2
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2004
THREE HOPEFULS VIE
FOR TOP DTH POSITION
Since 1993, the editor in chief of The Daily Tar Heel has been chosen by an 11-mem
ber selection committee. The committee’s composition has varied over the years,
and it currently comprises four DTH staff members and seven at-large students,
who are chosen through an open application process. Before 1993, when the DTH
still was receiving student fees, the entire student body chose the DTH editor in a cam
puswide election.
Every year, the DTH runs staff-written profiles of each candidate for the newspa
per’s top post, in an effort to give those who hold the paper accountable its readers
a glimpse of who the candidates are as people, how effective they have been as leaders in
the newsroom and how they would like to see their vision for the paper realized. Candidates’
platforms also run each year on the Opinion Page. This year’s platforms ran in Monday’s
edition of the paper.
The DTH hopes that, through these measures, the incoming editor in chief is
poised to serve the community better and that readers are able to hold next year’s chief
leader accountable for the goals he or she has set forth.
The committee will select the paper’s 138th editor Saturday.
Jarboe blends interests
to bring new perspective
Will use background in arts, features to her advantage
BY LYNNE SHALLCROSS
STAFF WRITER
Michelle Jarboe’s dreams once
placed her as a reporter at Rolling
Stone magazine, but now they cen
ter on being next year’s editor in
chief of The Daily Tar Heel.
Jarboe, a junior from Clarkston,
Mich., majoring in journalism and
studio art, said
the journalism
path she’s
taken hasn’t
been the news
infused path of
others on the
DTH staff.
At the
beginning of
her freshman
year, Jarboe
nabbed a spot
Michelle
Jarboe
as a staff writer on the Arts and
Entertainment Desk, where she
wrote for two years.
But during the summer after
her freshman year, Jarboe was an
intern at the Birmingham
Eccentric in Birmingham, Mich.,
where she wrote hard-news and
feature stories. “That was really
intense for me,” she said. “I actual
ly realized it was the nitty-gritty
(Ihr Batty Gutr
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stuff I was interested in.”
Jarboe said she decided that
hard-news reporting was her pas
sion and she decided to change
paths as a reporter.
She applied to write for the
Features Desk, which she said
offered her the best of both worlds.
Instead of starting as a staff writer,
however, Jarboe went right to the
top, taking on the role of features
editor when the position opened
unexpectedly.
Although she admitted that
DTH editors usually come from
traditional news desks, Jarboe said
her range of experience in cover
ing different types of news and in
jumping into the position of
Features Desk editor from the
rank of staff writer more than
qualifies her for the job-
As next year’s DTH editor,
Jarboe said, one of her main goals
would be to overhaul the role of
the special projects editor, renam
ing it “deputy managing editor,”
and giving that person more
responsibility in the newsroom.
That way, Jarboe said, the editor in
chief would be more able to get
out into the community and work
on connecting with readers.
Jarboe also said she’d like to
improve the DTH Web site to
make it more reader-friendly and
to use it for breaking news updates
when the situation arises. “It’s a
good resource right now, but it’s
not the best,” she said.
Among her other platform
planks are re-invigorating the
Investigative Team, focusing on
the teaching mission of the DTH,
Editor Selection
performing an audit on the DTH’s
accuracy and as the editor, writing
a column on a regular basis.
Features Desk staff writer Ami
Shah said Jarboe has done a great
job making new writers feel com
fortable and helping writers
improve their journalism skills.
“I think she’s very approachable
as far as being an editor,” Shah said,
adding that she appreciated how
Jarboe met with each of the writers
individually to discuss their own
strengths and weaknesses and also
what they viewed as the strengths
and weaknesses of the desk.
Shah said she thinks based on
how Jarboe has led on the Features
Desk, she has confidence in the job
Jarboe would do as editor.
“She definitely thinks outside
the box, so she could expand the
coverage that the newspaper
already has and maybe reach a
wider audience,” she said.
Jarboe said her ability to
remain calm in stressful environ
ments and to read the interper
sonal dynamics in the newsroom
would make her a strong editor.
And as Jarboe looks to take on
more leadership, she said, she
keeps in mind the important
themes of the DTH.
“It’s not just about the daily
grind of production. I really see that
I can make a difference through
communication and respect for tra
dition but also through determina
tion to give this paper an active role
in the community.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
Burgin counting on her
background, compassion
Vows to reconnect community, students to newspaper
BY LYNNE SHALLCROSS
STAFF WRITER
Going to UNC and writing for
The Daily Tar Heel was less of a
maybe and more of a definite for
Emma Burgin as she was growing
up.
The daughter of UNC alumni
who read the DTH, Burgin, a jun-
ior from
Greensboro
majoring in
communica
tion studies
and dramatic
arts, said her
mom knew
Burgin would
be a Tar Heel
from the time
she was bom.
And report-
Emma
Burgin
ing at the DTH fit right in with the
plan.
“It was the first thing at this
University I knew I was going to
do,” Burgin said.
Burgin started out during the
fall semester of her freshman year
as a staff writer for the State and
National Desk. By her sophomore
year, she had moved up to become
the assistant state and national
editor, where she remained until
she took up the role of city editor
at the beginning of this semester.
Burgin said she got involved
and took on leadership roles at the
DTH because she truly loves the
paper and the difference it makes
Focus, experience help
frame Wootson platform
Hopeful aims to increase reader input, breaking news
BY LYNNE SHALLCROSS
STAFF WRITER
Cleve Wootson didn’t waste any
time when it came to finding his
home at UNC.
Even before Wootson knew he
was going to be a Tar Heel, he had
already checked out The Daily Tar
Heel office on a visit to the
University.
When he
walked onto
campus for the
first time as a
freshman,
Wootson said
applying for a
spot at the
DTH was one
of his first
orders of busi
ness.
Cleve R.
Wootson
“It was kind of the only thing I
knew, the only thing that was com
fortable coming to college,” said
Wootson, a junior from Charlotte
majoring in journalism.
Wootson started out as a staff
writer for the State and National
Desk at the DTH during the fall
semester of his freshman year.
Beginning his sophomore year, he
took on the role of assistant at the
State and National Desk and then
climbed the ladder to become the
desk editor this year.
“I’ve always been a writer; I’ve
always been a reporter, since sixth
grade,” Wootson said.
Wootson added that his jour
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in the community. “My involve
ment at the paper is really my one
opportunity to make a difference
on this campus,” she said, adding
that the DTH serves two impor
tant roles: increasing community
awareness and preparing staffers
for a career in journalism.
“Helping people know what’s
going on and bringing things to
light within the community makes
journalism a noble profession.”
Burgin said it’s this love for
journalism and the impact it can
have that inspired her to seek the
role of editor in chief in 2004-05.
Among Burgin’s list of platform
items is the idea of connecting
more with the readers. “We’re a bit
out of touch with our readers,” she
said, adding that as editor, she’d
like to perform a reader survey by
the end of the fall semester.
Burgin also said she’d like to re
ignite the Association of Student
Leaders and the Community
Feedback Board, allowing DTH
leaders to interact with and gain
insight from community leaders.
Inside the newsroom, Burgin
said she would like to increase the
analytical coverage of issues via
the Investigative Team and from
each individual desk —as well as
provide news updates for readers
on the DTH Web site. Also in her
plans, Burgin said, would be to
continue increasing diversity in
the newsroom.
Burgin said her experience,
nalism experience, which includes
internships with The Charlotte
Observer and the San Luis Obispo
Tribune in addition to his experi
ence at the DTH, is what sets him
apart, and it’s what has helped him
formulate a platform of ideas on
how to maintain and improve the
quality of the DTH.
“I think experience is the num
ber one thing,” Wootson said,
adding that if he were selected as
editor, he would come in with
more than one full year of profes
sional experience. Wootson also
said the experience is what has
helped him formulate his plat
form.
One of Wootson’s main plat
form goals is to place a greater
emphasis on breaking news.
“I think if the DTH has a weak
ness, it’s breaking news,” he said,
noting that other area newspapers
have reported on news in Chapel
Hill faster than the DTH. “I think
we’ve just missed the boat on a lot
of things, and I’d like to improve
that.”
Wootson said that as editor he
would like to place more impor
tance on the workings of the
Diversity Committee.
Wootson said another impor
tant plank of his platform is
improving the DTH’s Web site,
which he said is “far below par.”
Wootson wants to utilize the
site to post breaking news as well
as convene a committee of DTH
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both from her two years as an
intern at the High Point
Enterprise and from her varied
news experience at the DTH, qual
ifies her for the editor position.
Burgin also said that her
strength of character, her strong
adherence to truth and fairness
along with her ability to be under
standing and compassionate,
would help her succeed in the role.
City Desk staff writer Emily
Vasquez said that one of Burgin’s
strengths as a leader is how well
she communicates with her writ
ers. “I think Emma’s strong point
comes in her willingness to be
open with communication,”
Vasquez said.
Also helpful, Vasquez said, are
the meetings that Burgin has with
staff writers to help them work on
writing and reporting techniques,
as well as to communicate her
expectations.
In the end, Burgin said it all
comes back to a life-long tradition
of love for the DTH.
“In the end, I came to this cam
pus, I came to this paper, to this
newsroom, to make a difference,
and this is the path I set out from
the beginning,” she said. “To reach
for this (position) is the most
amazing thing I’ve ever done in my
life. I’m just trying to make a dif
ference.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
staffers and editors to critique and
make recommendations for the
Web site.
Another thing Wootson said
he’d like to improve as editor
would be gathering and utilizing
feedback from readers.
“One of the failings of this man
agement has been responsiveness
to readers,” Wootson said, adding
that he would like to place more
importance on the workings of the
Diversity Committee, the
Association of Student Leaders
and the Community Feedback
Board - all of which help the DTH
get in touch with its readers.
And as for actually handling the
position of editor, Wootson said,
his ability to stay focused, while
not getting overwhelmed, in a
high-stress environment will help
immensely.
One of Wootson’s State and
National Desk staff writers, Dora
Gonzalez, said Wootson makes it a
priority to check in with writers
and stay updated on their
progress.
“In terms of keeping up with
people, he’s very good with that,”
Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said that she has full
confidence in his skills and his
ability to be DTH editor.
“I think Cleve is a good person
to do the job.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
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