Tucked away in a file cabinet is the first article Jordyn Reiland wrote for The Daily Iowan. She covered the 2011 freshman convocation and quoted a student who “long knew” she wanted to attend UI.
Little did Reiland know at the time, Student Publishing Inc. — the body overseeing the newspaper — would announce that she would become editor-in-chief less than three years after her first story.
“I didn’t really think I was going to be a leader from the get-go, but going through being a Metro editor and having all the experience working with different people kind of showed me that I can be a leader,” she said.
UI junior Reiland will begin her tenure in May. She has been a Metro reporter, Metro editor, Sports editor, and she now works as the managing editor and projects editor.
“To have both of us eventually fill that position is great,” said Kristen East, the DI’s current editor-in-chief. “We’ve both taken the same path. We were both Metro reporters, and we were both Metro editors at the same time. It’s great to have her step into my role. I didn’t want anybody else to do it.”
The SPI Board was impressed by her experience, particularly her internship as copy editor with China Daily. Reiland said the internship was “a culture shock” but “such a great experience.”
“She’s pretty darn ready to be editor, ” said DI Publisher Bill Casey. “She’s had a great internship, which showed her internal fortitude by going to China and working in a newsroom that was not familiar to her in a place that was not easy to work, but she did a great job there, and we expect she’ll do just as good of a job for us.”
Casey said Reiland wants to focus on staff training, reducing staff turnover, and bringing the newspaper and television sides of the newsroom closer together.
SPI Board Chairman Paul Jensen said Reiland had a strong interview with the board.
“She has a really good track record taking on a lot of responsibilities here at The Daily Iowan,” he said. “She’s got a tremendous interest in journalism.”
East said Reiland started as a reporter wanting to be “the next Erin Andrews” and has been preparing for her new role for a long time.
“She’ll do a fine job,” East said. “She knows a lot of areas in the newsroom really well, and I think that’ll help her. She’s really one to get things done. She doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”
Reiland said the selection process was nerve-racking, but she is excited to begin in the summer.
“I think when you work with the staff, and you have a lot of different people working under you, you realize you enjoy helping people and learning different things from people,” she said. “Once I got that under my belt, I realized there are so many more things I can do … this is exactly what I am supposed to do even if it didn’t start that way from the beginning.”