Maddy Arrowood was selected to be the new editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel for the 2019-2020 academic year on Saturday.
The selection committee is composed of 11 members, including three DTH newsroom staff members, four members of the UNC student body, one UNC faculty member, one Chapel Hill community member, one member of the DTH ad staff and one prior DTH editor-in-chief.
Arrowood said she will be one of the few editors-in-chief to come from a predominately production background. Having worked on the copy desk for the past three years, Arrowood believes she will be able to approach the position differently from past editors-in-chief.
“I feel like it’s usually just newsroom, so I think getting somebody from copy and social media in the job will bring a fresh perspective,” Arrowood said.
Jamey Cross was one of the selection committee members on Saturday, serving as a representative of the DTH newsroom staff. Cross said she values the widespread reach of the selection committee, believing that it is fair that all those whom the DTH affects, including students, community members and DTH staff, are a part of the selection process for editor-in-chief.
“It can’t just be a newsroom decision," Cross said. "It can’t just be a student body decision. It can’t just be a community decision because the DTH serves so many different aspects of our community."
Cross has worked with Arrowood for three years now, and while she believes she is more than ready for the job, she understands the stress that inevitably comes with the title of editor-in-chief.
“Having a responsibility to all of the different aspects of the DTH, and the different audiences we serve in the community, that’s incredibly stressful,” Cross said.
Nobody knows better the challenges that come with the job than the current editor-in-chief herself, Rachel Jones. She believes the greatest challenge of being editor-in-chief is the non-stop involvement required to stay on top of everything.
