Alene Tchekmedyian, current Daily Bruin director of New Media, was confirmed by the UCLA Communications Board as the next editor-in-chief.
Tchekmedyian, a third-year sociology student who has worked for The Bruin since fall quarter of her freshman year, was chosen by Bruin staff members in a vote on Friday evening and was officially approved Tuesday night.
The Communications Board oversees all student media publications, including the Daily Bruin.
“There is a changing landscape for media. … It’s one of the most anxiety-filled and exciting times to be a young person in journalism,” said Arvli Ward, Student Media director and ex-officio member of the board.
He added that the position of editor-in-chief is evolving to adapt to the new structure of journalism in society.
“The business model is shifting underfoot. … The editor of the future is going to have to think hard. It’s not about adapting to the issues of advertising, but working in a larger team context to figure that out,” he said.
Tchekmedyian joined the paper as an intern in the Online department. She became assistant Online editor during the spring quarter of her freshman year and served in that position until she became the current director of New Media.
“For next year, the main plan in mind that I have that would affect the readers the most is the online production cycle,” Tchekmedyian said. “I want to try to bridge the gap between the online readers and the print readers by making the print and online a different product.”
She added that she hopes to update the Daily Bruin Web site with more timely news and run more lengthy and analytical pieces in the print version of the paper, as well as incorporate more multimedia packages online.
Tchekmedyian also interned at the Los Angeles Times fall quarter, and she said that the emphasis they put on using social media to reach readers influenced her plans for the Daily Bruin.
“(The financial budget) is an issue right now because all current newspapers are dying, which is why I want to use this economic downturn to create a Web presence online that will serve our readers, but will also make us marketable to advertisers,” she said.
Anthony Pesce, current editor-in-chief said he is confident that Tchekmedyian can take the paper to the next level.
“I’ve enjoyed my year working with Alene so far. She has been a phenomenal director of New Media, and as a result, our Web site has seen an increase in both the quality and quantity of multimedia content,” he said.
Amber Bissell, who also ran for the editor-in-chief position on Friday, said she hopes to use the knowledge she gained from applying for the position to help improve the paper.
“The selection of (editor-in-chief) is always a challenging one, and I’ve said throughout the process that the staff knows what’s best for them. I know that Alene will do a great job being (editor-in-chief) and that, in whatever capacity, I hope that I can also help better the paper,” said Bissell, who currently serves as managing editor for The Bruin.
“We’re going to have to be creative and think about issues that didn’t exist the day before. I think Amber and Alene are the right people to help the Daily Bruin to do this right now,” Ward said.
Pesce will serve as editor-in-chief for the remainder of spring quarter until the graduation issue when Tchekmedyian, along with next year’s staff, will take over for the following academic year.