As the latest issue of the Noctiluca is being distributed to our subscribers throughout the school, you may notice that there seem to be fewer copies floating around than usual. In the past, there was no need to pay for a paper subscription; you could always just pick up an extra copy from the library, grab one from a blue newspaper box around school, or just find one sitting at nearly any empty table.
However, for the last couple editions of the paper, this has become less and less the case. Throughout the year, the Noctiluca has scaled back its production quantity, pushing the printed number all the way down from 900 copies during the 2014-2015 school year to 700 copies in the 2015-2016 school year, and now to 500 copies for the issue you are currently reading. Though this decline can be attributed to many different factors – such as the attack on journalism within our society or the fall of print media in the age of technology – the most prominent reason is that we just don’t have enough subscriber support to help pay for the paper to be printed.
In a time where journalists and the media are under attack from many sides, it becomes increasingly more important to support the local reporting that we count on to keep us informed. As the world becomes more clouded with the waves of fake news and misinformation that constantly wash over all of us, the importance of genuine news and reliable information serves as a way to combat ignorance. The light emitted by real journalism is the best method we have to cut through the murky misinformation that others, with the intention to mislead, might throw out into the world.
If you recognize the importance of independent news coverage in the world that we live in and value the service that the Noctiluca provides, would you take the next necessary step to show your support? Even though the Noctiluca receives some of its funding from advertisements, a large and important part of our budget comes from you, our faithful readers. Now more than ever, we need reliable and verified information, not just in our world as a whole, but within the walls of our own school. For only $1 an issue you can become a Noctiluca subscriber and take a stand in support of journalistic integrity.
If you believe the truth still has an important place in our community, show the public by becoming a subscriber of the Noctiluca today.