The Oregon Daily Emerald’s first publisher, Kellee Weinhold, will resign from her position on September 3.
Weinhold is leaving the Emerald to join LivingSocial, an international social commerce website that will go live in Eugene this fall. LivingSocial aims to provide customers with deals to restaurants, theaters and retail stores in their area.
Weinhold was hired as the first Emerald publisher after a newsroom strike in 2009, which was brought on by concerns that a publisher would hamper the Emerald’s independent editorial voice. Before 2009, a general manager was in charge of the organization’s long-term financial stability.
Emerald Board of Directors chair Melody Ward Leslie said the board will name an interim publisher within the next few weeks and that an open national search will be started to permanently fill the position.
“Kellee has been a very creative influence on the financial side of the paper, and she has looked for ways for the paper to adjust its overhead and so we can move forward with a zero deficit,” Leslie said.
Weinhold has also increased advertising sales, which has proven difficult in recent times because of the recession and a decline in interest to advertise in newspapers.
Weinhold is also pleased with her contribution to the ODE.
“The Emerald is exactly where the board of directors had hoped it would be after a year of fine-tuning: solidly on the right path to a sustainable future,” Weinhold said. “I have every confidence that together we have positioned the company to continue to excel in its mission of preparing young journalists for success.”
Leslie said the board of directors will put together an advisory board of past Emerald alumni who are now national leaders in the journalism world to help the board understand where journalism is going and where the Emerald needs to be.
“When searching for our next publisher, we need someone who can creatively and passionately help the Emerald better succeed in providing information to the campus community and to train student journalists for the future of the industry,” Emerald Editor in Chief Nora Simon said.
