A bachelor’s degree in anthropology is the only blip in this
passionate journalist’s reporting radar screen. Conan Knoll, the
new editor of the Free Lance, began his career in newspapers in
high school in the mailroom of the Durango Herald in Colorado, his
hometown newspaper, and took the reins at the Free Lance on
Tuesday.
A bachelor’s degree in anthropology is the only blip in this passionate journalist’s reporting radar screen. Conan Knoll, the new editor of the Free Lance, began his career in newspapers in high school in the mailroom of the Durango Herald in Colorado, his hometown newspaper, and took the reins at the Free Lance on Tuesday.
A passion for local news is one of the qualities Stephen Staloch, publisher of the Free Lance, noticed immediately in Knoll.
“When I was interviewing him, you could tell that there was an excitement about covering community news and his high energy level, his priorities, he understands news priorities with community newspapers,” Staloch said.
These qualities will benefit the newspaper as it aims to redefine its niche, or mission, in the community, Staloch said.
“I want a paper that’s fun to read and relevant to the lives of the people that live in San Benito County,” Knoll said.
Recently, Knoll was a city hall reporter for The Argus, the sister newspaper of the Oakland Tribune. His roots in the Bay Area go back to the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he earned his degree.
Knoll, 31, is familiar with the South Valley, having worked as a reporter for the Gilroy Dispatch, the sister paper of the Free Lance. While at the Dispatch, he covered the police and city hall beats for two years, winning first-place awards for best investigative/enterprise reporting and breaking news from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.
“I always took a lot of pride in being the one you could turn to in a breaking story, getting it done and getting it right,” Knoll said.
Following his experience at The Dispatch, Knoll moved up to a larger circulation newspaper, The Argus, in Fremont.
“That was a challenge to write about such a diverse and huge city,” he said of Fremont, a city of 205,000 people.
In 2003, Knoll took a sabbatical, of sorts, from reporting and traveled to Spain for eight months, where he spent lots of time at the beach soaking in the sun and European culture. He returned to the United States and to reporting with a job at the Durango Herald, where he wrote general assignment and business stories.
Knoll, who is currently looking for a home in Hollister, looks forward to working with the staff at the Free Lance, while learning more about the community and “what makes it tick.”
“The staff at the Free Lance is energetic, enthusiastic and talented, and I look forward to working with them,” Knoll said.
As editor, Knoll will work with the reporters and the city editor, Marcus Hibdon, to decide the daily news coverage.
“Both he and Marcus will be working very closely with the reporters in determining story planning and priority of news,” Staloch said. “We hope to have more emphasis on training our staff and making it a more exciting place to work.”
Knoll also plans to get out of the office and meet people in the community over the next weeks and months.
“I’ve got a passion for the job,” he said, “to do it well, to do it right.”
