Sinéad Baker has been elected Editor of The University Times on the first count with 84.8 per cent of votes. The University Times race was the only uncontested race this year.
Baker is the second independently elected editor since the role was split from the communications officer role. Last year, Edmund Heaphy ran uncontested to be editor of the newspaper and received a total of 3965 votes, with 542 votes for reopen nominations.
A fourth-year English and philosophy student, Baker ran on a platform of improving the training and skills of current staff members of the newspaper, as well as increased accessibility, through guest speakers and events that would be open for all to attend. She placed particular emphasis on increasing the diversity of contributing writers. In an interview with The University Times, she stated that she wanted to “give voices out to the community … You don’t necessarily have to be a writer, just someone who wants their voice heard”.
Having served as Deputy Editor for the past year, Baker has been heavily involved in the newspaper throughout her college career. Indeed, it is this involvement that influenced her decision to run, as she herself noted during Trinity Hall Hustings: “The paper has taken up so much of my time over the last four years and I would love to do it full time.” Baker is also the current Journalist of the Year, which she won at the Student Achievement Awards.
Baker’s campaign also focused on her intention of making The University Times a national voice on higher education issues, as well as on Irish language affairs and LGBT issues.
On Tuesday, The University Times, in three-day in-person poll of 1,007 students, predicted that Baker would win with 91.2 per cent of the vote.
Commenting on her election, Heaphy said that Baker was an “outstanding journalist”, and “absolutely the best person to take over as Editor”. He went on: “Sinéad has worked at the highest levels of The University Times. She is unbelievably dedicated, a great leader, and amazing to work with. The paper will be in really safe hands.”
When she takes office in July, Baker will be the eighth editor of the newspaper, and only the second woman to hold the position since Leanna Byrne in 2013.
