Change is afoot in the newsroom.
Rachel Hill has taken over as Daily Lobo editor-in-chief and plans to change the role of the student newspaper in the University.
As the Daily Lobo news editor this academic year, Hill oversaw the coverage of some of the biggest issues that arose on campus - from reporting on the infrastructure of UNM's student governments to digging out investigative stories on President David Schmidly.
Hill said she sees it as her responsibility to support reporters who are struggling to find their place amid a collapsing print-journalism market.
"I'm going to encourage people who are working here to think about broadening their skill-set, to think about being able to write not only news and arts, but also experimenting with sports if they haven't done that.... So they'll be able to really say to a future employer, 'I can do whatever you need me to do,'" Hill said. "That way, they'll be prepared for going out into the marketplace as it continues to change."
Jim Montalbano, the Daily Lobo's writing coach, said Hill is the most impressive editor to take over the news desk in the last six years. Her management skills have altered the face of the newsroom, he said.
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"She transformed the news desk, and she made it operate on an extremely professional level," Montalbano said. "A lot of times that's just kind of a glorified reporter's title and the news editor does a lot of reporting, but she actually ran it like the news desk. She was the captain of the news desk and manned it the way it was supposed to be and really cultivated a dedicated staff of reporters."
Incoming news editor Pat Lohmann said Hill can strengthen the role of the Daily Lobo at UNM.
"She's got a very powerful vision that she's told me about, and I'm looking forward to helping her with it," Lohmann said. "I think that she has a direction that she really wants to go in, and I'm really looking forward to being part of it."
Lohmann said he and Hill will encourage reporters to delve into long-term investigative projects. The Daily Lobo staff will strive to focus more on investigative reporting in light of concerns about cutbacks, budget shortages and layoffs, he said.
"I think that things are going to be a lot more tumultuous next semester," Lohmann said. "There may be an escalation of everything we've seen this year, which I think is going to be really interesting. The role of the student newspaper is going to be much more important, I think, in the coming year - especially as things get more chaotic and, perhaps, less transparent."
Montalbano said the University is reaching a tipping point. Major money issues and staffing concerns are on the horizon, and Hill will lead the Daily Lobo in covering issues relevant to the University community, he said.
"I think it's getting close to that point where (we ask), Which direction is the University going to go?" Montalbano said. "Are they going to make a commitment to keeping quality faculty, or are they just going to let it slip away and just run this place with a bunch of (teaching assistants)? So I think the staffing of full-time, tenured faculty is going to be important next year."
Hill said that contrary to reports that print journalism is in jeopardy, she will train the Daily Lobo's reporters to be cunning, intrepid and diverse.
"Journalism isn't going to die, even if print becomes passé," Hill said. "It might be better for a few people if we stopped doing things in print, but there will still be news - there will still be reporting, of course. Everybody is still going to need to know what's happening."
