Almost every persuasive or informational essay written in school uses sources. Teachers require students to find facts from trustworthy websites and use them to back up claims. But because of the rise in artificial intelligence like Google Gemini, research journalists, and all other journalists, are losing their relevance.

Whether a person is asking what a polar bear’s main food source is in the summer, or what facial cleanser would work best on particularly dry skin, there are articles full of answers for almost every question. Journalists spend their time looking for questions and topics that haven’t been brought to light, or even to help clear the air on recent incidents. Proper journalism is committed to covering topics in full honesty and without “fear or favor,” as The New York Times puts it. This means that they describe difficult or controversial topics without fear of backlash, and refrain from showing any opinion when writing news stories–even if the topic is very relevant in their lives.

From a closer perspective, in-school journalism is a chance for aspiring journalists to test out their article writing and editing skills. School newspapers have become less and less prevalent in modern education. A regular part of school life beginning as early as the 18th century, school papers seemingly peaked in the 2000s and have been taken over by online newsletters written by school staff. As easily accessible as these newsletters are, they don’t allow the creative freedom school papers do. Here, students are able to write three types of stories: news, features, and editorials. News includes political, environmental, and cultural news, as well as happenings regarding the school district and community.  Feature stories highlight interesting topics like new activities or clubs, music or movie releases, and people with interesting accomplishments or stories. Editorials resemble persuasive writing pieces in that they attempt to convince readers of a specific point of view. These three formats allow student writers to take their ideas in any direction they chose. Letting them document their interests and opinions in a creative way that can be shared with others.

Purchasing and reading newspapers has become associated with older generations. According to the Pew Research Center, many individuals in modern society get their news from social media platforms. The issue with this is that social media is often geared toward drama and scandals, rather than information that would keep one up to date on global issues. It is important to be aware of the happenings in the world in order to make judgements on political, environmental, and cultural issues. Knowing where, when, and why significant world events happen creates a well-rounded perspective, and an understanding that reaches outside of here and now.