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As the summer editor-in-chief at The Daily, and the current ASUW Director of Policy and Procedures, you might think my being editor-in-chief will pose a conflict of interest. You’re not alone.

While at a fundraiser a week ago, I ran into Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) during the reception and we chit-chatted a little bit. When I told him I was both the ASUW’s Director of Policy and Procedures and this summer’s editor-in-chief at The Daily, he was surprised.

“They let you be editor and be a part of student government?”

Yeah, they do. But in actuality, the two positions aren’t that different.

One of the roles of a news agency is to keep tabs on government. Although there won’t be a fully functioning ASUW this summer, the Board of Directors will be working on issues either directly or indirectly that you’ll see on the front page of The Daily every week.

There is bound to be overlap, and I’ll inevitably be editing stories that cover issues or events in which I have been involved. Unlike when I decided to run for ASUW during winter quarter, I won’t be able to remove myself from the editing process for ASUW-related stories.

We’ve got stories, profiles and other coverage coming down the pike that are bound to test my impartiality and, although I’ll likely have strong feelings about the topic, I’m going to take a step back and give ultimate content authority to the section editors, whom I believe in tremendously. In any case, there will be at least two editors — in addition to myself and the section editor — who will look at each article.

My goal isn’t to advance the ASUW’s efforts this year during my time at The Daily, it is to consistently provide our readers the best possible product. That’s a promise, and that’s something from which I will not sway during my time as editor.

In the end, although I can make all the promises I want, my performance comes down to your trust. I’ve earned the trust of the newsroom that voted almost unanimously in favor of my editorship, even while I was an ASUW candidate, of the Publications Board that hired me, of myself, believing I can distance my biases from my editing, and, hopefully soon, from you, who I will keep working for until our last issue in late August.

While there are potential issues with being an editor and a board member, one of my primary goals in both of the positions is exactly the same: community building.

We’re a community paper. Or, at least, we should be.

The Daily, over the last couple years, has raked in countless national awards, including the Associated Collegiate Press’ 2010 Pacemaker Award, the collegiate equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize. We’ve earned the respect of and are consistently read by major regional news outlets such as The Seattle Times, and many in the UW community — though not enough — consistently read the paper and are impressed by its depth of coverage and presentation.

We’re a good paper, but we aren’t a great paper, and the missing component is our connectedness with the community.

It can’t be this way.

In my time as editor, I want to make sure we are out in the community and that I lay the foundations for us being out there in the community even more during the next school year. I want to transform the role of being editor-in-chief from one of reading over copy and planning art for the next day’s paper to one of being known by and in communication with different communities at the UW.

I want The Daily to be both cognizant and respectful of other campus communities, and I want to work with this coming school year’s editor Alison Atwell and the rest of the newsroom to make sure we have the institutions and the institutional knowledge to treat each issue and community on campus with the utmost sensitivity and respect.

I’m going to do everything I can to make that a reality, but I can’t do it all myself, and that’s where I need you.

Anytime you have concerns, contact me. Whether it is coming directly to Communications 132, writing a letter or shooting me an email. Anything is better than nothing, and I am willing to discuss just about anything.

We can put out a good paper with the status quo, but we need to actually be visible, approachable and in touch with the community to truly become great.

Until then, I’m going to work hard to be both as impartial and accessible as possible, and I encourage readers to respectfully raise concerns, suggestions or compliments as early and as often as possible.

You’re the reason we write, design, edit and do just about everything else. Embrace it.

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