NPC President Balsamo encourages members to bring friends to National Press Club

The National Press Club is at the forefront of the battle to preserve press freedom and support journalism during a time of profound stress for the profession and could use more help in the form of additional Club members.

“We're growing; we're modernizing; we're defending a free and independent press; and we're making [the Club] a place where journalists, communicators and truth tellers want to be,” NPC President Mike Balsamo said May 30 at the Club’s General Membership Meeting. “Please help us grow. Invite a colleague, bring a friend to an event, tell someone what the Club has meant to you. This is an important moment, and the stronger we are together, the stronger [the Club] will be for the challenges ahead.”

Balsamo, U.S. law enforcement editor at The Associated Press, outlined recent developments that have curtailed the ability of journalists to do their jobs, including the elimination of the AP, Reuters and Bloomberg from the daily White House press pool; the gutting of Voice of America and other U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) outlets; and the ongoing detention of Austin Tice, the only American journalist held overseas, who disappeared more than 12 years ago while reporting in Syria.

The Club’s Press Freedom Center in early May filed a petition at the United Nations calling for the release of Nika Novak, a reporter for Radio Free Europe currently being held in Siberia. The Club also recently hosted press conferences supporting a lawsuit at USAGM and has issued dozens of statements condemning layoffs and political pressure campaigns and celebrating legal victories for press freedom.

“We are facing a wave of threats, not just individual journalists, but the very systems that keep the public informed and hold power to account,” Balsamo said. “We are seeing dangerous and deliberate attempts to erode a free and independent press, and we're fighting back. The Press Freedom Center is triaging cases on a daily basis and providing real, tangible support to journalists in need.”

Events, services, revenue, membership

Balsamo highlighted other recent Club activities, such as hosting its second annual Career Day, in collaboration with the National Press Club Journalism Institute. The event drew more than 400 attendees, who met recruiters and gained skills in their search for the next step in their careers.

The Club has installed four new work pods on the 14th floor. The fully enclosed, soundproof booths can be used for calls, meetings or a quiet place to work. The Club also upgraded its WiFi and internet speed, modernized membership cards, improved building security, and recently began offering notary services.

The Club’s event schedule continues to be packed.

“Member programming is thriving, from film screenings and embassy nights between socials and young member mixers, from Headliners with global voices to a conversation later this evening with social media sensation Dr. Mike,” Balsamo said.

The Club’s revenue is tracking with last year but it is not hitting its 2025 targets, Balsamo said. It’s another reason he urged members to bring friends to the Club to generate interest – and increase membership – in the organization.

The Club's April 2025 membership was 2,318, down from 2,416 a year earlier. The number of members in the journalist category was 1,231, down from 1,254, while the the number of communicator members was 963, down from 1,013.

Dues assistance change

The General Membership Meeting drew about 40 people.

During the question-and-answer portion of the event, Club member Pat Host pressed Balsamo on a recent change in the Club’s policy for dues assistance.

The Club board voted in April to reduce the duration of assistance from six months to three months and to require that anyone receiving the temporary relief be a member of the Club for one year.

Host said the change caught members by surprise.

“No one really knew what was going on,” Host said. “There needs to be more transparency about stuff like this.”

The new policy was outlined in the minutes for the Club’s April meeting. The minutes from the April meeting were not posted until just before the General Membership Meeting due to an oversight by Club Secretary Mark Schoeff Jr.

Host also described the change as “slashing” the benefit. Balsamo disputed that characterization.

“It means that we can provide assistance to double the number of journalists who need it,” Balsamo said. “And that was done intentionally. It was done because we saw an influx of journalists from USAGM and other entities who have lost their jobs, and we knew that those journalists will be coming to us to ask for dues assistance. We're seeing that, so it wasn't slashing, it was taking the amount that's already accounted and making sure that we can provide it to a larger number of people.”

This story was updated to reflect the timeline for posting the minutes from the board's April meeting.