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Viewfinder Magazine began in 2015; from the beginning, interesting stories have emerged, and the magazine has developed student journalists. One of the most important and demanding positions of the magazine is the editor-in-chief. Many past editors-in-chief today find themselves in jobs where they use their talents to edit, write or design in the real world.

Being an editor-in-chief means knowing how to cope with different personalities, since it relies on working with several people. Running Viewfinder Magazine involves a lot of organization, time and resourcefulness. At the same time, it guides one to gain experience in the world of communication in general. Editor-in-chief is an important position since they must worry about the quality of the magazine while making sure that they don’t hurt people’s feelings when trying to correct, change or rush the process. For example, it may be the case that an editor-in-chief has to manage someone who is a classmate and at the same time a friend; reaching an agreement might be difficult. But there are cases of people who are not very used to working in a team who like to work by themself. 

 “Learning how to balance the workload and be an efficient leader is one of the biggest challenges,” said Karissa Barnabo Davis, the first editor-in-chief for Viewfinder, which was originally called The Grand Views.

Davis started writing for The Grand Views her sophomore year. She was an editor in her junior year and became editor-in-chief her senior year. The experience she gained being apart of Viewfinder opened the doors for her to gain new knowledge that was put into practice immediately upon leaving college. 

Many of the students who graduate in the communication area became successful. The editors-in-chief who have been a part of the magazine are working in good jobs associated with the communication area. Such is the case of Mikayla Morris, 2020 Viewfinder editor-in-chief, who spent two years as a part of Viewfinder. She is a producer at WHO-13 news station in Des Moines. She writes stories for the anchors during the morning and noon news programs.  

But not everything was easy for her during her educational process. For Morris, the greatest challenge was the fact that they were working on their last issue of the semester when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Gabrielle Gerke, 2018 editor-in-chief for Viewfinder, now works at Amplimark Branding and Digital Marketing, a branding agency in Des Moines, as a digital media associate. She said the hardest part was navigating how to be a friend but also the boss of her peers. These are two very important aspects to consider. 

 Former Editor-in-Chief Missy Farni said, ‘’Don’t be afraid to bring ideas to the table, especially if it is your first year being an editor or writer.’’

Farni is a digital media coordinator at Strategic America, which is a marketing agency in Des Moines. She was a campus culture editor for about a year for Viewfinder, then in senior year she became editor-in-chief. It was a very rewarding moment for her and she really enjoyed it. 

‘’It was great to see it from both perspectives of being a writer and going on the editorial side, but my favorite part was having the finished magazine,’’ Farni said.