Gerry Lanosga
2026
By Sandra Chapman
Inspired by a passion for writing and a spirit of discovery, Gerry Lanosga is a born researcher who has spent his life’s work blazing a trail for journalism. For almost 40 years, he has worked in multifaceted roles to bring significant impact and change to Indiana as a newspaper reporter, columnist, television broadcast producer, journalism professor and free press advocate.
Born and raised near the mountains in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the youngest of six children, Lanosga learned early on to scale new heights by taking on challenges. As a sophomore in high school, he became the editor of his school paper.
His career and love for what he calls “doing the hard work” began in 1988. After graduating with a political science degree from the University of Redlands in Redlands, California, Lanosga packed up and moved across country. From California to a Pulliam Fellowship in Arizona and then to Indiana, he landed his first reporting job at the Daily Journal in Franklin. In less than a year, he was hired by the Indianapolis News, where he established himself as a staunch city hall reporter and columnist.
It didn’t take long for Lanosga to make his mark on the city government beat. He was one of the first journalists in the region to implement computer-assisted reporting, or data journalism, producing an eye-opening report on campaign financing. Lanosga also became part of an investigative team with
Kathleen Johnston (2025 Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame inductee) to uncover government malfeasance.
In 1997, the duo made headlines with a decision to leave the merged Indianapolis News/Indianapolis Star to produce investigative reports for the local television powerhouse WTHR Channel 13. Lanosga’s knack for digging would once again distinguish him as one of the best.
He was the first journalist in Indiana and among the first in the country to use data analysis in a television news investigation. The series, “Case Dismissed,” revealed how dozens of court cases were tossed out when police officers failed to show up to testify. The story won a coveted Investigative Reporters and Editors award and still serves as a masterclass on how to find stories within accessible government data.
Lanosga’s producing accolades include some of the most prestigious honors bestowed in broadcast journalism. “Guarding the Guardians,” the series on Eli Lilly heiress Ruth Lilly, uncovered how those entrusted with her care were taking trips around the world at her expense and without her cognitive ability to make such decisions. WTHR won its first-ever Columbia DuPont Silver Baton, which is considered the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.
Lanosga’s tenacious legwork in pinpointing more than 400 tornado sirens across the nine-county Indianapolis metropolitan area led to the creation of the area’s first GIS map and database for tornado preparedness. That series, “Cause for Alarm,” alerted Central Indiana residents to the fact that non-working sirens were putting Hoosiers’ health and safety in jeopardy. The findings resulted in immediate county and state intervention.
Lanosga and his team received a George Foster Peabody Award, a Scripps Howard Award, an IRE certificate, the National Sigma Delta Chi National Public Service Award and many other forms of recognition for their exhaustive work.
In 2006, Lanosga left television to obtain his doctoral degree at Indiana University. Upon completion, he became an assistant journalism professor at both Ball State University in 2009 and at Indiana University in 2012. Along the way, he was recruited to join the Indiana Coalition for Open Government board. He also serves on the board of Investigate Midwest, an independent nonprofit newsroom.
“I have always considered myself an activist for open public records,” he explained.
This prompted him to take on prominent journalism and related community service roles. As an academic, he focused his research on freedom of information and its impact on policy. He also serves as a National Society of Professional Journalists Sunshine Chairman, and he is a founding board member of the Indiana Debate Commission, one of only four state-level organizations of its kind in the country.
In his current roles as a tenured associate professor and journalism director at the Indiana University Media School, Lanosga has been tapped to serve as the interim associate dean and was part of a team that developed the school’s Michael I. Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism.
He has authored award-winning academic publications, investigating and writing about journalism, and has participated in dozens of research presentations.
His students consistently rank him as one of their best teachers. In 2024, he was awarded the Gretchen Kemp Teaching Fellowship based on their nominations.
He is married to Michelle Beecher Lanosga, who shares a background in journalism and political science, and the couple has three adult sons — Max, Cole and Miles — plus the family’s furry friend, Kevin, the dachshund.
Now, after nearly 40 years of research, reporting, writing, teaching and community service across Indiana, Lanosga stands at the pinnacle of a notable career built on his quest for discovery. But he’s not done climbing. He has some “fourteeners” awaiting in Colorado — mountain peaks over 14,000 feet he wants to hike. And for the record, he’s already topped nine of them.