual members. Journalists who have been members of APSE for at least five consecutive years can continue their membership if he or she moves out of the sports department to another department of a member news organization, as long as dues requirements continue to be met.
1. Newspapers that print no fewer than three days a week, and their associated websites.
2. Sports websites that apply generally accepted newsgathering practices, as defined by the executive committee, and are not operated by professional or amateur sports organizations.
B. The following are eligible to become individual members of APSE. Individual members are not eligible to vote and may not hold office, except as noted below, but may serve on committees.
1. Former presidents of ASPE are lifetime members. Former presidents are eligible to vote on the executive committee.
2. Former members of APSE who were members under 2 (A), but are no longer working in a sports-related job. This includes retired journalists who shall be considered alumni members.
3. Full-time students who write for college newspapers or their websites.
4. Educators at institutions of higher learning involved with sports journalism programs.
5. Writers and editors employed by wire services.
6. Writers and editors employed by national sports publications that publish in print on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, or publish daily or regularly within a week on an affiliated website.
7. Writers and editors who work for newspapers that publish any number of times a week.
C. The Executive Committee has the sole authority to determine standards for membership, methods for approval of same and dues to be paid by each category of membership. Dues must be paid by Oct. 15. The fiscal year is June 1 through May 31.
D. Organizations eligible for membership under category 1 and 2 of (A) in this section may choose to become members under either category, but not both.
E. Membership is non-discriminatory as to race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, physical disability and ethnic background.
F. Each member organization has one vote in the organization, no matter how many members of APSE it has. If a member organization should send more than one representative to an APSE meeting, or if an emergency written vote should be taken, only one representative from each organization may participate in voting.
G. The membership of a member organization or an individual in APSE may be terminated by a resolution approved by a 75 percent majority of the Executive Committee. Said member organization or individual member may appeal a termination to the general membership within 30 days of the Executive Committee’s decision. A vote of the general membership will be taken, with a simple majority deciding the matter. The vote may be conducted by mail or by electronic means.
H. The Associated Press shall be a member organization paying dues at the highest level of membership. The Associated Press shall permanently have one vote on the Executive Committee, with such vote being cast by a member designated by The Associated Press. Other than the above-mentioned designated voting member, no other Associated Press member may be serve as an officer in APSE or vote on the executive committee. However, the general sports editor of The Associated Press and assistants will be ex officio members of APSE and may serve on committees upon the invitation of the APSE president. Sports editors at Associated Press bureaus will be ex officio members of APSE in regions where their bureaus are located.
3. OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
A. Elected officers are a president, three vice presidents and a regional chair and vice chair for each of the organization’s geographic regions (defined in Section 7 below). Appointed officers are a secretary-treasurer and a convention coordinator (non-voting, permanent, paid positions), or an executive director performing both roles.
B. The Executive Committee consists of the president, three vice presidents, regional chairs, The Associated Press representative and past presidents of APSE. Each has one vote in matters before the committee.
The APSE secretary-treasurer (if appointed), convention coordinator (if appointed) and executive director will attend Executive Committee meetings in an advisory capacity. The general sports editor of The Associated Press (or a designated representative) and The Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) sports committee chair (or an APME representative appointed by APME in place of the sports committee chair) also may attend Executive Committee meetings in an advisory capacity.
Committee chairs appointed by the president are encouraged to attend or contribute to Executive Committee meetings, in person or virtually, or to appoint another committee member to represent them in these duties.
Any other APSE member may attend Executive Committee meetings and participate in discussions, but only the members named in the first paragraph of this section may introduce motions or vote.
The president serves as chair of the Executive Committee. In the absence of the president, the first vice president may serve as chair.
A regional vice chair may participate in Executive Committee voting in the absence of that region’s chair. If neither the regional chair nor the vice chair will be present, a region chair may appoint a member from that region to serve in his or her place. The region chair must inform the president of such a choice. Failing that, the president will appoint another member to represent that region at the meeting.
Two-thirds of the elected officers or their designated representatives will constitute a quorum for an Executive Committee meeting. Although former presidents may vote at such meetings, their attendance does not count toward a quorum. The Associated Press representative to the Executive Committee will not count toward a quorum.
Unless specified otherwise in the bylaws, a majority vote at an Executive Committee meeting with a quorum is sufficient to approve a motion. For votes conducted by email or other electronic means, a majority of votes cast by those responding shall be sufficient to approve a motion.
The Executive Committee may conduct votes via email or other electronic means if the president determines that the subject of the vote cannot wait for a scheduled meeting, including those conducted virtually. At least 10 days prior notice must be given on the APSE website. For such votes, the Executive Committee shall consist of the president, vice presidents, the Associated Press representative and region chairs, as well as past presidents.
Reports of all actions of the Executive Committee and the minutes of Executive Committee meetings will be published on the APSE website.
C. Terms of elected officers: Organization officers, with the exception of the third vice president and the representative of The Associated Press, serve in their new positions for one year, beginning with the Executive Committee meeting at the end of the summer convention and continuing until the Executive Committee meeting at the end of the following year’s convention.
In a year when the summer convention is canceled or not held, or the second executive committee meeting is not held during the convention, new officers will assume office beginning with the date the Executive Committee was scheduled to meet at the end of the summer convention, or on a date during the summer chosen by the Executive Committee.
The president is succeeded by the first vice president, with the second vice president becoming first vice president and the new second vice president assuming office at the Executive Committee meeting at the end of the summer convention.
Terms and other matters pertaining to the third vice president are described below.
Regional chairs serve for two years. Succession and other matters pertaining to regional officers are described below.
D. The second vice president is elected each year by the general membership, with each member organization having one vote.
Candidates for second vice president will include the third vice president (in those years when the third vice president is completing a term of office) and outgoing regional chairs (unless one or more declines to run or is serving an additional two-year term as the result of a procedure described below).
The Executive Committee may nominate as many as four additional candidates for second vice president at a meeting during the winter workshop (described below).
Any Executive Committee member may nominate a candidate for second vice president by presenting the nomination via voice or in writing to a member of the Executive Committee, and having the nomination seconded by a different member of the Executive Committee, in the period beginning with the closing meeting of the winter conference, and ending at 11:59 p.m. on March 15.
All candidates’ names and biographies will published on the APSE website before the election.
E. The third vice president is elected for a two-year term in even-numbered years only by representatives of APSE’s smallest member organizations. The third vice president assumes office beginning with the Executive Committee meeting at the end of the summer convention in even-numbered years and serves for two years, continuing until the Executive Committee meeting at the end of the convention two years hence, except when the summer convention is canceled or not held, or the second executive committee meeting is not held during the convention, in which case the third vice president will assume office as outlined in the second paragraph of Section 3 (C).
A nomination for third vice president may be made by any member from a small-circulation organization by presenting the nomination via voice or in writing to a member of the Executive Committee, and having the nomination seconded by a different member of a small-circulation organization, in the period beginning with the closing meeting of the winter conference, and ending at 11:59 p.m. on March 15.
A nomination may be made by any member from a small-circulation member organization by composing a petition and obtaining the signatures of representatives of 15 small-circulation members who acquiesce in the nomination of said candidate. The petition must be presented to the president by March 15 in even-numbered years. All candidates’ names and biographies will be published on the APSE website before the election.
F. Vacated Offices. In the case of resignation or removal of the president, the first vice president will become president immediately and will retain that office for the remainder of the APSE year as well as the following year.
In the case of an unexpired vacancy in a vice presidential position(including such vacancy created by the first vice president’s becoming president), the president will appoint an interim vice president to serve until the executive committee meeting at the end of the next convention (except for the third vice president, whose succession under these circumstances is described below). At the time of normal succession, each elected vice president will move up to the next-highest vacant organization office as provided above.
Interim first and second vice presidents automatically will become candidates for vacant organization offices for the following year. In no case may an interim first or second vice president succeed to a higher office, nor may said interim vice president serve past the interim term, except by the prescribed election process.
An interim third vice president will serve the remainder of the two-year term. Said interim third vice president will automatically be nominated to become a candidate for that office at the expiration of the term.
In the third vice president’s final year in office, the third vice president may choose to withdraw from candidacy for second vice president in order to seek election to an additional term as the third vice president.
The third vice president must declare intention to seek election to an additional term prior to nominations being accepted for second vice president or third vice president during the closing meeting of the winter conference.
No person shall be elected to the office of third vice president more than three times, and no person who initially held the office of third vice president on an interim basis shall be elected to the office of third vice president more than twice.
At the time of the regular organization election, all vacant vice presidential positions will be filled as provided above, except that each member organization may vote for as many candidates for first or second vice president as there are vacant positions (positions other than that of second vice president having been created by resignation or removal described above). The candidate receiving the most votes for first or second vice president will fill the highest vacant office and the candidate receiving the second-most votes will fill the second-highest office, etc.
If resignations or removal should leave no officer eligible to become president, the APSE’s region chairs shall immediately appoint a member of the organization to serve for the remainder of the APSE’s year. Region chairs may meet in person, if the issue arises during the summer convention or winter meetings; otherwise chairs may vote by conference call or email.
G. Any officer, region chair or committee chair who involuntarily loses their full-time job may ask the Executive Committee for permission to continue in their role for up to eight (8) months. A two-thirds majority of those voting shall decide the issue. The officer, region chair or committee chair in question will be ineligible to vote.
If said officer, region chair or committee chair is allowed to continue in their role by the Executive Committee, he or she may not work for an employer outside the scope of APSE membership under 2 (A) of these bylaws during the eight-month period. If said officer, region chair or committee chair is not employed within the scope of APSE membership under 2 (A) of these bylaws by the end of the eight-month period (said period to have started on the day the person became unemployed), that person’s position shall be considered vacant.
If the APSE president is the officer in question, the first vice president will assume the powers of the president for the purposes of conducting such a vote.
H. An officer may be removed by the Executive Committee, but such action requires the approval of 75 percent of those committee members. If said officer is a member of the Executive Committee, that officer may not vote on removal action. If such vote is to take place other than while the committee is meeting in quorum during the summer convention or winter meetings, the membership must be notified at least 10 days ahead of the vote through the APSE website.
4. DUTIES:
A. The president presides over Executive Committee and general membership meetings. The president will make appointments as prescribed in the APSE bylaws and such other appointments as necessary to conduct the business of the organization. At the direction of the Executive Committee, the president will appoint committees to carry on the business of APSE. These committees will make reports to the Executive Committee, and their actions will be reported in the APSE website.
The president is also responsible for planning and organizing the convention, with the assistance of the convention coordinator or executive director. The president may appoint such committees as necessary to fulfill these duties or to assist the convention coordinator.
The president — following advice of the Executive Committee or such other committees that have been appointed for this purpose — will determine the agendas and programs for the convention.
At the discretion of the Executive Committee, the president may attend or name members to attend conventions of other national professional journalism organizations as official representatives of APSE.
B. The first vice president is responsible for the APSE contest, which is the vehicle by which professional excellence is recognized among the membership. At the discretion of the president, the first vice president may appoint such committees as necessary to fulfill these duties. With the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, the first vice president will arrange for judging, announcements and awards.
As incoming president, the first vice president — with advice from the president and the secretary-treasurer or executive director – will present a written budget for the upcoming fiscal year at one of the two Executive Committee meetings at the convention.
C. The second vice president is responsible for generating the content of the APSE website. The APSE website will contain reports of all actions of the Executive Committee and general membership, minutes of Executive Committee meetings, general dates and agendas, proposed and approved bylaws changes, honorees in the APSE contest, names and biographies of vice presidential nominees, reports of committee activities, and reports of such other news, problems and trends as determined by the president and the Executive Committee.
The second vice president may make use of such persons and committees as necessary and may solicit the help of other APSE members to gather information, articles and reports for the website.
D. The first vice president is responsible for making and amending rules for the APSE contest. The first vice president may offer different contests for different categories of membership, and may offer no contest for some categories of membership. The Executive Committee has the authority to determine whether and how newspapers and websites, as members under 2(A), may enter various portions of the contest.
The first vice president will arrange for the dissemination of information about the contest to the judges and to the general membership. Such information includes the contest rules and changes thereto, which are made by the first vice president, and the contest judging guidelines, which are the responsibility of the first vice president and such persons and committees as are appointed for assistance. The first vice president will also administer the digital portion of the contest.
The president will administer off-site judging for the contest. The second vice president will assist the first vice president and the president in administering the contest, as needed.
The student contest committee chair will administer any portion of the contest offered to student members.
E. The third vice president represents the interests of members from APSE’s smallest member organizations and will work as necessary with region chairs to ensure that each region has at least one meeting each year.
The third vice president also will assist the president and the convention coordinator or executive director in organizing the general membership meeting.
F. The Executive Director is responsible for membership lists, mailings, collection of dues and maintenance and disbursement of funds. The Executive Director also will perform other duties prescribed by the president and the Executive Committee.
The Executive Director is appointed by the Executive Committee for an indefinite term. Such appointment — or the removal of the Executive Director — requires the approval of 75 percent of the Executive Committee.
The Executive Director will receive a monetary stipend, such stipend to be established by the Executive Committee.
G. The convention coordinator is responsible for logistical arrangements for the annual convention. At the direction of the president and the secretary-treasurer, the convention coordinator will work with APSE members in the host city and will make and secure arrangements with the convention hotel.
The convention coordinator will report to the incoming president after each convention with suggestions for amending or improving arrangements for the following year’s convention.
The convention coordinator is appointed by the Executive Committee for an indefinite term. Such appointment — or the removal of the convention coordinator — requires the approval of 75 percent of the Executive Committee.
The convention coordinator will receive a monetary stipend, such stipend to be established by the Executive Committee.
H. The Executive Committee may, when a vacancy occurs in either the secretary-treasurer or convention coordinator positions, elect to combine the roles into one Executive Director position. The executive director will be appointed by the Executive Committee for an indefinite term, and will assume all the duties listed above for the secretary-treasurer and convention coordinator. Such appointment – or the removal of the Executive Director — requires the approval of 75 percent of the Executive Committee. The Executive Director will receive a monetary stipend, such stipend to be established by the Executive Committee.
I. Regional chairs and vice chairs. Chairs serve two-year terms and are succeeded by vice chairs.
Terms of the Southeast and West regional chairs expire in odd-numbered years. Terms of Northeast and Midwest chairs expire in even-numbered years. Time of succession coincides with the succession of organization officers. Duties of regional officers are described below.
The method of election of vice chairs, which occurs every two years unless it is necessary sooner because of resignation, will be determined by regional membership with the approval of the APSE president.
In the event of a vacancy in a regional chair, the vice chair will succeed immediately. If less than a year remains in the original term of office, the new chair will serve the balance of the term and all of the following two-year term. If more than a year remains in the term, the new chair will serve only until the end of the original term, and an election for a new vice chair will be held, such vice chair to succeed the new chair at the end of the original two-year term.
A regional chair or vice chair should be a working APSE member from the region. If a regional chair or vice chair switches jobs or moves to another region or is no longer working for an APSE member organization, such regional chair must resign. The position will be filled as prescribed above as soon as a seamless transition can be made, as determined by the president, with the advice of the Executive Committee.
Region chairs are responsible for the following, or for designating another member to do the same:
1. Attending the annual convention and winter meetings to serve as a member of the executive committee.
2. Planning and execution of region meetings, pursuant to 6(A)of these bylaws.
3. Providing announcements about, and reports on, region meetings for the website.
4. Providing region reports for the website.
5. Identifying and recruiting potential members for contest judging each year, in conjunction with the secretary-treasurer or Executive Director and the contest chair.
5. MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS:
A. The Executive Committee will meet at least three times a year (times of such meetings described below). The general membership will meet at the beginning of the annual convention, which is to take place in late spring or early summer. The general membership may also meet at the end of the annual convention if the president deems the need for such a meeting.
The Executive Committee and all other interested members will attend a winter meetings for discussion and resolution of such matters deemed necessary by the president, including work on the APSE contest and planning for the convention later that year. Dates, sites and agendas for the winter meeting will be approved by the Executive Committee.
B. Executive Committee meetings will take place:
1. At the end of the annual convention.
2. At least once during the winter meeting.
3. Immediately before the general membership meeting at the beginning of the convention.
C. Agendas for Executive Committee and general membership meetings are determined by the president with suggestions by the Executive Committee and the general membership.
D. Dates and sites for the annual convention will be determined by the Executive Committee.
The dates and site of each year’s convention will be set no later than at a winter Executive Committee meeting the year before, assuring that such dates and site are determined at least 16 months in advance. Convention dates and sites may be set more than 16 months in advance.
E. The Executive Committee is responsible for determining the financing of conventions.
F. Revisions to the bylaws will be made by the Executive Committee, but a change may also be proposed by a member from the floor at a general membership meeting of the convention. Revisions will be approved via one of two methods:
1. The Executive Committee, assembled in quorum in the opening meeting at the summer convention, may approve a bylaws change and present it for discussion at the general membership meeting. The change must then be approved again at the closing Executive Committee meeting at the same convention.
2. The Executive Committee may, at any time, approve a bylaws change by a 75 percent majority. Under this provision, at least 10 days prior notice of said change must be given to the membership through the APSE website, or through other means.
3. Revisions to the bylaws will take effect immediately upon adoption, unless the Executive Committee votes that such revisions should take place at a different time during the following 12 months.
G. The president will report actions and proposed actions of the Executive Committee to the general membership at the convention. Any APSE member may make motions or requests for action from the floor at a general session. At the discretion of the president or by a majority vote of the Executive Committee, actions normally reserved for the Executive Committee may be opened to the general membership. Such a move by the president or Executive Committee must be made before the Executive Committee votes on the matter at hand.
H. Minutes of the Executive Committee and other meetings will be kept at the direction of the president. Reports of all such meetings must appear on the APSE website.
6. REGIONAL MEETINGS:
A. Each APSE region will conduct at least one annual meeting, sites and dates to be determined by the regional chair and vice chair with advice from the regional membership. The APSE president must be notified of all such meetings before they are conducted.
B. Financing of regional meetings will be determined by the regional membership, with advice and consent of the president and the Executive Committee.
C. Regional meetings will be devoted to professional development and to regional business. Any other regional business as determined by the regional chair may be conducted at regional meetings. The APSE president may suggest topics for discussion at regional meetings.
D. The regional chair will file a report of each regional meeting to the APSE president. Such reports must be filed within 30 days of the meetings, and excerpts from these reports will appear on the APSE website.
E. The regional chair may make appointments necessary to the conduct of regional meetings.
F. Each region will caucus at the convention. Additional caucuses maybe held as necessary. The purpose of these caucuses is to discuss topics of interest to the region, so that the regional chair or representative will be informed as to the feelings of regional members when such chair votes or participates in discussions at the next Executive Committee meeting.
7. APSE REGIONS:
Member organizations shall be placed in the following regions. Member organizations outside of North America will be placed in regions by the Executive Committee.
A. Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia.
B. Southeast: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia.
C. Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin.
D. West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
* It is at the discretion of the executive committee to add members outside the United States as part of a separate (fifth) region, or to include them with one of the four regions.