The Northern Light and KRUA-FM 88.1 welcome new leadership for coming academic year

The UAA Media Board has selected new leadership for UAA's two student-fee supported media, The Northern Light and KRUA-FM 88.1.

Suzanna Caldwell, a senior Journalism and Public Communications major, will become the executive editor of The Northern Light effective July 1. She is the outgoing managing editor of the news organization, which publishes a weekly newspaper and Web site throughout the academic year and a monthly edition in the summer.

Caldwell has worked at The Northern Light since August 2006, rising from reporter to section editor to her current appointment. Caldwell was also the co-producer of Shootout.net, the Department of Journalism and Public Communication's multimedia Web site that operates during the Great Alaska Shootout basketball tournament.

Caroline Willis, a senior double major in Elementary Education and Liberal Studies and minor in Journalism and Public Communications, will become the station manager of KRUA-FM 88.1 effective July 1.

Willis has worked and volunteered at KRUA for four years, the last two as program director, in which she trains volunteers, manages the station's program schedule and serves as the primary promotional agent for the station. She has also helped create an organization charter for the UAA Campus Programming Board.

Congratulations to outgoing student leaders, Gretchen Weiss of The Northern Light, and Paul Flahive of KRUA, on their many contributions to both organizations. Flahive ends his two-year tenure as the KRUA station manager and led the station in implementing the NextGen broadcast system, instituted a new underwriting program, and revitalized the KRUA volunteer scholarship program. Under Weiss' leadership, The Northern Light celebrated its 20th anniversary, instituted special editions for the Great Alaska Shootout and Commencement, and developed a new organizational structure to meet the growing needs of Web-based media. Both organizations have won Alaska Press Club awards for news coverage.

The Northern Light and KRUA are both supported by student media fees. They provide news, information and entertainment to the UAA community as well as opportunities for UAA students to learn media skills in a professional environment. The University of Alaska Anchorage Media Board oversees and selects managers for KRUA-FM 88.1 and The Northern Light, approves media policies and budgets, and serves as an advocate for student media at UAA.