By Abby LaForest
This Just In: A Brief Introduction
Northern Michigan University Wildcats have long utilized the power of the press and their right to free speech to not only share their own opinions but also report the truth on what’s happening around campus and in the larger world. As the world of journalism has progressed, Northern’s reporters, producers, and journalists have done so right alongside it, covering various topics and working in different types of media such as newspapers and multimedia television production. From the early beginnings of journalism courses at Northern, to the student organizations and Wildcat alumni who cover Upper Peninsula news today, Wildcats can be found getting the inside scoop on the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the situations and events that the public cares about most.
The Perfect Lead: Early Days of NMU Journalism
The first school newspaper made available to Northern students was the Northern Normal News (NNN), with the first issue being published on January 15, 1919. It was a bimonthly newspaper that covered commentary on social events, Upper Michigan weather, jokes, cartoons, and original poetry. The only photographs included were portraits of school staff members or
prominent visitors to campus. Then-librarian Lydia M. Olson, who also edited the alumni news at the time, and Earle M. Parker, were in charge of advising the student staff who published the NNN. Following the change from the NNN to the Northern College News (NCN), reflecting the university’s name change to the Northern State Teachers College in 1927, Northern’s first journalism course was offered in 1935. English 301, housed in the Languages and Literatures department, was where students could earn up to three credits towards their degree, but journalism could not count towards their major or minor. As part of the course, students were also required to work at the school newspaper for one semester. Students were responsible for the publication of the NCN, which was distributed biweekly except during August and September, and the paper covered institutional news and events alongside advertising the college.
The newspaper’s name didn’t change again until 1955, when the college changed its name to Northern Michigan College, and the paper became the Northern News, its first issue coming out
on September 30, 1955. It covered advertisements, university announcements, and coverage of NMC sporting events, building dedications, hirings, curriculum changes, and various other happenings at the college. The college became Northern Michigan University in 1963, and that growth brought on a swath of curriculum changes, including the addition of four new journalism classes for the 1963-64 academic year; EN200, “Journalism Survey;” EN211 “Newswriting and Reporting I:” EN212 “Newswriting and Reporting II;” and EN504 “Supervising High School Publications.” The lab work for Newswriting and Reporting I and II was done for the Northern News, and none of the classes offered in journalism could be counted toward a major or minor in English. The university decreased the offered number of journalism classes to two in 1966, leaving the English department with both EN206 “Journalism Survey” and EN207 “Journalism Management” as available courses.
Following the 1960s, Northern also saw the introduction of WNMU-TV in December 1972, which brought a space for multimedia journalism and local broadcasting onto NMU’s campus. Bruce Turner, who served as WNMU’s original station manager for 56 years until his retirement in 2019, was also instrumental in starting Public Eye News, a segment on channel 13 where students interested in multimedia journalism can participate in an all-student crew that produces, directs, and hosts the show. Today, students are responsible for every aspect of the show, from anchoring to writing news stories, operating the cameras, directing the show, and producing local news packages that air to the public, which consist of local news, sports, weather reports, and national news. The broadcast is advised by WNMU-TV producer Mike Settles, and Public Eye News is available to all NMU students, no matter their background or major.
Before hiring English professor Dr. Gerald Waite in 1976, Journalism courses were taught by Dr. Thomas Hruska, who served as the unofficial advisor to the student paper from 1974-1975, despite having no formal journalism experience. In September of 1972, the North Wind newspaper published its first issue, serving as an independent publication due to administrative interference within the Northern News’ editorial policy. On the first page of the North Wind’s first issue, it introduces itself as follows,
"This, The North Wind, is a fresh publication to the Northern Michigan Campus, and we do not profess to be an organ for anyone else's voice but our own. This newspaper is what we, as members of this entire University campus, make of it and we, as staff members, contribute to it. As this swaddling-clothed publication develops, many labels will be attached to its name — liberal, conservative, radical, it may be called the administration's paper, the student's paper, the faculty's paper, the staff's paper - whatever. We do not much believe in labels. They have a tendency of getting in the way of facts. We do, however, believe in the individual, that all of us have the capacity for wisdom, decency and faith in himself and fellow beings. Labels will be used, but, only as a source of identification, not as a source of prejudicial discrimination. The North Wind's only enemy, our enemy is ignorance. After all Northern has much to say about itself and to itself. Only by opening ourselves objectively can we say anything of value."
The North Wind was the first student newspaper to be independently run by the Student Activity Fee rather than relying on funding from the university. Dr. Hruska was selected as the North Wind’s official advisor for the 1975-76 academic year and continued to be the only journalism professor until 
Dr. Waite came on board, with Dr. Hruska taking a sabbatical the following year. Dr. Waite was hired specifically to offer courses for a new journalism minor and to take over Dr. Hruska’s position as the North Wind’s faculty advisor. His newspaper journalism experience included working at the former Mishawaka Times in Indiana and the Milwaukee Sentinel, in addition to teaching journalism courses and advising the weekly student newspaper at Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania. Dr. Waite was the North Wind’s advisor until the spring of 1995, and the English department’s only journalism professor until his retirement in 2001. As of today, Northern offers a Multimedia Journalism major and a Journalism minor with select courses in the English and Communications departments meeting the needs of students interested in pursuing journalism as a career.
Hot Off the Presses: Notable News Publications from NMU Students
Northern student reporters and journalists have not shied away from getting to the truth of the matter, even if it’s not the most pleasant to hear, nor have they been hesitant in sharing their opinions through editorials and commentaries. Particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, Northern students published a few different underground newspapers aside from the Northern News and the North Wind, one of which was the Peace newspaper, with a surviving issue of the paper discussing topics such as racism, the experiences of African American students on Northern’s campus, and the elimination of the Job Corps program on campus. In the April 22nd, 1969 issue, Joseph Sittler commented on NMU eliminating the Job Corps program and President John X. Jamrich’s acceptance of the Nixon administration’s funding cuts, “To accept that decision as somehow proper because the President has the power to make it, because it went through the proper channels, because it came from above is also racist. Does it, in fact, get Jamrich or anyone else off the hook? This university— like any institution— must not be allowed to evade its responsibilities by 'remaining neutral'; those who accept, like those who actively perpetuate, are implicated in the results of the system.”
Another one of these underground newspapers included the Black and White Bi-Monthly, whose goal was to analyze and editorialize events happening on national, state, and local levels, as well as provide an alternative news source to the Northern community. The October 31st, 1972 issue covered a wide variety of topics, such as peace protests against the 
Vietnam War, national decisions made by the former Nixon administration, and events happening on Northern’s campus, such as LaDonna Harris, a member of the Comanche nation, then-president of Americans for Indian Opportunity, and wife of former Oklahoma senator Fred Harris, visiting the university to give a speech during Indian Awareness Week (which has now been replaced by Native American Heritage Month.) The paper’s editor-in-chief, Joyce Wheeler, had also worked as the managing editor for the Northern News, published an editorial encouraging students to vote in the 1972 presidential election, citing the failures of the Nixon administration when it came to foreign policy, federal spending, and immigration, “Enough’s enough. Whether you’re into this system of government in the US or not, the above ridiculousness is quite immediate. Don’t even begin to think about any move to more “liberal” movements thriving under this murderous situation. Vote November seventh. That’s the first move to save your own neck. We are the only ones to say, now, that things will not get progressively worse.”
Northern has also received national acclaim for some of its publications, one of which includes the Nishnawbe News, founded in 1971 by the Organization of North American Indian Students at Northern Michigan University and the newspaper’s founding editor, Michael Wright. Gaining a reputation as one of the top Indigenous-ran newspapers in the country, the Nishnawbe News covered Indigenous issues, Native American culture and heritage, and poetry. With their increasing popularity, the Nishnawbe News sent hard copies of their publications worldwide, with the height of their circulation reaching more than 8,000 issues. 1973 saw the Nishnawbe News grow into the second-largest Indigenous publication in North America, and it was recognized in the New York Times and Time Magazine. Decreases in university funding led the publication to cease printing in 1983, but the paper returned in 2002 under the new name Anishinaabe News and is, to this day, a digital publication created and run by the staff of the Center for Native American Studies.
The Inside Scoop with Antonio Anderson and Ben Garbacz
Northern hasn’t only produced exceptional and influential news publications and broadcasts, but it’s also helped shape the lives and careers of great reporters and journalists. One of these reporters is Antonio Anderson, who was born and raised in Ishpeming and discovered a love of writing through creating stories of fiction and fantasy for the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Before his enrollment at NMU, Anderson said that he had never considered college, but he was interested in an English degree and found himself in the English program during the fall of 2022. During his time at
Northern, Anderson has taken on an internship with WLUC-TV6, a local television station, and worked as a reporter for both the North Wind newspaper and local publication the Mining Journal. By working at both student and local newspapers, Anderson has noticed a lot of cool connections between the two kinds of journalism, where he’s been able to translate more “real-world” elements of journalism to younger students on the North Wind staff and learning about the complexities of many establishments outside academia, including local government and non-news organizations. A few of Anderson’s favorite stories that he’s worked on include student organizations on campus reacting to President Trump’s federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion funding cuts, the golden birthday of a local store’s dog mascot, and the birth of the annual blue-spotted salamander migration event in Marquette County. Antonio says that working in the news has helped him to like people more and understand them a lot better, because being on the ground level of any news story has helped him to see much more goodness in others than the world may give anyone credit for, especially because people have their feelings and reasons for making decisions.
Ben Garbacz, who works as a reporter for the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton County, came to Northern with a different mindset than Anderson, but one that still wanted to write and effectively use an English degree out in the world. Garbacz, whose family is originally from Michigan, explored many areas of the country during his childhood, following his birth in North Carolina to growing up outside of Detroit and northern Illinois, and visiting his family’s property in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Garbacz found his way to journalism, following his 
desire to apply his writing skills in a professional setting, building on his experience as a student reporter at the North Wind during his time on campus before he graduated in 2019. He worked for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources before the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually found his way to the Daily Mining Gazette, where he combines his love of the outdoors with his professional work. Ben covers all kinds of news, from court cases to local events, but his favorite stories to cover are ones related to the outdoors. An avid hunter, fisherman, and overall outdoorsman, some of Garbacz’s favorite stories he’s covered have included U.S. Coast Guard training sessions, various fishing tournaments, and the annual Ontonagon Valley Sportsman’s Club Predator Hunt. A few pieces of advice that Ben would offer to aspiring journalists include making sure that they have familiarity with another field or subject before entering journalism, because you’ll learn how to apply journalistic skills to topics you’re already familiar with, and making sure to take events and reporting step-by-step, especially if it’s a topic or area you’re unfamiliar with.
Live From the Studio with Kiran Healey and Michael Sobeck
Northern doesn’t just boast journalists who work in the newspaper industry, but multimedia journalism is a field that Wildcats have found great success in as well. Kiran Healey is a senior from Birmingham, Michigan, and will be graduating with her Bachelor’s in December 2025. Healey currently works as the student producer for Public Eye News, and feels that Northern has been the perfect fit for her with its smaller campus and many outdoor opportunities. Her interest in journalism began with taking a broadcasting class in high school, and she fell in love with the process of putting together a newscast and helping to relay accurate information to a wider community. A lot of Healey’s work focuses on the “bigger picture” of putting a newscast together, such as compiling sources and sending them to student anchors so the anchors can write their stories, recording voiceover footage, writing news scripts, and creating graphics for the production. Since WNMU-TV is a Public
Broadcasting Service affiliate, Public Eye News also has access to national news packages to include in their broadcasts as well, and Healey is grateful that WNMU-TV is so generous with their studio time and equipment for the students, as well as providing them with opportunities to gain hands-on experience in multimedia production and journalism. Kiran’s experience working in journalism has led her to many opportunities for building relationships, both with her fellow students and with those at local news stations in the Upper Peninsula. She also says that her work as a journalist and a storyteller has shaped the way she views issues and events happening in the world, encouraging her to get the most accurate version of a story before making assumptions about a given situation.
As a morning anchor for WLUC-TV6, Michael Sobeck’s experiences in multimedia journalism mirror Kiran Healey’s in similar ways. Born in Texas and attending school in northwest Indiana, Sobeck found his way to the Upper Peninsula after his family went to Marquette Mountain on behalf of his brother, who was competing in the Junior Olympic qualifier for downhill skiing. Originally going to Michigan Technological University for computer science, Sobeck eventually decided to go into audio and visual production through NMU’s Multimedia Production program. Sobeck completed his undergraduate work at NMU, where he also worked as a deejay for NMU’s radio station, WUPX 91.5. Upon his graduation in 2023, he was hired for a
reporter position at WLUC-TV6, where he applied to learn more about sound design, script writing, and various other journalistic skills before falling in love with the career. He found that his audio-visual training was helpful on the job, where he had to record his own interviews, edit his own B-roll, and make his stories look good for when they were released on-air. Now, as a live morning reporter, Sobeck starts his day at 3 a.m. and has learned to master his pacing, pronunciation, and communication skills on top of his experience with AV and journalism. A few of his favorite stories that he’s worked on include local motorsports and Lake Superior Performance Rallies. He also had a moving experience with a breaking news story, covering the death of 80-year-old Gregory Dierkes, who died in a house explosion in the Iron River area back in February 2024. Sobeck recalls how the heartbreaking content of the story was juxtaposed by the generosity and sense of community shown by the people of Iron River, and how the two sides of that tragedy helped him build a greater understanding of what makes the Upper Peninsula and its people so deeply special.
Conclusion: NMU Journalism and Viewers Like You
The world keeps on turning, and in our increasingly digitized age, the influx of information and news reporting keeps on churning out with it. When it comes to reporting the news, the heart of the story lies within the truth of what happened, and the desire to report honestly and with accuracy rather than misconstrue information is what truly makes a journalist both ethical and great at their work. Northern Michigan University continues to produce these types of journalists, ones who approach their jobs with care and commitment to being public figures, while also maintaining their individuality and personality that their various backgrounds bring to the field. Many stories and voices in the world hold valuable information, and Northern’s Wildcat journalists will continue to do an exceptional job of shedding light on what really matters in a world filled with stimuli and noise. This is Abby LaForest signing off, and thanks for tuning in to Maamawi-Ozhigi/Together We Grow.