Moving along the 2022-2023 academic year, the Daily Forty-Niner is working toward building a community in and out of the newsroom. We caught up with their EIC and Managing Editor to find out more about their plans for the publication.
Kristina Agresta, Managing Editor, previously served as the social media editor for the Daily Forty-Niner, she started her journey in sports journalism and is currently in her second year as a Public Relations major at CSULB and French and Francophone Studies minor.
How is being on the 49er so far?
“It’s interesting. I started the second-semester last year as the social media editor which was interesting. It was definitely a challenge. I come from a background in motorsport journalism, so this is my first time working in like — news and breaking news. But I really loved it. It’s definitely really fun to be working with a lot of my friends and I’m excited about the new staff. It’s also a lot of work. I’m here pretty much every day from nine to seven on campus. But yeah, it’s definitely something new and something fun.”
How has this school year gone for you?
“It’s going pretty well. We have almost an entirely new staff and have way more new people than we have old people, so it’s really exciting to get fresh perspectives in the newsroom, even in the business team as well.”
What are your goals for the Daily Forty-Niner?
“I guess my goal this year is to make being an employee or a staff member here as healthy of an environment as it can be. I want people to feel professional and feel prepared to go out into the real world. I feel like a lot of time it gets lost in student media that this is supposed to be preparing you for the real world. So a big thing I’m trying to do this year is to do some real-world scenarios. You know, we’re doing interview skills workshops, and resume workshops. We’re trying to create a professional environment in the newsroom. I guess my other big goal is to get more readership. That’s always the goal. And definitely do a lot more investigatory pieces. We have a lot of things on campus that I think we can be looking more deeply into that students would really appreciate.”
Do you plan on staying with the Daily Forty-Niner until you graduate?
“My hope is that I stay with the 49er until I graduate. I plan on being here for the long term. I really love working in a newspaper environment. I love student media and I just think it’s a great opportunity. I love the advisors and I’ve made so many great friends here. I feel like nothing would make me give that up.”
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Christal Gaines-Emory, a third-year journalism major at CSULB, is the Editor in Chief at the Daily Forty-Niner this year. Previously as the arts and life editor, Gaines-Emory worked to improve the section with a focus on Long Beach creators before moving on to become EIC.
How is being on the 49er so far?
“It’s been a lot of fun so far. I was the arts and life editor last year and I had fun just leading that team and producing really cool works. It’s a little different this year because we have almost an entirely new staff, so it’s been fun getting to know everyone and just learning the editorial side of things. As editor-in-chief, it’s been fun leading everyone and getting to know everyone, and just making everyone do the best work that they can do.”
What are your goals for the Daily Forty-Niner?
“For this year, we’re working really hard on building relationships between other student organizations on campus. That’s something I’m really passionate about. It’s been fun getting to know different organizations and developing these relationships. We’re also getting closer to the other student media publications, so DIG MAG, DIG E, and 22 West,” Gaines-Emory said.
“I am really all about love, everyone getting along and positivity. I just want to bring that to the Forty-Niner. I want to make a lasting impact that stays because I do want this workplace to be always healthy, always happy. Also, one thing that we’re trying to push for this year is professionalism in the Forty-Niner because I think it’s really important we’re all students here and a lot of us want to be journalists in the future. So my goal is to improve everyone’s skills as much as I can while they’re here so that they can be better when they actually go out into the field.”
How is working on the team as one of the youngest members?
“So I haven’t really told everyone on the team how old I am just because a lot of the times when you’re working for younger people, you can develop some sort of negative feelings towards them. But yes, I am 20. I don’t really see myself as being younger than everyone else because I think we’re all pretty much on the same maturity level. We’re all very professional, we’re all very mature and we’re all just here to do our work. So I don’t really think age plays a factor in our leadership abilities. It’s nice having people of different ages on this team because it’s nice to see how we all work together so well despite our differences and we all help each other understand things that we might not know.”
Do you plan on staying with the Daily Forty-Niner until you graduate?
“Yeah, I’d like to finish out my time with the Daily Forty-Niner. I started here when I was a second year and it would’ve been great to be here as a freshman, but unfortunately, my first year was online. But I’ve loved the experiences I’ve had here and I just want to help everyone see what the Daily Forty-Niner really is. I want to continue improving our relationships on campus, continue producing really good work and being a voice for the students because that’s what we’re here for.”
Agresta and Gaines-Emory both aim to create a fun and professional environment in the newsroom. As they continue working with the Daily Forty-Niner with workshops and team bonding experiences, the publication looks to be in good hands for this academic year.