Dahlia Bazzaz has been selected as the 2015-2016 Emerald Media Group editor-in-chief.
Dahlia is currently the senior correspondent for community news at Emerald Media Group. She interned at OPB under the Snowden internship program last summer, and was a news reporter at KWVA, the University of Oregon campus radio station from fall 2012 until January 2014.
Bazzaz is a founding member of the Emerald Podcast Network, and began her career at the Emerald as a columnist in March 2014.
Peter Milliron, chair of the Emerald board of directors, highlighted Bazzaz’s plan to integrate stories on different platforms with an emphasis on visual storytelling. He said Bazzaz stressed focus on multimedia, social media, and visual elements such as maps and infographics.
“I want us to be able to tell stories in all different types of ways,” Bazzaz said. “I want the Emerald to be a place where if you have a unique way that you want to tell a story, that you can come here and do that.”
Milliron also commented on Bazzaz’s demeanor, and why it will lead the newsroom to success in the midst of chaos and breaking news.
“We felt that she keeps a level head about herself and remains calm in a storm,” he said.
Bayley Sandy, opinion editor at the Emerald said that Bazzaz is the perfect candidate for the position.
“In her short time here she has already done so much, I think that she is going to lead the newsroom in a really positive way.”
Bazzaz said that the Emerald is like her second home, and a place where she truly feels she can be herself. She wants to bring the same opportunity for every employee that walks through the Emerald doors during her tenure.
“When I walk out of class it’s like I am programmed to head to Suite 300 – there’s just no question in it,” Bazzaz said.
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