Chronicle staff report
The Chronicle – the only hyper-local, locally-owned newspaper covering Springfield, Thurston, Cottage Grove, Creswell, and Pleasant Hill high school sports teams – has hired University of Oregon graduate McKenzie Days as its new reporter, replacing Pierre Weil.
Days, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, graduated in 2023 from UO with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communications, with a minor in Ethics. Already, she has acquired significant experience covering collegiate and international athletics. As a sports reporter at The Daily Emerald, she wrote University of Oregon athletics stories through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She was the video editor handling post-competition interviews for distribution to national and international media from the 2023 Prefontaine Classic.
She also spent a semester in Ghana, working for the daily paper, also named The Chronicle. She wrote feature stories and opinion pieces grounded in Ghana’s explored lifeworld and its distinct cultural elements; wrote deadline stories on Supreme Court cases, Parliament sessions and other political coverage; and adapted to new journalistic methods abroad.
“I’m very excited to begin my journey at The Chronicle,” she said. “I can’t wait to get closer to the community and be a dedicated resource for it.”
“We’re excited that McKenzie is joining our team, bringing a variety of sports and hard news coverage experience,” said Noel Nash, publisher. “We have no doubt she’ll continue to grow and expand our coverage of high school sports, as well as youth and adult recreation sports.”
Weil is relocating to Washington, D.C., and his last day with The Chronicle is July 12. During his two years with the paper he launched the High School Sports Zone, created the paper’s first Fall Sports Preview – a 36-page special section featuring each school’s fall boys and girls sports – and won more than 10 awards from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.
“Pierre set a standard for all who follow him at The Chronicle,” Nash said. “In two short years he developed trusting relationships with coaches, administrators, parents, and players, which provided well-rounded coverage that touched huge segments of our communities. He also was a terrific teammate who demonstrated leadership daily.”
Weil covered the Springfield High girls basketball state championship, two Thurston baseball state championships, multiple individual state wrestling champions, and multiple individual track and field champions. His 2023 feature series on each of the area schools’ athletic directors was among his ONPA-award winning entries.
Along with Days’ hiring, The Chronicle has welcomed a full-time UO Snowden intern and a full-time UO Catalyst reporter this summer, and two high school students interning on their own, discretionary time.
Tatum Stuart, originally from Grants Pass, graduated from the University of Oregon in June with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Communication and a minor in Sociology. She was awarded the Charles Snowden Internship and assigned to The Chronicle for her interest in ethically driven local news.
Snowden intern
While in college, she had the opportunity to be the editor and chief of the OR Magazine, where she collaborated on a story about rural Oregon counties voting on the Greater Idaho Movement with her fellow student writers. She also has had the opportunity to work with the Daily Emerald investigative reporting team, which has allowed her to develop strong ethics-based reporting skills.
“I am excited to be a part of a strong team dedicated to their community, and I look forward to serving our readers,” Stuart said.
Samantha Sobel, an incoming junior at University of Oregon, joins The Chronicle this summer as a Catalyst reporter.
Catalyst reporter
The Catalyst Journalism Project is a teaching, research and service initiative that brings together investigative reporting and solutions journalism to spark action and response to the complex issues facing our communities. Sobel will focus the majority of her efforts on civic engagement and area politics for The Chronicle.
“This summer I’m thrilled to have a front row seat in learning how a locally-owned publication functions, and further developing my skills as a journalist,” Sobel said.
Sobel is pursuing a bachelors in Journalism and Communication at UO, as well as a minor in Creative Writing.
She’s a California native, that is beyond thankful to be closer to the forest and smiles most amongst the trees. As the Lifestyle Writer at the Daily Emerald, she wrote stories for a variety of topics and developed meaningful connections throughout the community. She is the leader of a Creative Writing Group that meets every week and publishes poetry on social media as often as she can.
In her free time, if she isn’t writing there is a ball in her hands and she’s fighting to find the best lane to the basket.
AnnaLisa Hisamoto, 15, attended the UO Law Day event this year, where publisher Noel Nash participated in a panel discussion. Following the day, she contacted the paper about interning this summer to learn more about journalism. Her Spanish-speaking skills and interest in nonprofits will help increase our coverage in key areas.
The Chronicle will also be receiving a high school intern through Connected Lane County’s paid internship program. CLL pays 50 qualified high school juniors and seniors to spend five weeks of their summer working on projects in person at local companies in the career area of their interest. This youth is from Springfield High School and has interest in becoming an author.
