The Iowa State Daily Publication Board announced Sage Smith as editor-in-chief for fall 2020 and spring 2021 and Logan Metzger as editor-in-chief for summer 2020.

Smith, Metzger and Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez presented to the Iowa State Daily publication board March 25, with Smith and Reyna-Rodriguez applying for the 2020-2021 academic year editor-in-chief role and Metzger applying for this summer’s editor-in-chief position.

“I was anxious to hear the results of it, and then obviously extremely excited to get started and execute my plans,” Smith said.

Smith, who is currently the news editor of academics at the Iowa State Daily, centered her presentation on defining roles in the workplace to create an efficient and enjoyable environment, all while maintaining a goal of generating a larger digital presence.

“I just really wanted to communicate how ready I am for this position and how much I care,” Smith said. “I definitely have the ideas and the ‘hows’ to get them done. I really want [an editor] to focus on the content and [an editor] who is very digitally focused to figure out how we should put those articles online, make them interactive and make people want to read them. The way the positions are set up will be really good for the newsroom and help improve it.”

Smith also discussed making and keeping connections with the Iowa State and Ames community.

“If we have those good relationships, it makes people want to read the content we’re putting out,” Smith said. “It makes them want to work with us, so we can get more sources and perspectives in our stories.”

Shortly before, Metzger, who is currently the news editor of diversity at the Iowa State Daily, accepted the editor-in-chief position for the summer of 2020.

“I’m looking forward to having an awesome staff and being able to cover and serve the community the best we can during the summer, especially during these trying times as the coronavirus pandemic is right now,” Metzger said.

Metzger’s presentation focused on bringing more diversity into the newsroom while providing a smooth transition from summer to fall news coverage.

“My strategic plan is really looking at ways to increase not only community outreach overall through the Daily, such as planning events or having meetings with community members, but also increasing education in the newsroom through different resources,” Metzger said.

As an English education major, Metzger is heavily invested into creating an atmosphere for reporters to grow from their learning experiences on the job.

“[My plan is] finding different ways to make sure people can be their best and reach their full potential, whether it’s in or out of the newsroom,” Metzger said. “No matter what they want to do or where they plan on going, it’s just making sure they have all the tools to do the job correctly.”

Reyna-Rodriguez, who is currently the voices editor at the Iowa State Daily, revolved her presentation around bringing video technology into the newsroom and creating a YouTube channel as an extra outlet for content.

“I feel like as things are swaying more towards the digital world, especially in journalism and media, I think it’s important that we’re following that wave and ahead of it,” Reyna-Rodriguez said. “If things turn out that we have to be more digital-based at the Daily, I feel like incorporating video into our digital content is a step ahead, too, as we add to our content and build engagement.”

Although Reyna-Rodriguez will not be the editor-in-chief this upcoming academic year, she said she anticipates applying again next year.

“I think the newsroom is always changing […]. But I do think everything I presented about, I will always be passionate about, especially diversity and being a goal-oriented newsroom,” Reyna-Rodriguez said.