Andrew Erickson, the Daily Bruin’s current football and men’s basketball reporter, was appointed as the paper’s next editor in chief Tuesday night.
The UCLA Communications Board appointed the third-year business economics student at its Tuesday meeting after Erickson received The Bruin’s staff endorsement Friday night.
The Communications Board oversees all student media publications, including the Daily Bruin and eight newsmagazines, and makes the final selection of The Bruin’s editor in chief.
In his application, Erickson emphasized the importance of The Bruin’s online presence and said he wants to produce more specific blog and community content.
He said his biggest priority is working to rebrand The Bruin and interact more with the UCLA community through the creation of a new position to better maintain the organization’s relationship with campus groups.
“I am very excited to lead the newsroom,” Erickson said. “The Daily Bruin has so much to offer as a paper and I hope we can reach out to the community and become a bigger presence on campus.”
Photo editor Neil Bedi and Assistant Copy Chief Sedina Alicic also applied for the position.
Communications Board chairman Erik Pena said it was a difficult decision and that all of the applicants had interesting perspectives and innovative ideas on how to lead The Bruin into the future.
“One of the biggest things that stood out was (Erickson’s) leadership style and willingness to work with the Communications Board,” Pena said. “We felt he was best to handle the changing times and to bring the paper into the digital age.”
Pena added that he thought The Bruin’s financial struggle will be a main challenge for newsroom leaders next year and he thinks Erickson will be a good advocate for UCLA Student Media in discussions with Associated Students UCLA. The Communications Board is an independent division of ASUCLA, a multimillion-dollar organization that provides student services, independent of the university.
Because of a continuing decrease in Daily Bruin print advertising revenues, ASUCLA Board of Directors approved a $200,000 line of credit for Student Media. An original version of the agreement included a clause that jeopardized the Bruin’s editorial independence.
“The biggest change for any (newspaper) editor is to face the funding question,” said Arvli Ward, director of Student Media. “The Daily Bruin’s biggest problem isn’t a lack of readers, the thing that is changing is the decline of print advertisement, which directly funds our news mission.”
Erickson said in his application that he plans to explore more cost-cutting measures and creative ways to secure the paper’s financial future.
Accommodating the lack of a media adviser will be another challenge for Erickson to tackle next year, said current Editor-in-Chief Jillian Beck.
Pena said that the Communications Board was impressed with the different background and experience that Erickson can bring to the position.
He served as an assistant sports editor last year before taking over the football and men’s basketball beats. He also co-hosts a weekly Daily Bruin sports radio show, Out of Bounds.
Andrew said he came to UCLA as a political science student and realized his passion for journalism after joining the Daily Bruin his first year.
“We are so excited for him and so humbled” said his mother, Anne Erickson. “He joined the paper and fell in love with it. That is what college is all about – finding what you love.”