Saba Riazati, the current Daily Bruin science and health editor, was selected as next year’s editor in chief Monday night by the UCLA Communications Board.
The majority of board members are students. The board also includes an alumnus and representatives from the administration.
Student Media Director Arvli Ward said the board looked to select a candidate who displays maturity, vision, leadership and a firm grasp of the technical aspects of managing the paper.
Riazati, a third-year psychobiology student, said she is confident in the content the Daily Bruin has produced in the past year, but also hopes to implement improvements.
“The Daily Bruin has served its readers with excellent quality journalism,” she said. “I want to place an emphasis on developing the paper from the bottom up, leading to an eventual stronger front altogether.”
She said some of the existing roles and responsibilities of the Bruin have diffused, and hopes her systematic approach will allow each staff member to be held accountable for future responsibilities.
One of these plans is to implement staff writing partnerships in order to foster communication and develop leaders in writing sections.
“An organized team effort will offer more comprehensive, analytical news pieces,” she said.
Current Editor in Chief Jeff Schenck said the position requires an established personal vision.
“It takes strong leadership and an amazing amount of dedication and understanding of the Daily Bruin,” he said. “I have complete confidence in Saba’s abilities. She’s been here for a long time and proven her dedication to the Bruin.”
The other candidates for the position of editor in chief, third-year English student Colin O’Connor and third-year political science and Spanish student Robert Faturechi, spoke highly of Riazati and her ability to lead the paper.
“I think her wealth of experience and approachability are what make her a supremely qualified candidate,” O’Connor said.
Faturechi said he thinks of Riazati as a friend, something he considers an important quality of an editor in chief.
The newspaper’s staff voted to endorse Riazati on Friday, something Ward said is usually a sign of who the Communication Board will elect.
“It’s typical for groups to reach the same conclusion. … They are concerned with the same things,” he said.
One such concern for next year’s Daily Bruin staff is convergence ““ the integration of online and video media into the paper.
In 2006, the Daily Bruin incorporated the former Bruin News 29 organization into the paper, and earlier this year the paper launched a new Web site.
Ward said convergence is a key part of the paper’s future.
“It is important as a strategic initiative in terms of Daily Bruin development,” he said.
Riazati said she is both cognizant of the current issues with convergence and concerned with their effects on the organization of each department.
Sara Taylor, the Daily Bruin’s news editor, said though it is hard to point to one thing the news section looks for in an editor, she values someone who has an understanding of news and convergence, as well as an ability to implement those ideas.
Taylor said Riazati has developed strong relationships with sources as well as staff members.
“The way you present yourself outside the Bruin is very important for an editor in chief, and is something I think Saba will do very well,” she said.
Riazati said she would like to approach leadership at the Daily Bruin as a chance to inspire trust and confidence in her staff.
“I want to make sure everyone believes in me as much as they believe in the paper,” she said.
Riazati is slated to take over as editor in chief during finals week of this quarter.
Taylor said the editor change necessarily affects UCLA students because he or she shapes the paper and its content.
“The editor in chief guides coverage, which affects the news people will be reading next year,” she said.