I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve been struggling to write this editorial. I love reading the editorial and I know that this is a hobby that few partake in, but there’s something about them that keeps bringing me back.
I’ve always loved this paper. I’ve picked up copies during every year that I’ve been at this university. I have seen four different editorial teams present their own version of Honi, before I was lucky enough to have had the chance to help shape ours this year. There’s something so uniquely wonderful about Honi.
It is a print newspaper that still exists. A print newspaper that is distributed for free around campus. A print newspaper that is available for you, the reader, every week.
I think a lot about our readers. In an age of screen cultures, I feel lucky that we still have the physicality of Honi. When I walk past a stand and see someone pick up an edition, I smile to myself. I don’t know you. When I walk past someone carrying a copy, I feel a little rush of joy. I may have never had a class with you or seen you in a lecture theatre. And yet, this bundle of paper connects us.
This edition is not about me. It is about you, the person reading this right now, and every person who flicks through a copy of Honi or scrolls through our website. In this week’s feature (p. 12–13), Luke Cass and Caitlin O’Keefe-White connect with carers and discuss how we can better support young carers. Lachlan Griffiths (p. 8) explores the ways that technology has and hasn’t changed our university experience. Imogen Sabey (p. 8) asks what generative AI could do to our assignments and our expectations about academic work. Sandra Kallarakkal (p. 14) questions what is happening to trend cycles and what nostalgia marketing really sells. Later, Zoe Le Marinel (p. 15) shares the comfort that a rainbow lanyard can bring and William Winter (p. 16) wonders what memories of our lives we will leave behind. Gabrielle Woodger (p. 16) takes us down the rabbit hole of analogue horror as we find out whether technology can scare us.
Honi Soit was first printed in 1929. Ninety-four years later, Honi Soit is still in print. I hope it remains this way forever.