After decades in the spotlight as a correspondent and anchor for ABC News, Terry Moran has taken an unexpected and deeply personal turn in his journalism career. Following his departure from the network in early 2025, Moran announced the launch of his new Substack newsletter, an independent journalism venture focused on telling untold stories across the United States—beginning with a compelling spotlight on the Haitian community in Ohio.
Long celebrated for his sharp political reporting, foreign correspondence, and on-air gravitas, Moran is now embracing a new phase of storytelling—one rooted in community journalism, immigration narratives, and local resilience. His Substack, titled “American Mosaic”, seeks to reconnect national audiences with the people and places often left out of legacy media.
The inaugural series, titled “Little Port-au-Prince: Haitians in the Heartland”, brings readers deep into the neighborhoods, churches, workplaces, and struggles of Haitian immigrants living in Ohio—a state more commonly associated with Rust Belt politics than Caribbean diaspora stories.
It’s a radical departure from the political corridors of Washington and the conflict zones of the Middle East. But for Moran, it’s also a return to the essence of journalism: bearing witness, giving voice, and digging deep.
A Distinguished Career, a Quiet Exit
Terry Moran’s departure from ABC News in 2025 marked the end of an era. With nearly three decades of high-profile reporting under his belt—including stints as Chief White House Correspondent, anchor of Nightline, and Senior National Correspondent—Moran had become one of the most recognizable faces in American television news.
His coverage spanned everything from Supreme Court decisions and presidential elections to wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. He was known for his crisp delivery, analytical depth, and unwavering professionalism.
Yet by 2024, Moran had begun expressing quiet frustration with the state of mainstream news. Increasingly commodified, hyper-partisan, and headline-driven, he felt that something essential was being lost: context, nuance, and a focus on the human condition behind policy debates.
After covering the 2024 U.S. election, Moran made the decision to step away from network TV—not in search of retirement, but of reinvention.
Why Substack?
In a farewell message to colleagues, Moran wrote:
“I want to write again. I want to spend more time listening than talking. I want to follow stories that don’t break on Twitter but unfold slowly—around kitchen tables, factory floors, church pews, and small-town barbershops.”
Substack, the newsletter platform powering a new wave of independent media voices, offered the perfect fit. Unencumbered by producers, commercial breaks, or editorial mandates, Moran could now write long-form journalism on his own terms—and at his own pace.
His new newsletter, American Mosaic, launched in May 2025 with thousands of subscribers in its first month. While many expected Moran to focus on D.C. politics or international affairs, his first feature series surprised everyone: an immersive, multi-part look at the Haitian immigrant community in Ohio.
Why Haiti? Why Ohio? The answer lies in Moran’s evolving philosophy of journalism—and his belief that the most important stories in America are no longer coming from the coasts.
Discovering Little Port-au-Prince
While reporting on immigration during the Trump and Biden administrations, Moran became fascinated by what he calls “America’s new geographies.” He observed how immigrant and refugee populations were reshaping rural towns, factory cities, and suburban enclaves across the Midwest and South—places previously assumed to be culturally homogenous.
One such place is Columbus, Ohio, where a growing Haitian community has quietly established roots over the past two decades. Drawn by affordable housing, jobs in healthcare and logistics, and a supportive network of churches, Haitian migrants have formed what locals now call a “Little Port-au-Prince”—a bustling, resilient, and deeply spiritual subculture in the heart of America.
