The Oregon Daily Emerald Board of Directors has named Senior News
Reporter Parker Howell as the newspaper’s next editor in chief to follow the current
editor Jennifer Sudick, who will graduate
in June.
Howell, a 20-year-old junior journalism student from Hillsboro, started working for the Emerald in March 2004. He now reports on campus and federal politics.
Mark Watson, chairman of the Emerald board, said Howell’s strong news sense and experience distinguished him from the
other candidate.
“Both candidates are extremely strong, and the board really made a very difficult choice,” Watson said. However, he added, Howell’s answers to some tough questions and his ideas on renovating the newspaper persuaded the board to select him.
Sudick said she has a lot of confidence in Howell and believed he would improve the overall quality of the newspaper with his work.
Howell pledged to work hard to offer the “best professional leadership.”
“We will continue the things we are doing well, and renovate the things we need to improve,” he said.
Howell suggested changes to three aspects of the paper. First, he
proposed renovating the newspaper’s online presence and
offering more multimedia sources online.
“We will put some of our interviews on our Web site to let people decide whether our reports are accurate,” he said.
He said he also plans to put some short video and documentaries online to help readers better understand the stories the paper runs.
Another big change will be on the commentary page, where, he said, all kinds of voices would have the chance to be heard.
“We will also try to offer more answers in the editorials rather than only asking tough questions,” he said.
The Emerald will also run some sports coverage on the front page under Howell’s leadership. He said he believes lots of readers want to see their favorite stories upon their first look at the newspaper.
— Aibing Guo