Have you looked at The Lantern recently? The campus news organization has expanded its footprint, with large audiences engaging with it on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, among others. There is no question that social media is changing how people find news, and The Lantern team is working hard to change with the times.
Here’s one example: In January, The Lantern published a short feature on Columbus’ first sober bar. It’s got good writing, a timely topic and features people overcoming adversity. Perhaps that helps to explain why it was viewed over a half million times that month and was seen by people all over the country and the world.
Breakout stories are great, but The Lantern is much more than that.
The news group was also recently recognized by the Ohio News Media Association for its exceptional reporting. The Lantern was named best college newspaper in the state, and its coverage won awards in many categories including arts and entertainment, design, headline writing, in-depth reporting, news coverage, opinion, photojournalism and sports.
Stories published by The Lantern also took first, second and third place in the multimedia reporting category. This is an exceptional accomplishment, and I encourage you to look at these stories for yourself. You will quickly see that the awards are well deserved.
In first place is “(un)silenced,” a difficult but important four-part series describing how young women at Ohio State University navigate the process of reporting sexual assault. “No one was watching,” which received second place, tells of the events leading to the termination of the head coach of the women’s rowing team. The story describes itself as an “investigation into the culture of this unsung but fiercely successful team through the experience of former rowers.” And in third place, “unmasked” presents a series of short, animated video vignettes that tell of Ohio State students’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lantern’s success reflects the hard work of a tremendously talented group of student journalists. And those students are supported by exceptional professional editors and educators, including Spencer Hunt, the director of student media for The Lantern, Nicole Kraft, an associate clinical professor, and many more. Their passion and dedication to creating the next generation of journalists shows through in their students’ work.
If you haven’t visited The Lantern recently, I hope you’ll take a moment to do so. The world needs more great journalism, and students in the School of Communication are here to meet that call. And you can help! If you see something you like, please share it with friends and family.
Kelly Garrett
Director, School of Communication
