Letter from the editors: Introducing Vol. 260

Opinion by Kate Selig
Sept. 19, 2021, 8:43 p.m.

We’re Kate, Jeremy and Lana, the editor-in-chief and executive editors of The Stanford Daily’s 260th volume. 

We’re excited to take the lead as students return to campus in full force after one and a half years away. We’re looking forward to bringing the Stanford community timely and important journalism through our website, print edition, magazine and yearbook.

As the executive team, we hope to make progress on two fronts: improving our digital presence and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in our coverage and among our staff. These are changes that reflect lessons learned during the pandemic and ongoing shifts in the journalism landscape.

Let’s start with our digital presence. Already, in a good month, our website can draw over 400,000 visitors, a number that pales in comparison to our print readership. To that end, we’ll be cutting print production from five days to one day a week, freeing staff time and money to focus on projects for our website. We’ve also created two new roles to further this work. Lana Tleimat ’23 will serve as the executive editor for digital, and Cameron Ehsan ’24 will be our first audience engagement editor, responsible for keeping an eye on readership metrics and developing a team of engagement reporters who are responsive to the trends and needs of the community. Additionally, we’ve dedicated $30,000 in much-needed tech upgrades so that our digital sections — tech, photo, video, podcasting, graphics and cartoons — can produce their best work and those without the means to access such technology can take part in these sections.

We’re also making strides to improve the diversity, equity and inclusion of our newsroom. We launched the “100 People in 100 Days” listening tour over the summer, during which time we met with community members to ask how we can better serve them. A report on our findings is forthcoming. We also just wrapped up hosting our inaugural Summer Journalism Institute, a two-week internship program for more than 60 incoming frosh and current students from backgrounds underrepresented in journalism. We hope to follow these initiatives during the school year with greater funding for our Opportunity Fellowship, $1,500 stipends for staffers with financial need; further development of our affinity group and mentorship opportunities; and a reexamination of newsroom policies with the potential for harm, such as the way we cover policing on campus.

Throughout this process of growth and change, we want to hear from you, whether that’s by submitting a tip, an article or even joining our team. We take everyone who applies, and the time commitment is as little or as much as you’d like it to be.

Here’s a bit more about us:

Kate is an aspiring reporter from central Massachusetts, studying philosophy and political science. Before taking on the editor-in-chief role, she led The Daily’s news section for two volumes and co-chaired the diversity, equity and inclusion team for one. She’s a member of Asian American Journalists Association and NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists.

Jeremy hails from New York City, and, before becoming the executive editor for print, was a two-time sports editor at The Daily. He majors in Human Biology with specific focuses in environmental policy and sustainable development.

Lana is from Columbus, Ohio, which is cooler than it sounds. She wrote and edited humor articles and produced satirical news videos for The Daily before becoming the inaugural executive editor of digital. She will eventually get around to studying English with a focus in creative writing, hopefully before she graduates.

We’re looking forward to the volume ahead!

Kate Selig ’23, Editor in Chief

Jeremy Rubin ’23, Executive Editor for Print

Lana Tleimat ’23, Executive Editor for Digital

Kate Selig served as the Vol. 260 editor in chief. Contact her at kselig 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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