Q&A w/ The Towerlight editor Karuga Koinange

By Sean Welsh on Sept. 4, 2018

Towson University senior Karuga Koinange will have just two days a week in classrooms by mid-semester. But he may also be one of the busiest people at TU.

That's because Koinange is the editor in chief of The Towerlight, the independent, student-run news organization that covers the stories of Towson University.

Koinange (pronounced koy-non-geh) grew up in the Timonium area. A native of Nairobi, Kenya, he graduated from Dulaney High School with the dream of pursuing creative writing.

Now, as a major in the Department of Mass Communication who is pursuing a minor in the Department of Electronic Media & Film, he's doing that and managing a news publication.

He and a staff of students spend most of their Mondays putting together the print edition of The Towerlight, which hits news stands around campus and the Towson community each Tuesday. But on other days of the week, they're regularly working, covering events, interviewing subjects on campus, writing stories and taking photos and videos before putting it all together for readers and viewer in both print and digital publication.

During the first week of class, The Towerlight staff actually put out two newspapers — the usual Monday production, followed by a Friday production day to get ahead of Labor Day at the printer's request.

For now, Koinange has a 2 p.m. class on Monday that takes him out of the newsroom for about three hours. But after that class—a 7-week course—is over, he'll be spending about 10 hours every Monday at the paper's newsroom in the University Union.

He was kind enough to share a few moments during his first week back to class to provide some insight into his work-study balance and the operation at The Towerlight, too:

TU Newsroom: How else can the student population learn more about The Towerlight?

Koinange: We are having this open house on Sept. 10. It will be on one of our production days. Students can come in and get a behind-the-scenes look at what is going on. They can meet with editors, talk with us, see how we lay out the paper. We hope it will entice people to join—we’re always looking photographers, writers, graphic designers and anyone who wants to contribute content.

TU Newsroom:  Most students are busy just getting back to class. You're juggling classes with the added task of leading The Towerlight. How stressful is the start of the semester for you?

Koinange: It’s definitely stressful. It’s been a lot of running around doing things. I want to improve our relationships with TU Athletics. It probably hasn’t been as good as it could be. We were talking about how we could improve our communication. We can do a better job of getting stuff out. That’s a main goal this year. The biggest theme or change I want to make for The Towerlight as a whole, I really want to push us more toward a Buzzfeed style. We are a college newspaper. We have the liberty to show some personality. We definitely want to improve our video content.

TU Newsroom: So how do you juggle those challenges with the academic rigors at TU?

Koinange: It's pretty overwhelming to think about when you look at the scope of everything that’s going on. I try to take it one day at a time. The biggest or most common advice is constantly be writing. At this point I have no choice. It's a blessing and a curse. I’m learning more about myself as a writer and journalist, overall. Definitely could use more sleep.

TU Newsroom: So, sleep is the first thing to go?

Koinange: Oh yeah, for sure. In the summer, and in the past, I was always a night owl. Now I’m sleeping like an old man. Even in the first three days of the year, I’m sleeping at 11 [p.m.], up at 7 [a.m.]. I have so much to take care of.  I’m hoping to get in a rhythm and it isn’t so fast paced.

TU Newsroom: This is your first semester as editor in chief for The Towerlight. What has that been like so far this semester?

Koinange: It has been interesting. It is nice, now that I’m starting to grow into this role, the first few issues are kind of a grace period. The first one is set in stone: introducing freshmen. We also do the fall sports preview. So there are two right off the bat. We’re definitely starting to gear up toward the coming months, gearing up for events. The calendar worked out in a way so that one of our issues comes out on Sept. 11. We’re planning a remembrance piece for some that were involved, what they were doing at the time. How things are now politically—news is always happening. There’s always a story somewhere. It’s a matter of distinguishing what’s important, or timely. That’s been an interesting process to learn.

TU Newsroom: The practice of journalism itself has been drawn into national political rhetoric in recent years. With the tenor around the media what it is, how challenging is it to be a journalist right now?

Koinange: Recently, personally, and with The Towerlight, I cant think of anything that has happened to me. ... There are times where there is opposition and it is unwarranted. There are times where people make legitimate mistakes and sometimes you can learn from that as a writer.

TU Newsroom: For you personally: Why journalism?

Koinange: Basically, I started writing and creative writing got me into it. I took classes in high school and middle school and my best friend and I started a poetry club in high school. I wanted to be an English major or a creative writing major. My mom talked me out of that. If you’re really really good at that, you can make money. I think she understood it wasn’t a great plan for the future. Journalism seemed the most appealing. I made some friends, including one who was with The Towerlight. She convinced me to join. And I’ve been here for two years, almost three. I went from never writing for a publication to now running a publication.

TU Newsroom: Thinking back a few years: Why did you choose TU?

Koinange: To be honest, I only applied to two schools. I applied to TU and UMBC. It was pretty random. I got the acceptance latter from TU first. I eventually got the acceptance letter from UMBC. The moment I saw the acceptance letter, I jumped at it. I hadn’t toured the campus or anything. I’d heard, and met people, that Towson had a good writing program and journalism program.

TU Newsroom: What are your goals for The Towerlight this semester or this year?

Koinange: The Buzzfeed thing. Also, I think that featuring the Towson community is something we can do a better job of. We’ve done it in the past, but maybe not as much as we should. More human interest stories are more appealing. Those stories and preview stories do really well. Featuring the Towson community, really. We could do an artist spotlight. We’re getting the community more involved.

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Read more from The Towerlight at http://thetowerlight.com/