Exciting New Direction for the Baines Report

The past year has been a busy one for the Baines Report. We got a new website, revived the PolicyBriefs podcasts and published op-eds from 28 of our students, professors and alums. Thanks to our writers' excellent critique and analysis, several of these articles were featured on the UT-wide election blog and LBJ homepage, helping to showcase the brilliant minds at LBJ. More people are reading the Baines Report than ever before, with nearly 6,500 people from the United States, China, Germany, India, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea and 62 other countries visiting the site in 2012. These readers are eager to see new content: over 800 people have already visited the site since the new year.

While I've enjoyed my time as the Editor-in-Chief, it's time for me to pass the reins to our first-year cohort. I am happy to announce that we have two excellent new Editors-in-Chief to take over the helm in 2013: Kaitlin Sharkey and Rob Wieczorek. Both have strong writing backgrounds and will continue to make the Baines Report a publication the school can be proud of. Taking over for Jennifer Lee as the PolicyBriefs manager will be Gene Vela, who was an integral part of getting PolicyBriefs back on its feet last semester and has already started creating content for the new year. We also have Rene Cardona lending his marketing expertise to Baines to help increase viewership and branding. I'm confident that with these four in charge, the publication will be bigger and better than it ever was. I appreciate all the help I received from my fellow editors, the LBJ faculty and staff and my dedicated writers, and look forward to seeing where Kaitlin and Rob will lead us.