The ASUCLA Communications board appointed Dylan Winward as editor in chief of the Daily Bruin for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Winward, a third-year English and statistics and data science student from London, joined the paper in fall 2022 as an intern for the campus politics beat of the News section. He was the 2023-2024 features and student life editor and currently serves as News editor.

Winward has also contributed to Arts, Copy, Photo, PRIME and Sports.

One of his favorite stories, he said, was a piece for “In Plain Sight” – a Daily Bruin features series Winward created that highlights behind-the-scenes work at UCLA – which involved waking up at 3 a.m. to tour campus bakeries.

“That taught me a lot about how we can collaborate with multimedia and with Photo to figure out what our storytelling could look like,” Winward said.

The Daily Bruin staff endorsed Winward during the annual staff-wide editor in chief hearing April 5. The Communications Board, which is made up of professional members including student appointees, university faculty and alumni representatives, confirmed Winward’s appointment to the role Monday.

Sylvia Robledo, a professional appointment on the Communications Board, said she admired Winward’s leadership experience, as well as his dedication to the paper and his colleagues.

“We found him to be a person of high integrity, commitment and (he) understands the importance of excellence,” Robledo said. “He showed us that he cared quite a bit about the integrity of the Daily Bruin and protecting his staff, and understood what it was to be a leader.”

Isaiah Little, the current chair of the Communications Board, said Winward stood out not only for his expertise but also for his humility and openness to a range of concerns and perspectives.

Both Little and Robledo added that they were impressed by Winward’s pointed interview questions – particularly one about how the Board and Student Media could uphold editorial integrity while protecting international and undocumented student journalists concerned about their privacy.

Robledo said she was excited about Winward’s leadership and felt he would uphold the paper’s integrity.

Yvonne Winward, Dylan’s mother, said her son had long been drawn to debate and politics, recalling childhood car rides filled with BBC News and mornings spent poring over the Sunday paper. Dylan eventually became the co-editor of his high school’s paper, Yvonne added.

Dylan always enjoyed telling stories and bringing important issues to other people’s attention, Yvonne said.

“We’re so happy for him because he works so hard,” Yvonne said. “There’s been many times in the holidays and breaks where he’s working on the Daily Bruin, even though he’s on break.”

Samantha Lee, Dylan’s girlfriend, said Dylan’s passion for the paper motivated him to run for editor in chief. Lee, a third-year American literature and culture student, added that Dylan cares about the human dignity of the people he interviews and seeks to write people-centered stories.

Lee also said she believes Dylan makes other people feel heard.

“I think he would welcome some kind of pushback on his ideas,” she said. “In that way, maybe people who traditionally have felt less like they have a voice in the paper could feel heard.”

Anna Dai-Liu, a fourth-year comparative literature and neuroscience student and Daily Bruin slot editor, said she remembered mentoring Dylan on one of his first stories – a piece covering a vigil for victims of a deadly fire in Ürümqi, China. The two have worked closely together on a range of stories over the years.

Dai-Liu said she has come to see Dylan as a valued friend, adding that she felt honored to collaborate with someone so talented and driven. Regardless of how busy their schedules get, Dai-Liu and Dylan carve out a little bit of time each week to catch up and grab lunch or coffee, she said.

Dai-Liu added that she hopes Dylan’s love of teaching and experience in confronting complex – often controversial – topics, will be reflected in the paper’s reporting next year.

Dylan said he hopes to lead the paper by teaching technical skills – such as writing, drawing and coding – alongside softer skills, such as navigating the newsroom with kindness and sensitivity.

“I really want to fight for people’s ability to tell stories in the right way. I really want to fight for people’s ability to participate in this newsroom and learn in this newsroom and have a place in this newsroom,” Dylan said.

He said he wants to revamp the intern experience to create the best possible learning environment, adding that he wants people to think of the Daily Bruin as a “teaching newspaper,” where even the most senior editors remain students of the craft.

Dylan also said he is excited to step into the role, but added that he understands the challenges lying ahead of him.

“We have a responsibility to tell the truth, we have a responsibility to hold people in power accountable – which in the current political environment is not massively easy,” he said. “I think that can be a pressure, but also on some level, it should be as well because I think the fact that we do that work, and the fact that that work is so important is what gives us our purpose.”