Amanda Hsu: Editor-in-Chief is the highest top editor position for The Rubicon, tasked with leading the print staff through classes and production cycles. I’m Amanda Hsu, and in this podcast episode, I talk to senior Annie Zhang who was elected as EIC in May 2024 and will continue to lead the print staff until her graduation in a few months.

Hsu: What inspired you to run for EIC?

Annie Zhang: I feel like being on staff for three years as of last year– this is my fourth year– I felt that I was ready to take on a more leadership position, and then they really liked my mentorship of you, my co-editor, actually, and that’s something that they really wanted me to continue in the role, and that’s another reason why I wanted to step up a little bit.

Hsu: And how would you describe your responsibilities and how you run staff?

Zhang: So being like an EIC, it’s a little different from being a section editor, because when you are a section editor, you have your own section to be in charge of, so you take on the role of editing and, most importantly, designing your section every month. But as EIC, it kind of falls back a little bit because instead of being very focused on one thing, you oversee literally everything. So it’s kind of important that I know what’s going on; what stories are being cut, which ones are we adding, what are we reworking in terms of design, so then we can always run as a team.

Hsu: And did you come on to staff or in this role with any goal?

Zhang: I think the biggest thing I noticed, and like Miss Campbell has talked about this also, but every EIC notices a gap or a hole on staff in some way. And the biggest thing I noticed last year was, I think our staff culture could have been a little more tight [or] knit close, and that was the one thing that I wanted to really emphasize this year. And I roped Juan, our Managing Editor, into it, and now he does, motivational Mondays, where we will do Just Dance activities. Or literally, today, our together-Tuesday activity was decorating the stands for the Rubicon’s 50th anniversary.

Hsu: What do you wish to change about how you run things?

Zhang: I think I wish I front-loaded mentorship, especially to our new staff, a little bit. Because generally, when you join the Rubicon, especially print, all these things are being thrown in your face– no one comes on the staff fully knowing what AP style is, no one comes on the staff knowing how InDesign works, etc. And because we are a student-run publication, it’s very important that our veteran staff members teach our new editors more. And initially, Georgia, Juan and I talked, and we really wanted to run a bunch of workshops and presentations, but we just never got the opportunity to right away, because we always had to keep things on track and keep things going during the cycle. So I think nowadays we try to weave things in; [for example] instead of press-law-Wednesday, we’ll do workshop-Wednesday.

Hsu: And how do you deal with tough situations or decisions?

Zhang: I don’t want to be a dictator on staff. So I will never really fully solely, make a decision on my own, so I will always try to get the people who are involved– like their input, sometimes Ms. Campbell if we need. I really like emphasizing the “we” over “me” mindset on staff, and I think giving everyone agency [or] giving them charge of their section really helps a lot.

Hsu: And how do you collaborate with Online? Or how do you wish you collaborated with online?

Zhang: Okay, in the beginning of the year, we really wanted to do a lot of cross [section], print, online competition [or] rivalry stuff, just to foster that healthy sense of competition. But I think a lot of that fell through just because the print cycle is four weeks long while the online cycle is two weeks long, so there could be that gap disparity there, so it makes it really hard to plan. And then we do have things, but we’re slowly trying to build up little by little, and I think we are going to try to fill that for next year, so we’re trying to build that up now.

Hsu: And what’s your favorite part of your job?

Zhang: Okay, part of being EIC is during class time [and] during our paste-ups, it is a lot of me just running around answering people’s questions. Unironically, I’m on my feet so, so much, but that’s something that brings me joy, because I get to talk to you guys, and I get to know what’s up with every section– like really in-depth. And I really do like a supporting role sometimes where, if someone tells me, can you do a Photoshop cutout of this, can you edit this story, can you help me come up with a headline or a caption, I’m willing to do that. And I think that’s another great thing about being EIC– just having a very well-rounded skill set and being able to do anything I want.

Hsu: And what is a favorite memory you have?

Zhang: I think a lot of the stuff we say in our text group chat, and how that comes to like a reality makes me laugh a lot. And then, seeing those dynamics between people that have never really interacted with each other outside of the newsroom is very interesting. I can recall Peter and Johanna’s pie chart beef. I really like seeing– oh, like Wynter joining– that was very sweet; everyone helping her with the ropes of Rubicon a little bit. And of course, I really love the fry-taste test because all that started out as a joke, and now we fully run with it.

Hsu: What’s your favorite issue you have collaborated on so far?

Zhang: I love the 50th Anniversary one (January 2025 issue), and the Hidden Racism one (November 2024 issue), I don’t know, they’re just both really fun. And I think another thing I really loved about it was that I could take a step back a little bit from helicoptering, just a little bit. Before I leave staff, one of the big things I really want to do is to make sure that you guys feel ready for your roles next year, and you have these opportunities to become leaders, because that’s what you will be doing in the future. So it’s really nice giving you guys those opportunities.

Hsu: And are those also your favorite issues from your whole career? Or just as an EIC?

Zhang: It’s not my favorite issue, but I really like the Artifacts of Individuality one (February 2024 issue), but solely because I believe working on [the] feature [section], I cooked that month, and I stand by that– it was a great section. I think my favorite issue of all time … I think it’s the Hidden Racism one for sure.

Hsu: What do you want to do with your last few issues you have?

Zhang: God, I remember I really wanted to do the special magazine one, but it’s kind of a lot and it’s a big challenge that I think you need to plan ahead of time for, and I might take that up as my senior project instead. But I really do want to see us have a very stress-free issue, and not have to come in during the week and stay till 9 pm on Sundays.

Hsu: What would your dream story to write be?

Zhang: So I couldn’t write this, and I believe it’s a work in progress at the moment, but I would love to write a tuition transparency story. But the reasoning I can’t write it is because I have very close ties with administration because of my role on Upper School Council (USC).

Hsu: What do you hope to pass on to us current staff members right now?

Zhang: I think to our juniors, especially the ones who will be stepping into future leadership roles, I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that it’s kind of important to find your niche in leadership. And I will elaborate on that, but Claire and Orion the class of ‘24 Editors-in-Chief, they emphasize stress-free deadlines and making sure everything was on time, and then Maddie Fisher from the class of 2023, really emphasized communication, communication and more communication. And then I think for me, it was mentorship. And everyone is different– everyone will lead differently, but having that thing to fill is super nice.

Hsu: Okay, last question, you have to answer this question; who’s your favorite staff memb–

Zhang: No.

Hsu: You can take a look at Zhang’s latest work in the January issue of The Rubicon. Thank you for listening to this podcast episode. We will be back with more behind-the-scenes stories from staff. See you then!