Hannarose McGuinness will be the 2022-23 editor-in-chief of the Daily Emerald, taking office in summer 2022.
McGuinness is a junior majoring in journalism and minoring in digital humanities. She joined the staff in September of 2021 as a news writer, producing weekly anchor pieces that covered the latest on the Eugene community. This year, she was a senior reporter for the news desk, where she continued to write articles, kept regular breaking news shifts and wrote a cover story on racial discrimination in Oregon during the winter of 2022.
“My overall experience working as a writer for the Emerald has been challenging and rewarding in all of the best ways,” McGuinness said. “We work on weekly deadlines, so that quick turnaround to get content out has taught me a lot about time management and clear communication.”
Besides her work for the news desk, McGuinness has writing experience interning with Eugene Weekly and managing her high school’s newspaper and yearbook programs. Though she said she “hit the ground running” when she joined the Emerald, she did not see herself as editor-in-chief until her coworkers and personal mentors encouraged her to apply.
“It’s a big job to take on, and I don’t take on these responsibilities lightly,” she said. “That being said, our staff has huge amounts of support ranging from our pro-staff to SOJC and Emerald alumni. This huge support network really is an incredible resource, and I’ve been so fortunate to have so many people in my corner working for the success of the Emerald.”
News desk editor Duncan Baumgarten said McGuinness’s affinity for people-driven reporting will help her excel as editor-in-chief.
“Taking such a human perspective with it, I think, is one of her real strengths,” Baumgarten said. “I think her ability to lead with kindness, while also acknowledging the pieces that it takes in order to be a successful manager-positioned person kind of bodes well for her. That shows that she’s going to be a good person for the job for sure.”
Sarah-Mae McCullough, the Emerald’s 2021-22 editor-in-chief, said McGuinness has put hours of work into helping her redesign payroll structure to enhance transparency and equitability for Emerald staff. She said this type of behind-the-scenes job shows that McGuinness prioritizes student needs.
“She has already been taking on a lot of responsibilities on top of continuing to write as a news reporter on the desk and working a second job,” McCullough said. “I can just tell she has so much passion and is willing to work so hard to benefit students.”
McCullough said she is going to miss the community at the Emerald, but she is certain that McGuinness will invest deeply in serving the publication and University of Oregon student body.
“She’s incredibly organized, definitely more so than I am. And she’s a good reporter,” McCullough said. “She has good news sense. So I think with that, combined with just her work ethic and enthusiasm, I’m very confident in her.”
Next year, McGuinness plans to expand the Emerald’s digital content offerings, promote multimedia production and build a larger online following. She said she also hopes to cultivate audience engagement by organizing social events that strengthen the publication’s relationship with its community.
As she prepares for her new role, McGuinness said she looks forward to the interpersonal experience of working with the Emerald’s renowned student and pro-staff members.
“Because I joined the Emerald during a time where we were still largely working remotely, I’m super excited to build up that newsroom culture of camaraderie in-person instead of over Zoom,” she said. “This next year will lead to a lot of change and growth within the Emerald, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it all.”
