When Tom O’Hara came to Ohio State to work for The Lantern, he knew he was facing a challenge. In five years, The Lantern has gone through three advisers, all tasked with improving the quality of the paper.
The Lantern “needed sort of a harder edge, it needed to have more substantive stories,” O’Hara said.
O’Hara, Lantern adviser since fall 2008, will be leaving OSU to be a copy chief at The National in Abu Dhabi. In his two years, he has updated The Lantern‘s structure and policies and has established guidelines for news stories.
“Tom brought a great deal of passion to his work with The Lantern,” said Carroll Glynn, director of the School of Communication, in an e-mail. “His dedicated service to the position is appreciated, and we wish him well.”
O’Hara’s passion for journalism rubbed off on those he worked with, especially on Collin Binkley, Lantern editor-in-chief.
“O’Hara came to The Lantern and convinced us that a student newspaper can report hard-hitting news that gets our audience thinking and challenges our leaders,” Binkley said.
O’Hara said he wanted to teach students how to write clear, concise stories and how to gather facts while searching for the truth.
“I wanted them to develop doggedness when reporting stories, particularly with adults,” he said.
Lauren Hallow, a third-year in journalism, has worked with O’Hara for several quarters. She said he has taught her how to get facts from people who might not be telling the truth.
“Working with him showed me that he is not going to take any bullshit, and we shouldn’t take any bullshit,” she said. “It’s our job to tell the truth and be honest.”
But O’Hara said advocating for student journalism has been a struggle.
“The Lantern is starving to death,” he said. He said it has not received enough financial support to continue improving.
“I tried and I failed. I don’t think that next year Ohio State will be inclined to provide the funds that The Lantern and the journalism program deserve,” O’Hara said.
However, it seems he has not failed the students he has worked with.
“Losing him is a blow to the newspaper,” Binkley said. “But he’s inspired us to continue his legacy and doggedly pursue important stories, demanding to be acknowledged as serious journalists.”
