Photo Provided by Kit Hayward ’24

Meet your Royal Reporter Editor duo! Sophomore Christina Vaughan (L) and senior Kit Hayward (R).

Congratulations are in order for the Royal Reporter’s newest editor duo, senior Kit Hayward, editor-in-chief, and sophomore Christina Vaughan, assistant editor-in-chief.

Holding the highest positions on the staff, these two are charged with leading a talented group of 24 staff writers, social media managers, podcast managers, post-production editors, and copy editors for the 2023-2024 school year.

Both young women are up for the job. Kit shared, “I know how to get work done efficiently and correctly by deadlines, which are so important in the journalism world.” Christina added, “I love to write, I’m organized, and I have one year’s experience already on the RR staff.”

These writers have both been drawn to the Royal Reporter’s diverse array of news and feature articles. Last year, Christina got a first hand look at how the paper tries to balance writers’ creative and direct news instincts: “The humor articles always bring a smile to my day, and the features keep me up to date on everything going on at our school.” Kit seconded this feeling: “I’ve enjoyed the RR’s fun diversity in articles the most–I think it’s our strongest asset. No other school newspaper has articles on both the ‘mysterious secret message behind Harry Styles’ songs’ and weekly sports reviews and teacher interviews.”

Having served on the staff her freshman year, Christina feels the weight of her new position. “As an editor, I aspire to be like Daniela Arias ’23 [The RR’s editor-in-chief last year], and as a writer, I aspire to be like Anna Jordan ’23 [the RR’s assistant editor-in-chief last year and the paper’s top story record holder].”

Kit has big dreams for the Royal Reporter: “I want to make sure everyone’s opinions, ‘top stories,’ and hot takes are heard, and I think being an editor-in-chief gives me the perfect opportunity to ensure a variety of voices can represent Rosary in the Royal Reporter. In that same way, I want to try to encourage more people to come to the RR with interesting news–to extend the process to the student body rather than confine it to just our journalism class.”

I’m personally thrilled to have such a great editorial team this year. Kit is one of the most outstanding writers I’ve ever taught, and Christina is an absolute natural when it comes to management. She held her own last year as a freshman in a class of 23 seniors. Even better, both students can withstand critique, which is a constant when writing for publication. With key returners on the staff (Lianna Enright ’24, post-production co-editor, Mandy Puga ’24 post-production co-editor, Andrea Salazar ’26 podcast manager), this year is shaping up to be one of our best ones yet. While there’s no replacing Daniela, who served on the staff for three years and went on to study journalism at LMU last year, there is definitely excitement in the air.