The Minnesota Daily’s Board of Directors finalized its selections for next year’s leadership Thursday night.
The board chose Cleo Krejci for the position of editor in chief and Kyle Stumpf for the position of business operations officer.
Krejci and Stumpf were selected from a pool of applicants following a screening process that involved collecting current Daily staff member feedback and an interview with the board.
Krejci and Stumpf will assume their new leadership positions following training in mid-May.
“It was clear that both [Krejci and Stumpf] will bring new ideas, which is really what the Board is looking for,” said Minnesota Daily’s Board of Directors chair Jason Cole. “They brought a fresh set of energy … [and] saw the importance of staying relevant to readers.”
Editor in Chief
Junior Cleo Krejci is majoring in English literature and journalism with a minor in Spanish studies. She started at the Daily as an intern reporter in fall 2017, after which she was promoted to a reporter covering student issues.
Following a semester abroad in Argentina, she returned to the Daily in summer 2018, as senior staff reporter covering student issues. During the 2018-19 school year, Krejci worked as the features editor.
As editor in chief, Krejci hopes to place an emphasis on in-depth, investigative and features reporting, as well as expand the photos desk.
“I want to expand the way we interact with the community as a newspaper. I’d like to connect with more groups so that we are more representative in our coverage at the Daily,” she said. “I’d really like to take into account what everyone wants and needs. I will not succeed as EIC without everyone’s success.”
Business Operations Officer
Kyle Stumpf joined the Daily staff in fall 2018 as a new business intern. He was then promoted to the position of account executive. Starting spring semester, Stumpf assumed the role of sales manager.
Stumpf, a junior majoring in marketing with a minor in business analytics, said he hopes to develop relationships among Daily staff members to reduce turnover rates; focus on promoting Suite 450, the marketing agency portion of the Daily and push digital content.
“Society is moving into the digital-first realm, especially the newspaper industry, so I really want our focus to be pushing digital products and services, as well as making sure staff is aligned with that goal,” Stumpf said.
Cole said the board was excited by the potential for Krejci and Stumpf to strengthen the Daily’s connection with the larger University community and grow its presence.
“If we have quality content, you’ll have readers, no matter the platform. If we have readers, you have an audience that advertisers want to hit. I think that both of these leaders will continue to drive that forward,” he said.