Who Runs Iowa State Daily?

Updated

Iowa State Daily is run by Iowa State University students. The paper describes itself as "the independent student newspaper of Iowa State and Ames since 1890," and its bylines show student editors and reporters producing the coverage. The site's own donation appeal makes the staffing model explicit: contributions "support the student journalists of the Iowa State Daily."

What the bylines show

The roles visible in the site's recent content give a practical picture of who does what:

Role Example from the site
Managing Editor Mia Arias, credited on the Astrological Week at a Glance column
Sports Reporter Robert Ryan and Jackson Werts, credited on Cyclones game coverage
Student Life Editor Levi Foster, credited on Homecoming and Yell Like Hell coverage
Academics Reporter Ean Nelson, credited on the Dance Marathon Stacks for Stead Breakfast story
Academics Editor Ellie Woyczik, credited on Homecoming Week coverage

So the editorial work is distributed across a managing editor, section editors (student life, academics), and beat reporters (sports, academics), with individual students writing and filing stories under their own names.

Independent, but student-staffed

Two things are true at once:

  • Independent editorial team. The paper presents itself as independent, and its coverage — campus news, sports, arts and culture, student life — is produced under student bylines rather than university communications.
  • Student journalists. The donation language ties the operation directly to students: equipment purchases, conference travel, and offsetting students' cost of living so they "can continue to do best-in-the-nation work."

That combination is why the paper covers campus events like Homecoming Week, Yell Like Hell, and Dance Marathon alongside Iowa State athletics and Ames city news.

What this means if you're reading or citing it

  • If you need to know who wrote a specific story, check the byline and role printed with it — the site credits both name and position.
  • If you want to understand the paper's perspective, the student-editor structure is the key context: section editors and reporters are ISU students, not professional outside staff.
  • If you're evaluating it as a source, treat it as a student-run newsroom with named editors and reporters, and verify time-sensitive details (dates, scores, event schedules) against primary sources.

The site does not publish a full staff directory or masthead in the material available here, so the most reliable way to identify who runs a given section is the byline on the stories themselves.