Since our last issue, we’ve been heartened by the response of many students and faculty who support our desire to return to a weekly print paper schedule. We hear you and we thank you. 

Unfortunately, the administration has confirmed that the News can print only four issues every school year starting next year. 

We’ve met with the administration and discussed the decision as well as the future of the New Trier News. We still believe that cutting the paper to quarterly is a huge mistake. 

When asked, a group of administrators told us that no student opinions were considered in their decision-making process. This was troubling, as they claimed “changing reader preferences” in their explanation of why they were choosing to cut publications. We find it upsetting they chose to make the decision without asking the News’ main audience: students.

In the same meeting, they offered us their support in transitioning to a digital-based newspaper. We are grateful for the support, and we wish to work with the administration to increase student readership, but it feels contradictory. Before cutting the paper, the administration had not extended their support to us, even though we have had a website and digital news platform since 2012.

The New Trier News has been relevant as a weekly paper for over 100 years because it informs readers about what’s happening at school and in the larger community. We strive to inform the student body and keep officials accountable. We are the only institution at New Trier that does this job with a focus on students. 

Freedom of the press has been protected under the First Amendment since the founding of America, to help democracy thrive.  

Cutting back the printed newspaper obstructs our ability to inform and educate students on the matters of this school. There is no newspaper that prints quarterly; a newspaper by definition is supposed to be recent and relevant. 

We will continue to fight for our right to a consistently-printed paper and operate independently as a newspaper. We will also continue to update our website, newtriernews.org. We ask for your support in this transitional period, where the print future of the News is in doubt.