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The Towerlight, which is supposed to write headlines at Towson University, has in fact made headlines much of the school year for a variety of reasons. The publication had its ups and downs (during this blogger’s time as sports editor there), but one thing remains constant.

The Towerlight is self-sustaining.

The paper makes all of its revenue from ads, makes decisions internally and does not take orders from administration. Part of the key is the editorial board elections. Newly elected editor in chief Dan Gross said this process helps The Towerlight stay autonomous and keep moving forward.

New editor in chief for The Towerlight Dan Gross has inherited the leadership role at a self-sustaining, student-run newspaper. (Photo by Tyler Waldman, courtesy Facebook))

“It cycles a lot of energy, so we have a lot of new ideas coming into play as the new positions take over,” Gross said. “Regardless of who takes what position, the process of having that election sparks a lot of initiative and new ideas.”

Gross said that past methods of having students or administration make personnel and editorial decisions don’t measure up to the quality of the decision-making process used now.

“Now the administration isn’t involved in the process, nor is the student body,” Gross said. “I think that’s the way it should be because the internal staff knows how we work and where we need to go with the paper. We know better than the administrators who are advertising in the paper. We don’t want those outside sources getting involved.”

However, this year the administration gave the paper plenty of flak, scolding its leaders for a sex column called “The Bedpost,” among other things. Gross said The Towerlight has to balance its relationship with school authorities and its duty to report on events and publish pertinent information.

“That can be really hard because we want to build that relationship, but at the same time we want to preserve the right to free speech,” Gross said.

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