Chrissy Beck will move one door down the hall of the West Union Building as she becomes The Chronicle’s new general manager.
Beck, who has worked as The Chronicle’s advertising director since 2008, will take over from longtime general manager Jonathan Angier next month. She was selected by the Duke Student Publishing Company board based on her understanding of ad sales and her superior people skills, said DSPC Board Chair Elizabeth Morgan, Trinity ’90.
“I feel relieved and excited,” Beck said of the promotion. “It was one of the main reasons I came to work here…. It was definitely a goal for me.”
Beck worked for The Daily Tar Heel for four years as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then served as advertising director for The Daily Tar Heel for 11 years. She moved to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce as vice-president of marketing for two years before joining The Chronicle in 2008. Both Angier and Morgan said they are confident Beck will be able to deftly manage The Chronicle’s revenue stream in a time when the economy remains volatile.
“She really understands The Chronicle’s ad market and we feel confident that she’ll help keep revenue as stable as possible and understand the opportunities for increasing online revenue,” Morgan said.
In her four years at The Chronicle, Beck has increased student involvement on the business side of the organization, Angier noted.
In the past years, The Chronicle would receive very few applications to work in the business office, and sometimes none at all, Angier said. Since Beck arrived, however, these numbers have gone up—the office received 18 applications for the upcoming year. Angier attributed this to the effort Beck puts into connecting with students.
Beck noted that she has enjoyed working with students in her current position, and hopes to serve as an asset to the editorial team in her new role.
“Our organization has lots of opportunities for growth,” Beck said. “The way folks will consume media is changing really quickly, and I want be there to help them make the changes they’d like to make so the news at Duke gets out.”
Beck plans to further engage freshmen with The Chronicle early in the year by giving them more exposure to the paper during orientation week and distributing the paper in East Campus residence halls. She also aims to create more digital products.
Editor Yeshwanth Kandimalla, a junior, said he appreciates Beck’s interest in the editorial staff and has faith in her ideas for The Chronicle’s future.
“I’m thrilled to be working with her to strengthen The Chronicle in the shifting media landscape,” he said.
Beck said that along with her goals for the future, she hopes to maintain the standard that Angier set during his tenure.
“It’s going to be hard to follow in his footsteps—he’s been here 18 years,” Beck said. “I appreciate his support.”
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