Editors in Chief: The MUNITY Staff’s Superheroes

As THIMUN participants begin to find their routines and form friendships within their delegations, the MUNITY staff can not help but do the same. The student-run publication does their best to report on relevant topics surrounding the conference and encapsulating the general essence of THIMUN. Consisting of reporters, photographers, illustrators and social media staff, the team relies on their very capable editors to ensure the success of the newspaper. Prior to the conference even starting, the team was picked out from a pool of capable applicants, with arguably the most significant people being the Editor and Co-Editor in Chief. This year, these positions are held by Ina Choe and Ana-Maria Ibanescu. 

As the conference unfortunately only lasts a short 4 days, MUNITY members are forced to jump into the deep end. Immediately getting on task with writing articles, taking pictures and promoting the website. This year, MUNITY was even given the opportunity to design the slides that are played on the TV screens all throughout the World Forum. These slides include important information for the delegates, navigation tips, and pictures of the day taken by the staff’s photographers. 

As the newspaper has their hands full, there are two people who need to be on top of everything and keep a cool head in stressful situations. The Editors always make sure to hold multiple meetings throughout the day, to get everyone back in the press room and get updates on articles, photos and posts. 

Morning meetings are mostly held to assign articles and schedule interviews with guest speakers. These meetings also raise opportunities for the team to brainstorm article ideas, or new content for social media. The midday meeting, which is usually held after lunch, and the evening meeting are both in order to get new input on the assigned tasks and get feedback from the editors. 

MUNITY’s Editor and Co Editor in Chief are the ones who approve articles, pictures and social media posts firsthand, in order to suggest improvements. After the editors have given their input, the directors, who help out the staff of MUNITY, give a final approval in order for the post, article or photo to be published. 

As the Editor in Chief, Ina Choe is MUNITY’s support person. She is originally from Seoul Korea, where she attends the Seoul Foreign School, and this is her first year attending THIMUN. At her school, she possesses the role of Editor in Chief of The Spirit news magazine, not only that, but she is also the Vice President of her school’s MUN club. When asked about her opinion on the THIMUN newspaper, Choe replied by saying “I like that I can directly see the process of articles and social media posts from start to finish and be able to celebrate our accomplishments with the team.” Another reason for her positivity is that she is able to “combine my passions for journalism and international relations to share the importance of diplomacy and MUN with the participants of THIMUN.”

Ana-Maria Ibanescu, MUNITY’s Co-Editor in Chief and senior at SHAPE American High School, located in Mons, Belgium, has been at THIMUN once before. In 2024, she held the position of Text Editor, alongside helping out with the Social Media team. At her school, she has been part of the Spartan International newspaper for three years now, this being her second year as Editor in Chief. “MUNITY is great! I am finding that holding this position means having lots of responsibility but I feel proud of the work we have been doing and the work we will continue to produce.”

MUNITY has become a significant part of THIMUN in the last few years, publishing news relevant to the topic of the conference. The student- run publication has been a success, with almost fifteen hundred followers on Instagram, although without its Editors, it would undoubtedly be less successful than it is now.