Smahliuk named next editor-in-chief
Masha Smahliuk, current managing editor of CM Life, will be the editor-in-chief for the 2025-26 academic year
Spot the dog tries to lick Central Michigan Life reporter Masha Smahliuk's face at the Humane Animal Treatment Society, in Mount Pleasant, Mich., Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. Spot would jump into the air and try to lick people's face even if they were standing. (CM-Life | Mark Hoover)
The Central Michigan University Student Media Board of Directors interviewed and selected Masha Smahliuk to be CM Life’s next editor-in-chief for the 2025-26 academic year on Friday, April 11.
Smahliuk, a rising senior set to graduate in spring of 2026, has a journalism major and three minors: creative writing, political science and advertising.
Throughout her three years at Central Michigan University, she has held various positions at Central Michigan Life, working as a reporter, news editor and managing editor. She is also the current president of the CMU Society of Professional Journalists chapter, set to pass the torch to next year’s president in the coming months.
Smahliuk said she has three main goals for her term. First, is to deepen and continue reporting on politics.
“I definitely want to continue the political coverage… because we’re going to see the world shifting and changing a lot, and I think it’s important to be informing our community,” she said.
Smahliuk said she wants reporters to dig into stories about specific contemporary challenges and find ways to localize national and international news.
Her second goal is to meet audiences where they are.
“I want to make sure that the news is accessible for our audience, and our audience is students,” she said. “As a student, I know that we consume a lot of news through social media.”
Lastly, she said she wants to maintain the safe learning environment in the CM Life office for the staff.
“I want to continue making sure CM Life is like a second home to our staff members by doing activities with team members, creating our own traditions,” Smahliuk said.
Smahliuk said some of her favorite stories to report have been a feature on Chef Sergey’s bakery in Midland, news coverage of housing in Mount Pleasant and a column about her experience spending a day at the Humane Animal Treatment Society (HATS).
When asked what she wants readers to know about her, Smahliuk described herself as a product of people’s kindness. She is grateful for the people who helped along the way, from coming to the United States as a foreign exchange student from Kropyvnytskyy, Ukraine, in high school, to receiving support from friends and neighbors when the war in Ukraine started.
“So many people have helped me on my way, and I am an example of people’s kindness,” Smahliuk said. “It has helped me grow and mature and become a better version of myself. That’s what I want to do for other people, as well- show empathy to staff and sources.”
