As the "hybrid" spring semester begins, The Daily Pennsylvanian launches its 137th year of publication. With the new year comes a historic student board of editors and managers. Along with the help of four professional staff members, the board is tasked with managing the editorial and business operations across the DP, 34th Street Magazine, and Under the Button.
Led by Wharton junior and DP President Dane Greisiger, the 137th board consists of 26 student leaders who are ready to take charge amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Greisiger and his team plan to devote their board terms to driving indispensable news coverage as well as facilitating the success of the organization's student staffers.
"We want to be able to support our staffers financially, socially, academically, pre-professionally, and in many other ways," Greisiger said.
College junior Ashley Ahn will take charge of the editorial side of the company. Formerly a news editor and beat reporter, Ahn is well positioned to serve as the editorial chief across all three publications.
"As a former news editor, I am also very keen on making sure the DP provides both fast, hard, breaking news in real time and in-depth enterprise pieces using more investigative reporting," Ahn said.
Ahn is assisted by three editors-in-chief: Hadriana Lowenkron, Beatrice Forman, and James Morrison, who will lead Under the Button for the second year in a row.
Lowenkron, a former copy editor and beat reporter, is the first Black editor-in-chief of the DP in its 137-year history. Forman, who previously served as Street culture editor, is the first Latinx editorial chief of the magazine.
"In a society that has historically misrepresented the stories of people of color, it is no surprise that tensions between the media and communities of color still exist today," Lowenkron said. "As a Black woman, my identity and lived experience will help me shape our coverage in such a way that tells these stories objectively and equitably, and I am dedicated to on-boarding and providing mentorship for more journalists of color, as well as mending our relationship with Penn’s underrepresented communities."
Lowenkron plans to focus on covering the relationship between West Philadelphia and the Penn community, strengthening the DP's digital presence, and representing a wide range of voices.
Ahn will also oversee a team of six senior editors: Copy Editor Brittany Darrow, Design Editor Isabel Liang, Audience Engagement Editor Sunny Jang, Photo Editor Kylie Cooper, Video Editor Sophie Huang, and Podcast Editor Evie Artis.
College sophomore Alessandra Pintado-Urbanc will take charge of the business side of the organization, with a focus on collaboration with the editorial departments. She will oversee five managers, including a new consulting manager who will work with the local community in order to uplift small businesses.
After Penn announced a remote semester in March, the DP paused print publication for the first time since World War II. While the DP will re-introduce print once a week, there will be a push to accelerate all three publications' digital products, Ahn said.
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