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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 2019)
Wednesday, August 28, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, ewspaper, Sisters, Oregon The people behind The Nugget... Ceili Cornelius grew up around news trade (she9s the daughter of Nugget Editor in Chief Jim Cornelius), but it was a movie that set her feet on a path that has led to the journalism program at the University of Oregon, freelance work for The Nugget Newspaper and the Western Fire Chiefs Association Daily Dispatch, and a future career in the field. She chuckles when she remembers her 15-year-old self inspired by <The Devil Wears Prada.= <It centered around a fashion magazine and fashion journalism and I thought, »I want to do that,9= she recalled. Journalism has been her aim ever since. <There was a short time in high school when I thought I wanted to go into the medical world 4 but that didn9t stick,= she said. The work hits its sweetest chord for her when it9s paired with her other pas- sion: music. She grew up around the Sisters Folk Festival and, though she never took to playing and performing, she loves the art and the behind-the- scenes workings of the music world. In her freshman year at the University of Oregon, she experienced an all-too-brief spark of inspiration from Professor Tom Wheeler, a pio- neering music journalist who helped launch Rolling Stone Magazine. His support opened the possibility that Cornelius could find a niche in music journalism. <He passed away shortly after I met him, at the beginning of 2018, but he set me on the path of music journalism 4 and hopefully someday writing for Rolling Stone,= she said. Much of her freelance work for The Nugget has centered around art- ist profiles in the run-up to the Sisters Rhythm and Brews Festival in July and this September9s Sisters Folk Festival. She said her association with the Sisters Folk Festival has opened doors for her with artists and their managers. <It sets up a new way for them to look at me,= she said. <They open up just a little bit more.= Cornelius has also worked on sto- ries about the activities and accom- plishments of her fellow Sisters High School graduates. She ran into an unexpected challenge there: the mod- esty of the subjects. <I found a lot more (former) stu- dents were a lot more hesitant to do this than I thought they would be,= she said. <A lot of them don9t think they9re doing something worthy of being reported in the newspaper.= One subject kept coming up over and over again 4 so strongly that Cornelius decided it needs to be cov- ered in its own right: <Every student I talked to talked about the influence IEE had on their life,= she said. IEE stands for Interdisciplinary Environmental Expedition 4 one of the signature programs at Sisters High School where students get backcoun- try experience and flesh it out with 19 Ceili Cornelius science and literary arts activities. Cornelius inter- viewed the pro- gram9s founder, Rand Runco, at length for an upcoming story. <That story can be expected in the fall,= she said. Cornelius says that her early news- paper experience set her up well for her university studies. She wasn9t inhibited or intimidated when PHOTO BY BRICE VAN DER VEER it came to approach- Ceili Cornelius enjoys pairing journalism with her love for music. ing subjects for inter- views, because she9s been doing it when, where, why and how in a post in 140 characters 4 and also have since her mid-teens. The university program has pushed something visually interesting,= she her into other forms of media besides said. <Social media is definitely a print. She has enjoyed exploring audio journalistic skill, at least to me.= As both her editor and her father, and visual formats and finding which form of media best suits a particular Jim Cornelius sees a bright future for type of story. And she is also intrigued the young journalist in a field that is by the intersection of journalism and constantly shifting with new technolo- public relations, finding the produc- gies and cultural changes. <Writing and photography will tion of public relations materials a cre- always be fundamental skills 4 along ative endeavor. Social media is a critical part of the with asking good questions and being a contemporary journalism world 4 for good listener,= he said. <Ceili9s devel- good or ill 4 and Cornelius is build- oping her chops from story to story. ing her skills in that arena, too. She9s She works really well on deadline and working as social media coordinator she has a good ear and good instincts for a story. That will all stand her in for the Sisters Folk Festival. The fundamentals of the craft still good stead going forward 3 no matter what totally unforeseeable direction apply. <You9ve got to get the who, what, journalism takes in the future.= THANK YOU to all our readers who have let us know how much they enjoy reading The Nugget. We are honored by your appreciation and support! The Nugget You, too, can help The Nugget continue its journalistic mission... Readers like you can join our loyal advertisers in bringing The Nugget to Sisters — for free — every week! Thank you for supporting us! 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