The Towerlight

The Towerlight

"Towson's campus and community news source"
Type	twice-weekly College newspaper
Format	Tabloid
School	Towson University
Owner(s)	Baltimore Student Media, Inc.
Editor	Jonathan Munshaw
Headquarters	Towson University University Union, 309 8000 York Rd. Towson MD, 21252
Website	thetowerlight.com

The Towerlight is the twice-weekly independent student newspaper at Towson University. It is run by Towson students, and frequently updates the campus on events and news. In the summer of 2008, members of The Towerlight created Baltimore Student Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing support for aspiring student journalists, photographers, videographers and graphic designers. In July 2008, Towson University agreed to sign over the rights of The Towerlight to BSM.

History

The first issue of The Oriole

According to the first issue of The Oriole, the very first newspapers were published in 1921 with no names, in order to advertise the school and increase enrollment. There were only two issues published in 1921, and the first monthly publication was created in January 1922.

Also in the first issue, then principal Lida Lee Tall, wrote that the purpose of the newspaper was:

• To give the students a medium for telling their life and their ideals to all groups of interested students in the state.
• To give the school its opportunity to place its stamp upon education.
• To give the state an opportunity to know what one of its normal schools is doing and aiming to do.
• To send a message out into the schools of other states.

The original name (The Oriole) was a suggestion from one of the seniors at the time, Ellen Hutchinson. There were a pool of names suggested, and the students voted unanimously for the name.

Notable editions

• In September 2009, The Towerlight published a weekly column titled “The Bed Post,” which received widespread coverage following the resignation of the paper’s then Editor-in-Chief.
• On April 17, 2007, one day after the Virginia Tech massacre, the staff at The Towerlight decided to make a special edition of the paper that recorded the reactions and sentiment towards what happened at Virginia Tech.
• On April 9, 2002, the Towerlight staff—then run by Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Hykes—put out a special edition covering the controversial resignation of the University’s 11th President, Dr. Mark L. Perkins. The issue, entitled “Promise Unfulfilled: Perkins Resigns,” covered student, staff and faculty reactions, the historic events that led to Perkins’s eventual resignation, as well as all of the highlights of Perkins’s tumultuous run as president.  The issue was recognized with a Region Two Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Recognition

The Society of Professional Journalists named The Towerlight No. 1 in its region and No. 2 nationally in the category "Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper Newspaper" at its annual conference in Houston in 2002.

Notable alumni

• Brian Stelter - Senior media correspondent for CNN and the host of Reliable Sources, former New York Times reporter; he served as The Towerlight's editor-in-chief from 2005 to 2007.
• Bill Stetka - The director of public relations for the Baltimore Orioles, former Towerlight editor-in-chief.
• Paul McMullen - The editor of the Catholic Review, McMullen worked for many years with The Baltimore Sun covering college, professional and amateur sports. He was The Sun's beat reporter for Michael Phelps and wrote a book about the swimmer following the 2004 summer Olympics.
• Robert Richard Hieronimus - artist, author and radio host; Towerlight columnist in the early 1960s.
• Jack L. Chalker - Class of 1966, author of almost 50 novels, was the theater critic while he was on staff.