The campus’ student-run newspaper will be steered by some new leaders this spring.

A new editor in chief and new-media manager have been selected for The State News. Their roles begin at the beginning of next semester.

Mary Sell was hired as the new editor and Ryan Ruhl will serve as the new-media manager, handling State News Web site responsibilities.

Sell said she feels she can offer guidance to a youthful staff as it evolves.

“I think we need more leadership,” said Sell, a journalism and criminal justice senior. “It’s important to give the younger generation of State Newsers more direction.”

She has been on staff for six semesters, her first in 1998. Sell has been a minority affairs reporter, campus editor and managing editor. She also takes credit for producing and editing the Loop, the newest State News section.

Sell beat out Managing Editor Jeremy W. Steele and Campus Editor Tony Paul for the job. She was endorsed by the staff and hired officially in October by the paper’s Board of Directors.

John Hicks, a member of the board, said Sell’s qualifications made her a viable candidate for the job. She worked as an intern reporter for The Flint Journal earlier this year.

“Her outside experience as well as her years of working at The State News, those were some of the qualifications as well as her leadership ability,” said Hicks, an agriculture, natural resources and communication senior.

He also said he was impressed by the way Sell seems to stand up for The State News staff.

“That’s what I appreciated most about her was her candidness and honesty about the issues the newsroom faces,” he said.

Sell, who begins her one-year $17,000 term in January, hopes her leadership will ignite better communication between newspaper departments and increase staff morale.

“I pride myself on the fact that there’s no one in the newsroom that I can’t sit down and talk to and say ‘This is your paper. What do you want to do with it?’” she said.

Ruhl hopes to increase community interaction at The State News through the paper’s online version at www.statenews.com.

“The primary goal is to get more people to know about the Web site and wanting to view it,” the music composition junior said. “What that means is other goals like bringing more interactivity to the site, things you can’t do with a newspaper.”

Ruhl has worked as an online producer at The State News for two years. He also has experience with computer technology, working in technical support through MSU’s Computer Center.

And some say he was a popular choice among the newspaper’s professional staff.

“We chose him out of the field of candidates we had because he has such a firm grasp of technology and he’s well-liked and personable,” said D.A. Biermann, State News production manager. “He has an aggressive attitude with his ideas to improve statenews.com.”

New-media manager is a $10,000, one-year position.

Ruhl plans to increase the number of online staff and produce more stories exclusive to the Web site. He said he also hopes to include more local resources on the site, such as a restaurant guide and information about local bands.

He says he’s looking forward to using winter break to begin working on his new ideas.

“I want to gather those all up and make a decent layout and plans to implement those,” he said.

“I think a good Web site will benefit the staff, it will make The State News look better and it will be a good resource for reporters and editors.”