Alyssa Cruz, The Post’s current culture editor, was selected as editor-in-chief for the 2024-2025 academic year Monday evening by the paper’s publishing board.
Cruz, a junior studying journalism and Spanish, started working for The Post as a freshman news writer, until becoming a culture writer. She served as assistant culture editor during the 2022-2023 academic year.
As editor-in-chief, Cruz said she hopes to cement The Post as Athens’ primary news outlet for the Athens community and make sure its content is as accessible to as many people as possible.
Mark Turner, chair of The Post’s publishing board, said the decision for editor-in-chief was difficult.
“We had a number of great candidates apply to be the editor-in-chief of The Post, but it came down to what we thought was best for the post long term and for its immediate future,” Turner said.
Current editor-in-chief Katie Millard said she has worked with Cruz for a long time, and she has seen Cruz take over her position before becoming the culture section editor after Millard.
“I have to say she's very good at what she does,“ Millard said. "I’m really excited for her. She's done amazing work with the culture section this year, and I've gotten to look on as editor-in-chief, so I know that she'll do the same next year.”
Cruz said she has always seen Millard as a mentor, specifically her leadership skills, looking up to her both as a person and as a journalist.
“She has taught me so many great skills that I tried to implement every day, so being able to kind of follow in her footsteps is something I'm really excited for,” Cruz said.
Millard also said she believes Cruz has a good understanding of The Post’s internal systems and its needs for the future.
“She had a lot of really great initiatives about ensuring that we're presenting ourselves as a newspaper first, making sure that our coverage is equitable and respectful and representative of all of the groups on campus,” Millard said.
Cruz said she knows that with any leadership position comes many challenges, but it is important to her that the content that is being produced is something every member of The Post’s staff can be proud of.
“I'm so proud to be part of The Post, and I'm even more proud to accept this position, and I'm very excited to see what will happen in the future,” Cruz said. “I'm also very thankful to all those who have supported me and continue to support me.”
