The Lantern
The Lantern is an independent daily newspaper in Columbus, Ohio, published by students at Ohio State University. It is one of the largest campus newspapers in the United States, reaching a circulation of 15,000.
For other uses, see The Lantern (disambiguation).Type
Copies of the paper are free and available on campus and throughout Columbus. Editions are published in print Tuesday and Thursday with online content published Wednesdays and Fridays. It does not print in the summer but provides original online content.
The Lantern received attention in 2011 when it reported some members of the school's football team had been selling memorabilia for money and tattoos, violating NCAA rules. In 2019, it earned the Student Press Law Center's Reveille Seven College Press Freedom Award for its pursuit of public records.
Publication[edit]
The Lantern is a laboratory paper that is put together daily by students in the newsroom of the Journalism Building. There are 23 paid student editors and assistant editors who change after completion of two academic semesters. Student reporters, most of whom contribute through the Lantern practicum class, are not paid.
The current faculty adviser for The Lantern is Spencer Hunt, a former reporter at the Columbus Dispatch and Cincinnati Enquirer.
The Lantern publishes all of its news on its website. Visitors may also view print editions of the paper, made available by Issuu.[15]
In addition to the stories in print, the website includes a multimedia section for photo slide shows, videos and a weekly video webcast.[16] Sports and Arts & Life podcasts are also posted on the website.[17]
Sections of The Lantern include Campus, Sports, and Arts and Life.
Awards[edit]
In 2011, The Lantern won the "General Excellence" award from the Ohio Newspaper Association (current-day Ohio News Media Association), deeming it the top collegiate newspaper in the state of Ohio. The Lantern's seven wins in the categories of editorial writing, sports coverage, headline writing, photojournalism, design, best newspaper website and news coverage combined to give the newspaper the General Excellence award.[18]
The Lantern also won "Best College Daily Newspaper" in Ohio by the Ohio chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2011.[19]
In 2018, The Lantern won "Best College Newspaper: Non-Daily" in Ohio for the Ohio SPJ Awards.[20] Additionally, reporters also won first and second place for "Best College Feature Writing," "Best College News Writing," and "Best College Sports Writing."
In 2022, The Lantern was recorded as having the third most social engagement of any student run newspaper in the U.S. The publication had 395,020 total shares and online engagement throughout the 2021-2022 academic year. In that same year, the newspaper had an average of 225 shares per article, making it the third highest in the U.S.[21]