The University of Arizona Media Board has chosen editors in chief for the upcoming summer and fall editions of the Arizona Daily Wildcat.

Kevin Zimmerman, currently an assistant sports editor, was chosen to head the Arizona Summer Wildcat. Zimmerman has served on staff since 2008 as a sports reporter, assistant sports editor and sports editor. 

“”At the time (2008), I was working as a stringer covering high school football for the (Arizona) Daily Star, but I e-mailed (current Editor in Chief) Lance Madden for an interview back when he was the sports editor, and he brought me on,”” Zimmerman said. “”This is a great opportunity first of all to lead, and I like to watch people develop which is the most rewarding part. There’s never a day working here that’s the same as the day before or the day after.””

Zimmerman will focus on expanding the Summer Wildcat’s use of multimedia and Internet media to provide more diverse news resources for students.

“”Definitely I think this summer, we can discuss new ways to set that sort of stuff up,”” Zimmerman said. “”It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of stuff and the types of projects we can do to see what makes a good multimedia piece.””

Expanding multimedia usage is also a major goal of fall Editor in Chief Colin Darland, who served as the web director for the Daily Wildcat this semester. Darland has been with the paper since the 2008 fall semester. According to Mark Woodhams, the director of student media and faculty adviser for the Daily Wildcat, Darland is only the second non-journalism major to be named editor in chief of the daily edition of the Daily Wildcat in the past 16 years. He is currently an economics major.

“”In this day and age with so many competing sources of news, it’s really important for the Wildcat to offer up a product that no one else does in a way that continues to resonate with the readers,”” Woodhams said.

Darland, though, is not letting his lack of journalism experience hold him back.

“”I think to a degree it will help because I can give a fresh viewpoint to the paper,”” Darland said. “”Having come from a outside the circle, I can give an outside perspective. I can also surround myself with the right people so that any deficiencies there are in myself, my editorial board will be more than able to make up for those.””

Darland also hopes that this different perspective will help keep the Daily Wildcat relevant in the ever-changing news industry.

“”I think a lot of it is that just in general, the newspaper industry is in a slump right now, and students are getting more of their information from other sources,”” Darland said. “”We can find a different way of packaging our product and delivering it, and we can do it in a way that keeps us relevant.””

Madden expressed his confidence in Zimmerman, whom he hired as a sports reporter in 2008.

“”The longer anybody’s been at the Wildcat, the more that person learns, and Kevin has already learned quickly,”” Madden said. “”Even as a sports reporter, he’s learned a lot just by being in the newsroom as often as he is, so he’s been able to see how the different desks work.””

Madden also voiced his support for Darland, who faces the task of running the daily paper in the fall, as opposed to the weekly edition published in the summer.

“”The great thing about being editor in chief of the Wildcat is that being a business-minded people person is just as, if not more, important than being a journalism major,”” Madden said. “”(Darland) has an interest and a willingness to learn everything about what journalism encompasses, which I think speaks volumes to him as an editor.””