By Sammy Miller
Copy Editor
Former Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of our very own La Vista, Naomi Tsuang, now is taking her talents to the University of Pennsylvania’s newspaper: The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The Daily Pennsylvanian, founded in 1885, is a student-run newspaper that publishes in print two days a week, but also includes a digital newspaper that is updated daily. Their award-winning staff is composed of more than 250 students. In 2008, the paper was awarded the Society of Professional Journalists’ National Mark of Excellence Award and received one of the eight Columbia Gold crowns that are given to the top programs in the country.
“Coming from La Vista and Mira Costa I knew I wanted to continue with journalism, but I didn’t know exactly in what capacity,” Tsuang said. “After learning more about the prestigious program, I knew it would be a great opportunity for me to learn and grow.”
The former EIC is now taking on a different role as a Marketing Representative on The Daily Pennsylvanian. According to Tsuang, when she learned more about the Daily Pennsylvanian, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to get involved in the editorial side or the business side, but she ended up receiving a marketing position.
“This marketing position was intriguing to me because I have had a lot of experience with the editorial side of a newspaper with the writing, editing, and managing but I don’t have as much experience with the business side,” Tsuang said. “So, I wanted to learn more about that and how to brand a business so that people’s interests are increased.”
Tsaung’s current job as a marketing representative is to reach out to student groups to make sure that they are aware of The Daily Pennsylvanian. For example, if The Daily Pennsylvanian publishes an article about how the President of Penn, Amy Gutmann, is promoting an environmental sustainability drive, then Tsuang would send that article to the environmental groups on campus and have them promote the cause which would in return lead to an increased awareness of the DP.
“When I reach out to groups on campus, they are more likely to read our articles because sometimes they just don’t know that there is an article written about a subject that pertains to them, so it’s really important to make sure that they are reading it as well as their followers,” Tsuang said.
Another project that Tsuang is working on is “Puck Frinceton”, the slogan the Daily Pennsylvanian used to promote the Penn vs. Princeton football game on November 23. Princeton
is Penn’s biggest rivalry, so Tsuang is working hard to promote the game while at the same time promoting the paper.
“I’m working on the advertising which includes having flyers posted around campus, making sure that Facebook groups post it to their followers and will be managing the sales of the shirts on campus,” Tsuang said. “The t-shirt sales are a really good way to promote the Daily Pennsylvanian, while also promoting the football game which increases school spirit.”
The Daily Pennsylvanian has done a great job of increasing branding by making sure that there are daily articles on the website and making sure they are relevant to the campus, Tsuang said. According to Tsuang, this proves to be important because as we head into the digital age, paper newspapers are becoming less abundant, so the branding of the newspaper proves to be very important.
“It’s important to make sure that students know that The Daily Pennsylvanian is a student newspaper that is a reliable source of information and that they can turn to it for reliable news,” Tsuang said.
Tsuang has used her experience from La Vista and has implemented it into her work at The Daily Pennsylvanian. According to Tsuang, she especially has been able to take the leadership and communication skills that she learned from La Vista and apply them to her current job. When Tsuang reaches out to student groups or local businesses to collaborate with them, she uses the skills previously learned to plan events effectively and to communicate with other team members.
“I’m so grateful that La Vista has been such a great experience for me and has helped me so much more than I ever thought it would,” Tsuang said. “Being apart of La Vista in any capacity, whether you are a staff writer, photographer, editor, you gain such important skills, whether that’s teamwork or management or setting deadlines.
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