Alice Bolandhemat Whenever my phone illuminates with the email notification “New Edition of the Forum!”, I immediately stop what I’m doing to read the articles my peers have written. When I entered the halls of Latin in 2016, after writing my first Forum article, I assumed others felt the same way about our school’s newspaper. However, since then, I have heard upperclassmen pride themselves on not having clicked on a single issue in all of their 3-4 years of high school.  Do others, specifically those who do not write for the Forum, get the same excitement out of reading each issue as I do? Or is journalism at Latin, and in our world for that matter, dying? Outside of Latin, social media has had an impact on journalists’ careers in that it has become an outlet for people to share their ideas on controversial topics. A lengthy post on Instagram or Facebook could be used to express one’s political, emotional, or social concerns. Social media apps like these have begun covering current events, rather than journalists and newspapers doing so. In addition to social media, technology in general has lowered the readership of well-known newspapers. In today’s day and age, physical newspapers have become a lot less common due to the fact that an online outlet is more cost efficient and eco-friendly. Among Latin students, there are those who read the articles in depth, those who read through ‘the fun ones’, and those who don’t find themselves scrolling through the issue at all. “When I can, I read the Forum because I enjoy reading what my friends write,” said sophomore Nora Deeney. “It isn’t so much a news outlet for me as it is a way to support my friends who love writing for it,” she continued. After an issue of The Forum are published, a Latin faculty member is usually kind enough to say, “I read your article in the Forum, Alice!” Mr. Baer, who was formerly the editor-in-chief of the Forum when he attended Latin, describes our school’s newspaper as “a way for students to convey their thoughts and opinions on Latin events.” He went on to say, “I always try to read at least an article in each issue because some of my students write for it now.” Since Latin is a tight, close-knit community, students, parents, and faculty are typically well informed on what’s going on. Articles in the Forum, however, shed further light on those events and provide new perspectives. Journalism in the world around us may be struggling during this time where technology is the dominating industry, but as far as journalism at Latin goes, there is still a multitude of students who are passionate about journalistic writing, as well those who enjoy reading their articles.]]>