Woroni elections are due to be held via an online poll during the last teaching week of this semester, from Monday the 25th to Friday the 29th May 2015. The four successful candidates will be replacing Alex Catalan-Flores, Beatrice Smith, Abigail Widijanto, and the successful applicant for the casual vacancy created in April. The incoming Editors will begin their terms on the 21st June 2015.

The candidates are:

Benedicte O’Leary Rutherford
Giordano Borzuola
Maddalena Easterbrook
Mitchell Scott
Waheeduddin Jayhoon

You can read their candidate statements below:

Benedicte O’Leary Rutherford
I am a second year Arts/Art History and Curatorship student majoring in English and Art History. Currently serving as Arts and Reviews Sub-Editor, I have become aware of the conditions and support necessary to create quality journalism. As Editor, I would be dedicated to providing this support to all aspiring writers. I am passionate about the unique service that Woroni provides, enabling students to experiment with words, with ideas, and discuss topics that are important to them as students of ANU. Woroni needs to capitalise on its unique position and its potential for nurturing an experimental student voice. Diversifying the range of contributors, particularly through increased post-grad and international student involvement, supporting new writers, and working with regular contributors to improve the calibre of their work is essential. Woroni, both online and in print, could benefit from a more dynamic layout. Defined segments, the inclusion of more artworks, and greater attention to visual detail can create a paper that is highly enjoyable to read. With my dedicated focus on the quality and diversity of content, an emphasis on professionalism, and improvements to the way it is presented, Woroni can become a successful and innovative publication.

Giordano Borzuola
I have been involved with Woroni for as long as I’ve been at ANU. I’ve worked for a semester as a Radio Sub-Editor and more recently as a Business Development Sub-Editor. I think I would be a good Editor because I know Woroni, including what it does well and (more importantly) what it doesn’t do as well. I want to work on bringing you all a higher quality paper that we can be proud of as a student body. I would also like to put to use the knowledge I have gained working on the business development portfolio to try and facilitate Woroni’s reliance on SSAF funding. I have the knowledge and practical experience of Woroni to improve it both as a paper and as a business.

Maddalena Easterbrook
I am a Law/International Relations student and a current News Correspondent (News Sub-Editor) at Woroni. I am very passionate about journalism and I have contributed extensively to the news side of Woroni over the last year, working in both print and radio- I hosted and produced “Newsfeed”. I previously studied journalism at the University of Technology Sydney, and interned at the ABC during the summer break. I value journalistic integrity and inclusive representation of all groups on campus. This experience in journalism will enable me to be a very capable Editor, and I am fully committed to improving Woroni to better serve the student body. At present, there are only a handful of people on campus who understand the happenings in student politics despite these issues affecting the entire student body. It is important for all students to make informed voting decisions, and I want Woroni to be an independent and impartial news source that students can rely on. As Editor, I would focus on the social media aspect of Woroni to encourage student interaction and more feedback from the community. This would include an immediate news cycle and better use of multimedia to make Woroni more engaging for students.

Mitchell Scott
Hi, I’m Mitch and I would love to help serve the student body as an editor on the Woroni board. I’m passionate about helping students to reach their potential, in whatever form it may take. During my time at Woroni I’ve not only contributed to Woroni Radio, but helped organise forums, debates and video interviews as Managing Assistant. This semester I’ve spent lots of time as Business Development Officer exploring new ways to help the student body express themselves, and gaining the funding Woroni needs to start new and exciting projects.

Apart from Woroni, I’ve also had experience managing people, projects and finances during various paid positions over the last 3 years. Bringing these skills to the board will help Woroni achieve awesome things for the student body to enjoy into the future. The ANU doesn’t have a single voice, and Woroni shouldn’t either. I believe that student journalists, photographers, musicians and artists should have a supportive platform for self-expression. The student body has so much to share, and it’s our responsibility to give them the medium to do so. As an editor of Woroni, I’ll make sure this happens whilst continuing to improve the newspaper we know and love.

Waheeduddin Jayhoon
My name is Waheeduddin Jayhoon and I am an IR/Commerce student. I have been one of the
incumbent news correspondents (Sub-Editor) for the “Campus News” section of Woroni since the start of the semester, and have been regularly contributing news articles to Woroni since my first year. These experiences have given me firsthand knowledge in managing the campus news section, as well as an understanding of the organizational and logistical aspect of editorship. Prior to my role as news correspondent, I co-hosted “Dippin’ Sauce”, a weekly radio podcast, which has also given me insight into the processes behind Woroni Radio and multimedia that ANU Student Media has become involved with.

I am very committed to Woroni as a platform that can disseminate relevant, editorial independent
campus news for ANU students. Since it is the chief distributor of topical student content, it is important to be more accessible to and celebrate the diversity of ANU students. Although Woroni has done an excellent job of this so far, I hope to achieve more by redistributing some attention to post-graduate, international, and off-campus students. I would also like to extend the length of Woroni to provide more space to opinion and feature columns.