The Foreword, the student newspaper of Taylor Allderdice High School, won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. In its explanation for the award, the Pulitzer Prize board cited the paper’s courageous coverage of heavy topics including Taylor Swift album reviews, the vegan experience in Pittsburgh, Emily in Paris, and outdated election coverage. “It is clear from the wonderful journalism to come from Allderdice High School that The Foreword is full of true muckrakers,” the board wrote in the announcement of the prize.

The Pulitzer Prize Board was also impressed by The Foreword’s grammar and conventions. “It seems like their writers really know how to string full sentences together,” the board remarked. 

Another strength of the paper, according to the board, is the lengths writers go to interview people relevant to their stories. “These student journalists are not just interviewing their friends. They are relentless in pursuing the important interviews, getting out of their comfort zone and asking the tough questions,” they explained.

The board was especially impressed by the paper’s wide readership. When members of the board visited the school during deliberation in 2019, they were amazed that during transitions between periods, all the students in the hallways were reading copies of The Foreword! Notably, most students were reading the News section, which is full of up-to-date articles with information exclusive to The Foreword. 

In terms of presentation, the board noted that the organization of the newsprint was expertly done. “The machines that organize the paper surely have excellent software! Each edition has a fully individual layout and there are never mistakes assigning the wrong bylines to articles.” 

The board also recognized The Foreword’s highly successful website, calling it “an impressive feat of digital journalism.” They were particularly impressed by “the consistency that articles and sports score are uploaded.” During their visit to Allderdice, the board stopped by a couple of classrooms and were appalled by the sheer number of students on their phone… until they realized that these students were all scrolling through theforeword.org.

At this same visit, the board stopped students in the hallway and asked them what they would like to see from The Foreword in the future. Popular answers included “more reviews of albums no one has ever heard of,” and “outdated sports coverage.” 

In an exclusive interview, the editor-in-chief told The Backword that the key to The Foreword’s success is deadlines. “We set hard deadlines and make it clear that we don’t accept late articles,” she explained. “We’ve actually never received a late article. In fact, most of our articles, which always meet word count and have appropriate titles and pictures, are turned in early, leaving plenty of time for our thorough editing process.”

The Foreword is currently in talks with the Emmy award winning DiceTV, also known for awe-inspiring talent shows and extremely effective drug PSAs, about a merger. Allderdice Principal Dr. CoyBoi declined to comment on this possibility but remarked that “we are so lucky to have two amazing news organizations that hold our school accountable.”