Before working his way up to the role of Assistant Director of the Student Press Law Center, Josh Moore spent his college days filling many different positions at the Herald.
From 2007-11, Moore worked as a page designer, reporter, design editor, copy editor and managing editor. In the spring of 2011, Moore spent a semester as the Herald’s Editor-in-Chief.
“I was a jack of all trades and could do a little bit of everything,” Moore said.
Although he majored in journalism, Moore’s interest in law stemmed from classes on the Hill as well as experiences he had at the Herald. Moore spent three years pushing for the Kentucky Student Press Bill which would have allowed high school student editors to make their own content decisions.
Although the Bill failed, Moore said talking with Kentucky legislators and hearing from other student journalists while pushing the bill was a “transformative experience.” The Kentucky Student Press Bills’ ideals have continued with the New Voices Movement.
“Journalism is kind of understanding and writing about how things work and then the law is kind of how things work… I think that those two things coming together have always appealed to me in some form or fashion,” Moore said. “Certainly, several conversations and experiences at the Herald informed that as well.”
Following his time at WKU, Moore served as a copy editor for the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer for three years before attending law school at American University. From there, Moore worked at the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press before filling his current position at the SPLC.
When reflecting on his experience at the Herald, Moore said the question was not what he got out of working at the Herald, but rather, “What did I not get out of it?”
“I feel like the time you spend at the Herald and then Student Pubs (Publications) shapes who you are in a way that you can’t really get out of a classroom,” Moore said.
Although he struggled to pinpoint just one skill he retained from working at the Herald, Moore said the experience of “camaraderie and sharing a common goal with your colleagues” has stuck with him since.
Sports Editor Jake McMahon can be reached at [email protected].
This piece is number 4/100 of Herald 100, a project to celebrate a century of the College Heights Herald. To see more from this project, click here.
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