School of Journalism
names first Pollner fellow
Jonathan Weber, former editor of The Industry Standard,
to teach and to mentor Kaimin staff during Spring 2002

By Bryan O'Connor
Montana Kaimin
(reprinted with permission)
 
A columnist and former technology editor at the Los Angeles Times will offer his expertise to journalism students at The University of Montana this spring due to the generosity of a former student's family.

Jonathan Weber, also a founding editor of The Industry Standard, will be the first T. Anthony Pollner Distinguished Professor at UM's School of Journalism. He will be working closely with the Kaimin staff and teaching a two-credit seminar class as well.

"I've always enjoyed teaching," Weber told the Kaimin. "And I have a lot of affection for Montana."

Weber earned a degree in philosophy at Wesleyan University, then went on to study at Columbia's

Jonathan Weber

School of International and Public Affairs. He left before graduating to take a job with the Times, where he wrote for the San Francisco and New York bureaus before starting his technology column, "Innovation."

Weber left the Times to help start The Industry Standard, a weekly business magazine that lived and died covering the dot-com craze. The Standard ceased publishing late this summer, and Weber was left to study his options.

At the same time, UM's journalism department was in the process of choosing seven or eight distinguished journalists from across the country to be a part of the new professorship program.

Michael Downs, a visiting assistant professor at UM who met Weber briefly once before, said he called and asked Weber whether he'd be interested. After some thought, Weber applied for the Pollner Fellowship. Later, professor Carol Van Valkenburg, representing the Pollner Fellow selection committee, offered Weber the job.

"The Standard was in a volatile situation. It was an intense ride," Weber said. "This is really a perfect thing for me at this stage."

Van Valkenburg, chair of the print department at UM's School of Journalism, said she was anxious to find someone who is on the cutting edge of journalism to work with the students and the Kaimin staff.
But Van Valkenburg said it wasn't easy to find a working journalist willing to leave the field.

"We had a huge amount of interest," Van Valkenburg said. "But trying to attract working journalists right after Sept. 11 -- few wanted to leave their newspapers."

The Pollner family established an endowment, in honor of their son, to create a position for a visiting professor one semester every year. Pollner, a UM graduate in 1999, was a former reporter and Web designer for the Kaimin.He died in a motorcycle accident near London in May. Pollner's parents also sat on the selection committee.

Van Valkenburg said Pollner worked at the Kaimin during his senior year at UM, then decided to stay for an extra semester. He took six credits so he could remain on the Kaimin staff and put the Web site in order, she said.

"His whole family was aware of the contribution that he made," said School of Journalism Dean Jerry Brown. "It's a great thing the Pollner family has done."

Kaimin Editor Courtney Lowery worked with Pollner during his three semesters with the paper. She said the Pollner family's endowment will make sure his vision will always be in the newsroom.

"T. Anthony was always our `think-outside-the-box guy,'" Lowery said. "This professorship will help us to continue to think that way."

Lowery said Pollner's unique style and deep-seated passion for journalism and the Kaimin, changed the paper significantly in many ways.

"We wouldn't have the Kaimin online if it wasn't for T. Anthony," Lowery said.

The program is set up for visiting professors to spend the fall semester at UM, but the Pollner family wished to get things started as soon as possible, Van Valkenburg said. Weber will visit this spring, then a different professor will visit each fall starting in 2002.

Return to November 2001 News