Oregon Daily Emerald board members named Michael J. Kleckner the 2002-03 editor in chief Tuesday evening.
Kleckner takes over this summer for 2001-02 editor-in-chief Jessica Blanchard, who is graduating in June. Kleckner approaches the position with enthusiasm.
“As an out gay man, I am proud to take the reins of the Emerald. It has a long tradition of excellent journalism, and I intend to uphold that,” he said.
The selection process, though rapid, is intense. Editor hopefuls must fill out an application, complete a battery of written questions, and provide writing samples, grades, letters of recommendation and a resume — the more experience, the better.
Candidates must also make presentations to the current Emerald staff and meet with heads of the newsroom, production and advertising departments.
The candidates’ entire packet, minus transcripts, is open to the staff to review.
From there, applicants have a chance to sit on the other side of the desk and be interviewed by the board.
Then, it’s decision time. The moment of truth is not always
easily reached.
“We had a very spirited debate,” Emerald Board of Directors Chairman Chris Frisella said. “In the end, we felt that Mike brings a broader range of talents and a lot of depth to the job.”
Kleckner is a senior who is triple-majoring in philosophy and the news-editorial and magazine sequences within the School of Journalism and Communication. He brings to the job two years of experience at the Emerald as a copy chief, managing editor, editorial editor and copy editor.
Outside the office, Kleckner also has worked for restaurants in Lane County. A Eugenean since high school, he spread his wings with internships at The Oregonian in Portland, the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the University’s Flux magazine.
Knowing the ins and outs of the different areas of the communications field is one of his biggest assets.
“He has lots of experience in many areas of journalism,” Emerald General Manager Judy Riedl said. “He has a lot of ideas to make the paper appealing to readers.”
Kleckner is already making plans for the future.
“I expect to work with, not against, the University administration, student groups and public agencies to tell relevant, intriguing stories about the events and actions in the campus community,” he said.