What is Matt Lieber of Spartan Weekly?

by Jess Lipowski of Spartan Weekly for SpartanEdge

Mr.Karaoke does his best Bon Jovi impression

Who exactly is Matt Lieber?  At first he comes across as a man with a gorgeous, sexy, bodacious body and a great sense of humor.  As time goes by, you suspect that he's a pompous, inconsiderate sex fiend who only cares about drunken karaoke. Not necessarily someone you’d like to run into in a dark bat cave. 

In reality, however, he's a combination of the two.  Behind all the drama, sunglasses and sex, Matt Lieber is, without a doubt, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Spartan Weekly, Michigan State University’s finest (and only) satirical newspaper. 

Born and raised in Okemos, Mich., Lieber graduated from Okemos High School ('02).  He began his college career at Oakland University, majoring in political science.  After his freshman year, he decided to transfer to MSU where he is now a senior, double majoring in political science and journalism.  “I decided to keep political science as an external specialty because at the time I transferred, both my managers were political science majors and working at a pizza store,” said Lieber. “It really made me think.” 

That is also when he decided to major in Journalism.  After completing Journalism 200, he said his zest for news writing was at a peak.  He would write many random fake news stories, one about his housemates eating special brownies.  Scott Goldammer, a former housemate, questioned what he was going to do with all this fake news.  And so Spartan Weekly was born. 

Matt has a unique leadership style in dealing with the staffers of Spartan Weekly.

 “I remember it was a December day and was snowing,” Lieber said.  “We were talking about how we could get a big piece of plywood and attach it to the roof so we could slide down it when the headline popped into my head, ‘New Stupid Way to Die Discovered.’ He [Goldammer] said I should start some kind of fake news.”

However, according to Lieber, the whole process was harder than he thought it would be.  “It wasn’t fun; it was grueling,” Lieber said.

Now, after a year, Spartan Weekly has a relatively large staff. Many had various reasons for joining (and many have mixed feelings about their editor).Cassie Brenske, a senior staff member and layout designer, knows that Lieber is a great leader.  “Matt has amazing skills as a leader and commands respect from all that encounter him, including, but not limited to, squirrels,” said Brenske. 

Some (including staff writer and design assistant Michael Caples) just joined because of the sex scandals. Others joined the staff because they thought Lieber was hot.  Diane Ivey, campus editor, said that she joined for that reason. Each week she would tell him she lived in Shaw just to get a ride home from him, despite the fact that she lived in West Circle, a short walk from the Union.  “One time I even lied to a survey guy and went through an entire survey while waiting for the bus as if I lived in Shaw,” said Ivey.  “As I look back, I think it’s quite funny.”

Matt's secret life is no secret anymore

Lieber, however, views his staff as if they are his children.  “I love our current staff,” he said. “It’s almost like they don’t realize it’s fake news they are writing.  I know for a fact that the staff has the utmost respect for me and if anything happened involving myself, it would shatter their fragile egos.” 

There is also gossip flying around outside of meetings, according to many staff members. “They say Jess (Lipowski) is sleeping with the editorial staff,” said Lieber.  “I also think that Kelsey (Turek) likes me.”

Despite all the things the staff says about him, he promotes an open atmosphere at meetings, from allowing members to bash him to asking female staffers to take their shirts off to be a bit more comfortable. Kate Murphy, for example, threatens to abort his baby because she “does not want to give birth to the anti-Christ.” 

As for the future of the paper, he wants to hand over the reins at the end of the year.  Whether by election or just passing it down to someone, he hopes the paper will continue. “I’ve already started handing off little responsibilities,” said Lieber.  “I will show them how hard and sucky my job is.”

Lieber tries to find time to enjoy life.  He goes to Crunchie’s every Friday for karaoke, belting out his terrible rendition of Bon Jovi.  He says he can only look forward to aspiring to become a margarita mixer at Chi-Chi’s.  In addition, as a bonus he says, he is single.  “I am single, but if you want to have sex that’s cool, too,” stated Lieber.  “But I do hate most people.  I get frustrated wherever I go.  I can’t like people to save my life.”   

 

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