Writing Dreams Into Reality

Eugene Weekly’s Editor-in-chief Camilla Mortensen settles for nothing less than the best while spreading her love for journalism.

By Jadzia Engle

What if you could change the world through words? Camilla Mortensen first realized she could in 2007 while she was still considered “fresh meat” at Eugene Weekly. She took on the job of writing an obituary for a young woman who was killed in Mexico, per-request from a group of bereaved friends. In all other news reports of her death, only the circumstances of the tragedy were discussed. By interviewing friends to capture the story of the deceased, Mortensen immortalized her spirit and honored her life in an impactful way that resonated with friends and family.

Her piece also prompted the young woman’s mother to contact Mortensen out of gratitude. This gesture of thanks allowed Mortensen to connect the mother with her late daughter’s friends, which she had not previously known, so they could all better share the memories of the past while they grieved. The power of one single obituary opened Mortensen’s eyes to the human element of journalism that truly makes a difference in people’s lives.

Be it an obituary, a profile of a community member, or breaking news, journalism serves people by informing them about the world around them, uncovering the truth of a situation, or recognizing others for the role they play in the world. To accomplish this, Mortensen, now editor of the Weekly, strives for the publication to never “pretend [that] it’s objective and doesn’t have an effect on the world.” They instead acknowledge that they have the potential to make a difference while catering to an audience that is “looking for voice, and sass, and gutsiness.”

The Weekly publishes a new issue every Thursday, printing nearly 40,000 copies every week. Mortensen attributes the success to their unique and predictable niche in the community. Although the Weekly does keep up with some breaking news on their website, Mortensen has made it a priority to avoid falling into the fast cycle that can be “the detriment of papers.” She highlights that they “have kept [their] focus on being special every Thursday and not trying to keep up with everything that’s going on throughout the week.” This allows for interest to peak in the upcoming days to the release date and assures readers will be receiving the most significant stories from the week.

The paper works as an alternative weekly paper, tailoring to a younger audience more than a daily paper would, and it covers primarily local topics in formats ranging from slant columns and art reviews to hard-hitting features tackling major issues in the area. They incorporate the voice of the community into their reporting by running letters-to-theeditor, opinion pieces, and compositions from freelance writers or interns.

Since 2013, local newspapers have cut more than 10,000 employees. As more media becomes digitized, eliminating the use of paper copies, the importance of physical, free reporting becomes imperative to those without the means or capability to access and navigate the internet. All citizens have the right to be informed about the ongoings of their community and government. This makes the work of the alternative weekly more vital than ever, meaning Mortensen cannot take her job lightly.

----------

Mortensen, 47, dreamed as a child of pursuing her passion of writing and teaching in order to express her artistic side and to make a difference in the world. A headstrong and innovative woman, she found her knack for journalism by “falling upward” into her current position.

Growing up in Florida, Mortensen received her bachelor’s degree at the New College of Florida, in a major she created herself (folklore), before packing up her things in a pickup truck and moving to the West Coast to further pursue academics. She received a master’s in folklore and mythology from the University of California Los Angeles, and soon after found herself in Eugene to earn her Ph.D in comparative literature at the University of Oregon. With a teaching background from grad school, she worked as an instructor at the University of Wisconsin, where she lived with her fiancé. Then, Mortensen’s life took an unexpected turn.

A realization suddenly dawned on her that she only followed her partner of eight years to Wisconsin because she “thought it was what [she] was supposed to do,” and the prospect of a white picket fence and an idealistic life of societal conformity did not suit “the trajectory [she] had for [herself].” Reflecting back on the activism she did in college and before she left Oregon made her “miss the part of [herself] who was trying to change the world and not just focused on what’s going on with [herself].” In order to be true to herself, Mortensen broke off her engagement two weeks before the wedding. Mortensen soon received a job working for the Library of Congress that granted her the ability to work from anywhere in the United States, and so she headed back to Eugene, Oregon. Through the years, she worked as a freelance writer whenever she got the chance. All the while, Mortensen still did not have a job that granted her the writing career she desired. After finishing up with the Library of Congress, she stumbled upon an opening at the Weekly in 2007 and seized the opportunity.

One year into her position at the paper, Mortensen chased down the chance to keep the other half of her dream alive by applying for a writing instructor position at Lane Community College. The unique and adverse backgrounds commonly found in students of a community college and their resulting drive and motivation to learn have always appealed to Mortensen, and it keeps her love for teaching alive and thriving. Before or after her Weekly workday, she now teaches two or three courses per term that consist of writing composition at varying levels and a journalism course.

Early on at the Weekly and LCC, Mortensen’s love for low-wage occupations did not sustain her lifestyle in downtown Eugene. With an expensive and deeply rooted love of riding horses for competition, Mortensen knew she had to give up something. Unwilling to sacrifice her dream jobs, Mortensen, on a whim, jumped on Craigslist and purchased a 1975 Airstream trailer. Now, there is no place she’d rather call home. With her two dogs, Aksel the Ridgeback and Biggie the Pitbull, she parks her home in Creswell and commutes to Eugene with her four-legged friends in tow.

----------

Her personal achievements in the journalism field have flourished in her 12 years at the Weekly, in part due to her passion and skill. Strangely, she attributes her success to her lack of training. “I wasn’t locked into what journalism was, or what journalism was allowed to do,” Mortensen says. This granted her the ability to be creative and think outside the box—something the Weekly still strives to accomplish.

One particular way the alternative weekly employs their platform in such a way is through solutions journalism. Mortensen passionately explains this as a “type of journalism where you locate a problem in your community and then look [at]… other communities that have solved this problem or are working on solving this problem, and how it worked.” This gives the Weekly the ability to not just report on a problem, but then offer a solution and opportunity to improve the world, and it is “a really powerful type of journalism.”

Not only is the work of the paper contributing to the wealth of knowledge in the community, but as the current arts editor of the Weekly and former arts writer for The Register Guard, Bob Keefer, reflects: “the great thing about the Weekly is that it’s a teaching paper.” From her Weekly interns to her LCC students, Keefer adds that Mortensen “was clearly destined to be an academic.”

She helps provide an environment where students are unafraid to ask difficult questions, and further challenges them by presenting meaningful journalistic reporting for them to analyze and discuss. Her unabashed fearlessness helped Mortensen form the life she always dreamed of, and she draws on her experiences to inspire her pupils to someday achieve their own dreams.

Mortensen is the embodiment of a journalistic spirit, unwilling to settle for anything she does not believe in. In a world in which news gets blurred together, Mortensen stays hungry for the truth and potential for change. Acting as a lighthouse to all of the individuals around her, she leads students and coworkers alike towards journalistic inspiration and the power it wields.

49