Swasti Singhai, campus junior majoring in chemistry and legal studies, was elected editor in chief of The Daily Californian for the 2026-27 academic year. 

Singhai joined the Daily Cal’s news department the summer before her freshman year and has since reported on city government and law and justice topics. Some of her most notable stories include coverage of student visa terminations and #Justice4Ivonne — a movement demanding the reinstatement of UC Berkeley professor Ivonne del Valle. 

Singhai has also served as a city news editor, senior editorial board member and development manager. Outside of the Daily Cal, Singhai also interned for the Times of San Diego, where she reported on immigration issues. 

Singhai said she hopes to emphasize “making sure our coverage is fair and … actually depicting the community we live in.”

“We do a lot of great work here, and I also hope we can do a great job at reaching people that this work impacts and supports,” Singhai said. 

Singhai’s term will involve navigating the Daily Cal’s financial stressors, which she aims to address through expanding the paper’s membership program to citywide readers and hosting journalism workshops and classes for a fee. Plans for broadening the Daily Cal’s digital presence are also in the works, including developing an app with breaking news push alerts and creating more multimedia content.

Singhai and Daily Cal CEO Monica Lam have collaborated on Daily Cal fundraising campaigns in the past, including the Ink Bowl and the 155-for-155 campaign. Lam said the hallmarks of a good editor in chief are having an editorial vision, as well as skills in business and management.

“I think (Singhai) has both sets of skills,” Lam said. “She has both editorial chops, and she also has organizational and management chops. She’s done a lot of interesting, original reporting of her own.”

Singhai also hopes to create a legal department within the Daily Cal, noting that the paper has been receiving more retraction and anonymity requests, partly due to fears of visa revocation or deportation.

“At the end of the day, we want people to feel supported,” Singhai said. “Having this additional resource is something I care a lot about, especially seeing these retraction requests and how we’ve had to respond to them over the past year and a half.” 

Current Daily Cal managing editor Chrissa Olson said she could think of “no better person to be in this position” than Singhai.

“I think (the paper) point-blank needs a good leader and someone who is fair and kind and is also just really smart,” Olson said. “Somebody who is well-versed in the business and editorial side, who can take on these financial challenges, is something that the paper will need, and I think she has that.”