The Media Planning Board has named Jake Stevens as the The Crimson White editor-in-chief for the 2018-2019 school year.

Stevens, a senior majoring in public relations and political science, is graduating in May but returning to the University to study public relations in graduate school while running The Crimson White. 

“I’m honored, really,” Stevens said. “It’s a real privilege to be a part of something with a long and decorated history like The Crimson White.”

Stevens began his work for the school newspaper his second year at UA as photo editor and served this year as digital editor. 

“Since I’ve been working here for a few years, I’ve gained a lot of respect for the newspaper and how we operate,” he said. 

Mark Mayfield, associate director and editorial advisor of the Office of Student Media and advisor to The Crimson White, said he is excited for Stevens to fill the position. 

“I think Jake has earned this job,” Mayfield said. “He’s going to do very well. His experience here, you know from being the photography editor to the digital editor, and the fact that he’s in production on every night of production of The Crimson White makes a huge difference so that he knows the entire newspaper, not just one aspect of it, and that’s important.” 

Looking ahead, Stevens said he is excited to get started and see what the newspaper can create next year. Connecting to students and being someone people can trust for information on campus and in Tuscaloosa is important to him.

Elizabeth Elkin, a senior majoring in journalism and current editor-in-chief, said Stevens is a great leader with excellent instincts, and she is proud of him. 

“I think Jake’s going to do a great job,” she said. “I have had the pleasure of watching him grow a lot over the last two years, and I really have faith in his abilities to lead the CW into the next year. I’m really excited about it.”

Mayfield said he thinks Stevens is very bright, talented, organized and a really good person, all of which will make him a great leader for The Crimson White.

“But more than anything, just overall, he’s a very organized editor, and that’s going to be important for him as he goes through, but I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “He has a good sense of the mission of The Crimson White as an information service–a news and information service for the entire campus, and that’s the bottom line. It has to be a really strong news outlet. It is the most important news outlet on this campus, and I know Jake understands that.”