The Future of the Fourth Estate
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/ February 2, 2026
The Future of the Fourth Estate
As major media capitulated to Trump this past year, student journalists held the powerful to account—both on campus and beyond.
Adelaide Parker, Fatimah Azeem, Tareq AlSourani, and William Liang
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Ankle deep: People wade in the shallow waters of the Great Salt Lake at Antelope Island in August 2021.(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
This article appears in the
February 2026 issue, with the headline “The Future of the Fourth Estate.”
Since Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, student journalists have been instrumental in covering his administration’s attacks on everything from the gutting of the Department of Education, to the rollback of diversity and equity initiatives, to the crackdown on free speech and attempted deportation of international students speaking out on Palestine. During this time of increased repression, we remain proud—as well as astonished—to be alone among national news outlets in regularly publishing student perspectives. As the resources and opportunities for emerging writers continue to dwindle, it has never been more important to support the next generation of journalists.
StudentNation published nearly 100 original articles in 2025; we’ve selected three of these pieces to highlight their extraordinary range and reporting. Read more at We’re deeply grateful to the Puffin Foundation, whose generosity to the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism makes this work possible.
—Peter Rothberg and Julian Epp, editors of StudentNation
Disappearing act: In 2024, people walk on land that just a few years ago was covered by the waters of the Great Salt Lake.(Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)
The Great Salt Lake Is a Ticking Time Bomb
by Adelaide Parker
Utah is the third-driest state in the United States. From the parched Colorado Plateau to the even drier Great Basin, it’s almost all desert.
Current Issue
February 2026 Issue
In high school, I rowed with Utah’s only club crew team. Each spring, we drove our boats to the Great Salt Lake—the only place for miles with enough water to row on. The lake’s salty water stank of sulfur, which made everything it touched stink too. Thousands of brine flies swarmed our docks. They’d carpet my arms so thickly that when I looked down, I’d see more flies than flesh.
But away from shore, I saw beauty all around. The water stretched so far in every direction that I couldn’t see the land beyond. Unless the wind picked up, the lake lay flat, gleaming and blue. Mountains seemed to pierce its surface and clone themselves in the ripples below. They looked like spinning …
The headline tells the story.
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Current Issue
Feature
/ February 2, 2026
The Future of the Fourth Estate
As major media capitulated to Trump this past year, student journalists held the powerful to account—both on campus and beyond.
Adelaide Parker, Fatimah Azeem, Tareq AlSourani, and William Liang
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ankle deep: People wade in the shallow waters of the Great Salt Lake at Antelope Island in August 2021.(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
This article appears in the
February 2026 issue, with the headline “The Future of the Fourth Estate.”
Since Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, student journalists have been instrumental in covering his administration’s attacks on everything from the gutting of the Department of Education, to the rollback of diversity and equity initiatives, to the crackdown on free speech and attempted deportation of international students speaking out on Palestine. During this time of increased repression, we remain proud—as well as astonished—to be alone among national news outlets in regularly publishing student perspectives. As the resources and opportunities for emerging writers continue to dwindle, it has never been more important to support the next generation of journalists.
StudentNation published nearly 100 original articles in 2025; we’ve selected three of these pieces to highlight their extraordinary range and reporting. Read more at We’re deeply grateful to the Puffin Foundation, whose generosity to the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism makes this work possible.
—Peter Rothberg and Julian Epp, editors of StudentNation
Disappearing act: In 2024, people walk on land that just a few years ago was covered by the waters of the Great Salt Lake.(Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)
The Great Salt Lake Is a Ticking Time Bomb
by Adelaide Parker
Utah is the third-driest state in the United States. From the parched Colorado Plateau to the even drier Great Basin, it’s almost all desert.
Current Issue
February 2026 Issue
In high school, I rowed with Utah’s only club crew team. Each spring, we drove our boats to the Great Salt Lake—the only place for miles with enough water to row on. The lake’s salty water stank of sulfur, which made everything it touched stink too. Thousands of brine flies swarmed our docks. They’d carpet my arms so thickly that when I looked down, I’d see more flies than flesh.
But away from shore, I saw beauty all around. The water stretched so far in every direction that I couldn’t see the land beyond. Unless the wind picked up, the lake lay flat, gleaming and blue. Mountains seemed to pierce its surface and clone themselves in the ripples below. They looked like spinning …
The Future of the Fourth Estate
The headline tells the story.
Log In
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The Future of the Fourth Estate
Magazine
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Search
Subscribe
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Magazine
Latest
Archive
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Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
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Current Issue
Feature
/ February 2, 2026
The Future of the Fourth Estate
As major media capitulated to Trump this past year, student journalists held the powerful to account—both on campus and beyond.
Adelaide Parker, Fatimah Azeem, Tareq AlSourani, and William Liang
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ankle deep: People wade in the shallow waters of the Great Salt Lake at Antelope Island in August 2021.(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
This article appears in the
February 2026 issue, with the headline “The Future of the Fourth Estate.”
Since Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, student journalists have been instrumental in covering his administration’s attacks on everything from the gutting of the Department of Education, to the rollback of diversity and equity initiatives, to the crackdown on free speech and attempted deportation of international students speaking out on Palestine. During this time of increased repression, we remain proud—as well as astonished—to be alone among national news outlets in regularly publishing student perspectives. As the resources and opportunities for emerging writers continue to dwindle, it has never been more important to support the next generation of journalists.
StudentNation published nearly 100 original articles in 2025; we’ve selected three of these pieces to highlight their extraordinary range and reporting. Read more at We’re deeply grateful to the Puffin Foundation, whose generosity to the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism makes this work possible.
—Peter Rothberg and Julian Epp, editors of StudentNation
Disappearing act: In 2024, people walk on land that just a few years ago was covered by the waters of the Great Salt Lake.(Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)
The Great Salt Lake Is a Ticking Time Bomb
by Adelaide Parker
Utah is the third-driest state in the United States. From the parched Colorado Plateau to the even drier Great Basin, it’s almost all desert.
Current Issue
February 2026 Issue
In high school, I rowed with Utah’s only club crew team. Each spring, we drove our boats to the Great Salt Lake—the only place for miles with enough water to row on. The lake’s salty water stank of sulfur, which made everything it touched stink too. Thousands of brine flies swarmed our docks. They’d carpet my arms so thickly that when I looked down, I’d see more flies than flesh.
But away from shore, I saw beauty all around. The water stretched so far in every direction that I couldn’t see the land beyond. Unless the wind picked up, the lake lay flat, gleaming and blue. Mountains seemed to pierce its surface and clone themselves in the ripples below. They looked like spinning …
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