Current features editor of the University Times (UT), Sajal Singh, is one of two candidates running for the role of editor-in-chief of the University Times this year.
The junior sophister English and economics student started out as a contributing writer for the University Times (UT) in her first year. Speaking in an interview with Trinity News, she said: “I was just exploring with all of Trinity publications. I wrote for Trinity News, Misc., and then also UT.”
She is currently features editor of UT, and deputy arts and culture editor of Trinity News. She previously served as deputy magazine editor of UT.
When asked whether she has any experience writing or editing news, she said: “News writing is something that I was not very keen about, but whenever I got the opportunity, I did it.”
One news article has been published in UT under Singh’s name.
When asked if she thought her lack of a news background might constitute a challenge for her as editor, she said: “No, that’s not a setback at all, because I feel like news is also a story at the end of the day that needs to be told to people. Whether it’s a carefully crafted feature piece or a news piece, it’s just something that needs to be amongst the students.”
While not a manifesto promise, Singh mentioned in the interview that, if elected, she would take an ethical journalism course. She said: “There are a lot of them that I have researched on, and if and when I start working towards [the role of editor], I will take one up.”
When asked if she could provide any examples of such courses, she said: “Not specifically.”
When the conversation was steered toward the prominence of AI in the present day, she noted that she thinks the paper is “at a good position with the use of AI, because mostly people are aware of the kind of work that needs to be submitted and would be accepted.”
Explaining her ideas for dealing with the potential misuse of AI by writers, she said: “If there’s any clause that we can put in the constitution about what percentage of the article can be AI-generated or can be written with the help of the use of AI, then that would be helpful.”
When asked whether she thinks any portion of an article should be AI-generated, as suggested by her previous remark, she said: “I don’t think it should be generated AI-wise, obviously, but you can take some help from it.”
Explaining the role she sees AI playing in journalism, she said: “Sometimes people have writer’s block, so I think it’s very helpful in those times. As well, sometimes we’re on a time crunch, so we want things to progress faster. But at the end of the day, you have to realise that people will want to read something they can relate with. And I think that only can be done through a human level.”
When asked how she fancies her chances in the race given the strength of her opponent, Charlie Hastings, who narrowly missed out on the role of editor last year, she emphasised that she does not know Hastings and has yet to meet him: “I think he’s a great candidate as well, but I feel like if he was more involved [with the University Times this year], I would have been able to say a lot more about him.” She continued: “I think it’s really amazing that he’s contesting again, and I wish the best for him.”
When asked what sets her apart from Hastings, she declined to give specifics. Instead, she outlined her vision for the paper, reiterating the main points of her manifesto.
One of the areas Singh is most keen to work on as editor is the expansion of the team: “I don’t want [UT] to be confined to the arts block.”
She plans to set up booths in both the Hamilton and the business buildings at the start of the year to attract new writers from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines.
She also plans to hold pitching workshops at the start of the year, highlighting her aim to include Irish language writing workshops in the mix.
Aside from improving outreach, she also wants to implement clearer training of staff writers: “I plan on giving everybody one on one time, holding proper workshops and events, and actually doing work with the team, so that from the very first day, they know what the expectations of the role are.”
Singh hopes to further expand UT’s social media presence: “I want to create a dedicated social media team, because I feel like with the kind of attention span that people have today, not many people even open links to read the news. So I want to get into more of video reporting.”
She believes increased video reporting “would really be helpful in increasing the reach and letting more and more people get to know what’s actually going around campus and even outside campus.”
While she nominated herself for the role of editor at the last minute, she noted that she had been considering running for a while, citing her experience with investigative journalism this year as motivation: “When nominations opened up for the editor in chief position, I was just ready to give it a try.”
”I did it very last minute, because I was having some self doubts, as usual.”
She nonetheless is now confident she is the “perfect candidate”.
When asked if she could identify any of her own weak areas that she would need to work on if elected editor, she said: “I think a person can never be, you know, a complete package of all of the things that are required. I’m pretty sure there are a lot of things that I need to learn.”
