About Us

James Croxton is a journalist and student. Born and raised in the Bay Area by two Deaf parents and a set of grandparents, James has been a competitive cyclist, a voting precinct inspector, a judge for the Classic Thunderbird Club International, and a contributor to 2017’s three-volume KISS MY WAX: The KISS LP Bible. 

After moving to Oregon and finding his passion for writing in 2018, he accepted an offer by Editor-in-Chief of The Torch, MG Belka, to join the student newspaper. For almost two years, he worked as an investigative reporter, and eventually rose to Copy Editor under then-EIC David Galbreath, focusing on major departmental changes and controversies.

Attending the University of Oregon since 2019, James majors in both journalism and cinema studies with a minor in art history. There, he is a former reporter for the Daily Emerald on both the arts and culture desk and the news desk. Since June 2021, James has been working with the Portland-based Chemical Weapons Research Center as a munitions collector and researcher along with Left Coast Right Watch as a writer and researcher.

Oregon Newspaper Publisher Association Awards:

• 2019 — 1st Place in General Excellence for The Torch (March 20, 2019 Edition)
• 2019 — 2nd Place in Best Series for The Torch (Food Services, Titan Bookstore, and Blenders)
• 2020 — 2nd Place in Best Editorial for the Daily Emerald (Black Lives Matter: The Emerald Do Better to Reflect That)
• 2020 — 3rd Place in Best Series for The Torch (Donyel Hill, the Director of Student Engagement Gone and Letter from the editorial staff)

Mary Bell grew up in Colorado and moved to Oregon in 2013 to earn her BS in biology from the University of Oregon. The COVID19 pandemic reignited her passion for writing. Time at home allowed her to cultivate her skills of writing, research, and the study of life into a budding new career as a journalist for Double Sided Media.

Janusz has lived in Oregon for most of his adult life and has studied at both Southern and Eastern Oregon Universities and at both Lane & Portland Community College. His area of focus is how Anthropology can bring a lesser-seen angle to conventional journalism.

With small town Kansas smarts in one pocket, and global experience in the other, Kyra Roesle is a fresh Organian transplant navigating the world with artistic ambition. Though in possession of three degrees from the University of Kansas: East Asian Languages and Cultures, Linguistics, and International Politics, journalism has been a constant passion along the way. From personal writings to scholarly literature, to newspaper articles and public journalism, any and all ways in which she can experience the world and communicate that forward contribute to her overall sense of purpose.

In this latest chapter of her life’s journey, she has been gratefully accepted into the DSM journalism community and has been contributing articles focused on environmentalism, politics, science reporting and more. Her intention for DSM is to write in such a way that brings both entertainment and credibility together, thus continuing the already admirable journalistic integrity the DSM carries. 

John, originally from Lawrence, Ks, has been living in Eugene since 2018. He is an artist and photographer attending Lane Community College for Multimedia Design. It was there where he was able to get more formal experience in the field of photojournalism through The Torch. Now a member of the DSM team, John continues to seek out truths unknown with observation and an objective eye.

Originally from Georgia, Chance has lived all over the West while working as a wildland firefighter, eventually landing in Oregon in 2017. Here he has planted his roots in Eugene while finishing college. A former photojournalist and reporter for The Torch, he is now a photojournalist for DSM where he hopes to bring photography that tells a story and informs the public.

He is a multi-instrumentalist musician and photographer who has a passion for wildlife and the environment. 

Rob has been shooting photographs around the world for over four decades. Born in Taiwan and adopted by an American family, he was raised in Miami, Florida, and spent 20 years studying, working, and traveling in Asia. He settled in Eugene with his family in 2016 and has kept busy trying to use photography to promote human rights, climate protection, open borders, and racial equality.

Cory Elia is a journalist, photographer, videographer, documentary director & producer, radio personality & podcaster. His journalistic focus is on politics, protest, and poverty.