The Publications Council named Laura B. Weiss the new editor in chief of The Daily Utah Chronicle on Monday.
Weiss, who is currently the opinion editor, will take over as editor in chief starting in the Summer Semester and will continue in the position until next spring.
She is a 19-year-old English and political science double major who has always wanted to be a writer. Weiss started working at The Chronicle in 2000 as a feature writer, before becoming the opinion editor this year.
She presented the Publications Council, which oversees all student publications, with a 16-page proposal full of her ideas.
Weiss would like to combine the feature and news staffs so those reporters who cover areas of campus would also be responsible for writing feature stories. She would like to increase the number of guest columnists in the opinion section and the number of photo features throughout the newspaper.
“I would really like to do a RED film festival,” Weiss said.
RED Magazine, the arts and entertainment section produced by The Chronicle, would host a student-produced film festival on campus as a way to showcase the work of the U’s film department.
Weiss said she was excited about the new position for a number of reasons.
“I am passionate about words and enjoy communicating with people in the community,” she said.
Weiss said The Chronicle can create a “sense of cohesion at a university that doesn’t typically have that.”
Weiss said her largest challenge will be “coordinating all of the sections of the newspaper and making sure everyone on campus knows that we are here.”
Weiss has set the deadline for senior staff application for April 19. For information, call her at 581-7041 or email her at [email protected].