Nick Moran knew he wasn’t ready to give up journalism when he first came to Grand Valley. He worked hard and became the editor-in-chief of the Grand Valley Lanthorn; he found a way to pursue his love of media and passion for honest journalism by using his time at Grand Valley to keep the student body informed.
Here is Nick’s story.

Nick says that he strives to create an informed community. “… we provide stories that make people feel connected to GVSU, whether it be knowing what's going on at the administrative level or providing resources for students to attend events,” he says. The Lanthorn fosters community among the students of Grand Valley, and members of the Lanthorn staff have formed a close-knit community of their own.

“You start off with this kind of ragtag group of people who have different specializations,” Nick explains. “One person’s great at web design, one person’s great at photography or arts reporting… come midway through the year, everyone’s really close because you’re spending hours with each other on a Sunday making the newspaper, or working with each other on story ideas or collaborating in other ways.”

Working on the newspaper comes with plenty of hurdles to overcome. Right now is a unique time to be a journalist because of the number of impactful events occurring daily, not to mention the way COVID has changed the team’s production setup. But Nick’s team has persevered, continuing to innovate and adapt as they tell their stories.

Nick believes that factual journalism is so important because people who rely on the Lanthorn as their source of information on campus should not be misled with biased information. According to Nick, journalism “creates that accountability culture that we desperately need” and “newspapers have a magical power in elevating voices that need to be heard.”