For Andrew Adams, one of the best parts of being a journalist is finding stories in unexpected places.
“It’s not always the biggest, breaking story that’s the most important,” he said. “Every person is interesting, and every person has a story.”
Adams, who is currently the higher education editor at the Oregon Daily Emerald, will soon have a new outlet for his journalistic enthusiasm. The Emerald board of directors announced Tuesday night that he will be the 2001 summer editor.
A senior journalism major at the University, Adams has long been interested in the newspaper business. He has worked at the Sonoma Index-Tribune in Sonoma, California, and at the East Oregonian in Pendleton as a reporting intern.
He has also been active in journalism at the University. Last year, he worked at the Oregon Commentator, a campus publication, first as a reporter and then as the managing editor. And in the spring of 2000, he joined the Emerald staff as a reporter.
Board Chairman Larry Tergesen said that Adams’ experience was a factor in the board’s decision.
“We liked his ideas and his experience,” he said. “He seemed like a real solid selection.”
Board members were also impressed with Adam’s ideas for the direction the paper should take in the summer.
“He’s really going to try to involve students and the community as a whole, and I think that’s a really good approach,” production representative Melissa O’Connell said.
Because there is less activity on campus during the summer, Adams said he will try to incorporate more community stories into the paper. But while he will experiment with new ideas, he said he doesn’t want to change the focus of the paper.
“A big part of the summer will be maintaining the quality we have here,” he said.
The summer editor position begins June 12 and runs through Sept. 14. The 2001-02 editor, Jessica Blanchard, will return in the fall. She was unable to take the summer editor position because of an internship.