©2009 NCSU Student Media
The Student Media Board passed down decisions on 2009-2010 leaders for student media organizations Tuesday evening. The board awarded editor in chief of the Technician to Ty Johnson, a junior in history, and the position of general manager of WKNC 88.1 FM to Mike Alston, a senior in civil engineering.
The other position in contention was that of manger of the student media business office; however, the two candidates and the board came to an agreement that split the position into two new ones. Laura Frey, a junior in parks, recreation in tourism management will fill the position of business manager and Charlie Weinfeld will be the the sales manager.
Several of the new hires ran for their positions unopposed. Helen Dear, a junior in graphic design, will be the editor in chief of the Windhover and Bryant Robbins will be editor in chief of the Agromeck. The editor in chief position for the Nubian Message has reopened for applications.
The candidates for the positions took part in a public forum Monday night where they answered questions about leadership, expansion and budgets. Tuesday, the candidates for the Technician and WKNC made their final statements and responded to questions from the board.
Alston presented a plan to increase campus involvement with the radio station through an on-campus concert.
“We are a very fragmented campus,” he said. “[A concert] could bring students and organizations together.”
Alston said the concert is a tough goal to attain, but he hopes the concert would become a “tradition” on campus.
Johnson’s main goal for next year is the newspaper’s online presence.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, online is the way of the future,” Johnson said. “Technician should be a 24 hour news service.”
The editor-elect said he will implement a Web team to oversee online content and would like to work with the other media outlets on campus.
The board made the decision to split the business manager position at the last minute, which came as a surprise to the two candidates.
“I was surprised … they told us they couldn’t set their mind on one person,” Weinfeld said. “They decided it would be best to have a business manager and a sales manager.”
The new sales manager position will oversee the sales reps and training and the business manager will work mainly with the design and classifieds teams.
“I’m really glad that they made that decision… I’m really glad that we both get to have a part,” Frey said.
Weinfeld said his major goal for next year is to keep the ad staff on track and to maintain current advertisers through the economic crisis. Frey said she would focus on developing “new marketing techniques” and to help student media produce more profit.
The new editors and managers will take their positions at the conclusion of the spring semester.