The Forum is widely known as the only student-run news organization on campus. But, it’s true: We did have somewhat of a competitor over the last year.
The Griffin — dubbed “Westminster College’s finest news source” in its own Instagram bio — has circulated across campus, posting memes and satirical news stories. Just over a year after the page made its debut, the account will be going dark as the owner of the account is a recent graduate.
The account was created in March 2019 by an anonymous student — or group of students — that would poke fun at recent news on campus. The account acted similarly to widely-known news satire organizations like The Onion, posting memes occasionally that were… well, dare we say: actual “fake news.”
And, they were hilarious.
We often talked about the account during our weekly meetings in The Forum newsroom, laughing at how each post was funnier than the last. We’d even scroll through the feed during production nights, because sometimes we were more interested in what they were doing.
I mean, let’s be honest. The posts were just that good.
So good in fact, the page gained over 400 followers in its short reign — which admittedly, is more than our news organization Instagram account has (which, by the way, you might as well follow now that we don’t have a news competitor on campus).
The creator behind the page said goodbye in its latest post to the social media site, noting that whoever it is graduated.
The page posted to the site with the headline: “Critically Acclaimed Newspaper Actually Just Satire for Small Liberal Arts College.”
“After our non-existent graduation, we decided it was time to resign and come clean,” the owner wrote. “Thanks to all of our readers!”
And while we were hoping we would finally get to see who was behind The Griffin, the owner’s identity remains a secret — inviting followers to guess who they are by liking pictures on the personal accounts of their suspects. Anything to get clout, right?
We, of course, have our own suspicions and guesses as to whom it may be — but we’ll keep that to ourselves for now.
To commemorate the humor genius behind the Instagram handle, we at The Forum want to say we’re sorry to see our fellow news outlet go — and we tip our hats to you for the hard-hitting journalism. Here are our top five headlines from the past year:
#5: Representation Matters! Westminster Snowbro Sees Self In, “Avengers: Endgame”
It seems like Marvel brushed up on its Westminster learning goals with this one.
#4: Breaking: Silent Protest Most Attended Event Since Disco Night
Maybe some things are better left unsaid?
#3: From Olwell to Carleson: How These Two Brave Freshman Make Long-Distance Work
Ah, the age-old romance story that every on-campus resident knows all too well. The real question is, when will they make the movie?
#2: La Croix, Yerba Mate, and Kombucha Drinking Fountains To Be Installed For The ’19-’20 School Year”
Which we all know the real question is: What flavor? Thankfully, our trusty journalists responded to a reader’s comment and cleared the air: Pamplemousse.
#1: “The Forum” To Rebrand as Wrapping Paper Company
We just wanted to formally say thank you for getting our names out there. And we neither confirm nor deny if we’re actually looking at different ways to profit from the hundreds of newspapers across campus.
*Forum editor Marina McTee contributed to this report.
