Brann to lead restructured 34th Street Magazine as Editor-in-Chief

After changes to the structure of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc., the executive board of 34th Street Magazine will be led by four new editors. College junior Tamsyn Brann will take the reins as editor-in-chief, with College junior Sam Mitchell taking on the new role of campus editor, overseeing the magazine’s Features, Word on the Street, Style, and Ego sections. College sophomore Beatrice Forman will lead the Film and TV, Music, and Arts sections as the magazine’s new culture editor, and College junior Eliana Doft will take over as assignments editor, supervising the magazine’s staff writers.

Brann, who previously worked on 34th Street’s design as a DP design editor, has previously been the science journalism, multimedia, and social media intern at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight center, which she wrote about for Penn’s XFic Journal of Experimental Non-fiction. In her time at Street's helm, she says she will focus on diversity initiatives, coordinating with other departments at the DP, and increasing special issues production. 

Mitchell, who will inaugurate the role of campus editor, was previously podcast editor and Editorial Board chair on the DP’s 135th Board. He plans to focus on training section editors and prioritizing packaging and digital storytelling, particularly for features. “I’m really excited to work on pieces that address important issues and speak to many different communities on campus and beyond,” Mitchell said.

He will work closely with Forman, who aims to shape cultural coverage through Street’s voice, which she describes as “rooted in human interest and warmth.” Forman, who is an editorial assistant for the Pennsylvania Gazette, says she will also focus on building community. Incoming Street Assignments Editor Eliana Doft has been a Lastpage editor for the magazine and most recently supervised special issues. She hopes to focus on training and workshop-based instruction for new hires. 

2020 will bring significant changes for Street’s internal structure. In 2019, the DP's 135th Board approved a restructuring of the company that split Street's single managing editor role into campus and culture editors, in an effort to maintain high quality and quantity outputs as the magazine continues to grow. Another change will occur for the magazine’s visuals departments. The 136th Board will consolidate these positions to a company-wide editor, who will manage internal board members working on audience engagement, photo, video, and design specific to Street.

Street’s 2020 internal board will comprise four editors: College sophomore Ryan McLaughlin as audience engagement editor, College junior Sophia Dai as photo editor, College sophomore Morgan Jones as video editor, and College sophomore Isabel Liang as design editor. These editors will dual-report to Brann as well as their editor on the 136th Board. 

In 2019, Street saw over 1 million unique pageviews. The 135th Board focused on training and narrative reporting, and also implemented new special issues, with significant overhauls to Penn 10, changing its structure from a “30 Under 30”-style spotlight on seniors to a random sample of the senior class focused on each student’s individual experience. In the fall, Street released its Climate Change Issue, which featured students’ personal narratives and spotlighted activist groups and individuals on campus.

The next board hopes to build on that growth. “The fact that I have always viewed Street as a magazine that not only hears but also acknowledges my voice, my existence, and my individuality is what put me on the path to ultimately leading the publication,” Brann said. “I want to reinforce this personal connection between Street and both new and loyal readers.”