ARTICLE I - Authority

These being the properly adapted bylaws of the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association, they shall serve as rules and regulations for its government.

ARTICLE II - Purposes

The purposes of the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association are:
* To advance the craft of journalism,
* To foster competition to improve Virginia broadcast journalism,
* And to examine the broadcast news wires of The Associated Press and to report thereon to assist the AP to provide services which best meet the needs of its members.

ARTICLE III - Membership

Eligibility
Any owner, manager or news director of, or newscaster or newsperson for, a broadcast member of The Associated Press in Virginia shall be eligible for membership in this association. A broadcast organization may have more than one member of the association, but only one representative from each broadcast organization shall vote at association meetings.

Joint Ownership
Stations under joint ownership shall have one vote per station if each station is represented by separate persons in attendance. No person shall have more than one vote.

Associate Membership
Faculty, students and others participating in the operation of a station affiliated with a Virginia college or university or non-commercial operation, and served by The Associated Press shall be eligible for associate membership. Associated members shall be allowed to vote in VAPB affairs and hold office.

Non-Discrimination
The association shall not discriminate against any member because of race, creed, color, sex, age or national origin.

Termination
If any member shall cease to work for the broadcast organization which designated him as its representative, his association membership shall thereupon terminate without action by the association, and the member broadcast organization may designate a new member of the association.

ARTICLE IV - Meetings

The association shall conduct a general membership meeting at least once a year at a time and place designated by the board of directors. All members shall be notified by newswire advisory or by mail at least 30 days before any general membership meeting. There shall be no required number of members of the association in attendance at any such meeting to constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE V - Board of Directors

Composition
Supervision of the affairs of the association shall be entrusted to a seven-member board of directors, each director elected for a two-year term by a simple majority of the stations represented at the general membership meetings. Terms shall run biennially from annual meeting to annual meeting.

If a member station is unable to have a representative at the meeting, the station may choose to vote by mail or e-mail. The member must request a ballot 14 days prior to the convention and return it to the Richmond Associated Press bureau within seven days.

One director shall be from each of the four following subdivisions of the state: Central/Southside; Tidewater/Northern Neck; Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley; and Southwest. The remainder of the board shall consist of three at-large members that may include one faculty member of a journalism/communications department at a Virginia college or university. Regional directors represent geographic districts; at-large directors represent the entire state. Members with questions or issues can contact their regular director or an at-large director.

Vacancies
Vacancies on the board of directors shall be filled by presidential appointment subject to the approval of the board. The appointee must be from the same state subdivision as the director whose departure caused the vacancy.

Vacant offices shall be filled by presidential appointment of a director, subject to the approval of the remainder of the board.

Officers
The officers of the board shall be the president, vice president and the secretary-treasurer.

Only board members are eligible for office, and will be chosen by members of the board.

The past-president, the broadcast editor and the Chief of Bureau in Virginia shall be ex-officio members of the board. Neither the chief nor the broadcast editor shall have a vote in board decisions.

Meetings
The board of directors shall meet at least once annually and as many other times as necessary to transact association business. The board can set up the meetings, or the president shall appoint times and places of such meetings. The president or secretary shall on the request of three board members call a special meeting or meetings. The board may also vote in a conference call or e-mail meeting, but there must be a majority.

The broadcast editor shall provide for the preparation of and distribution to the membership minutes of all board of directors and general membership meetings.

Standing Committees
An awards committee, appointed by the board, shall supervise such awards and contests as the association sponsors, be empowered to revise contest rules and awards qualifications, certify contest entries and awards nominations, obtain awards and contest plaques and certificates, and arrange the exchange of contest judging duties with other Associated Press member broadcast organizations. Special awards must be approved by the board of directors.

A scholarship committee, appointed by the board, shall supervise the creation and distribution of scholarship materials to Virginia college and university students; set the judging criteria for scholarship recipients; choose the recipient; and present the award to the recipient.

A membership and nominating committee, appointed by the board, shall work in conjunction with the broadcast editor to receive petitions from the general membership for candidates for the board of directors and for officers. The committee or the broadcast editor shall present in person or by e-mail at the association’s general membership meetings or to the board of directors lists of all qualified persons for whom petitions have been received as well as any other qualified members the nominating committee proposes.

The chairman of each committee shall select its members from the membership at large, consulting with the president, and with a view to representation of radio and television, as well as geographic, interests.

Special Committees
The president shall have authority to appoint special committees to advance the objectives of the organization.

ARTICLE VI - Amendments

These bylaws may be amended by the board of directors at any meeting of the board by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of all of the directors of the association. No amendment shall be effective, however, until it has been submitted to the members of the association in writing by newswire advisory or by e-mail and within 60 days ratified by a majority of the votes received by the broadcast editor and turned over to the board.