The Phoenix -- Retro Website

Bureaucracy Trumps Democracy

The following was the school report proposal approved by the editors at the time of the piece's conception. It details the different procedures and methods used to create the evaluation you saw in Phoenix Issue 8 (Vol. IV).

I. Purpose - The purpose is to fulfill our responsibility as an independent media source by providing a valuable evaluation of our community.

Because of the sensitivity of the negotiations involved, the full story of the founding of this news magazine is unknown to most. I think it is now ready to be told, publicly, for the first time.

The Scene

The Phoenix was founded in February 2007 because the PawPrint was a subpar paper.

Dear Reader:

I honestly had no intention of ever speaking (or in this case, writing) on the subject of Kabuki Lady Macbeth again. What was said was said: it was a good play with a few flaws, but a job well done nonetheless.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to respond to Mr. Michael Roberts’ Letter to the Editor in the last issue of the Phoenix. Though it may surprise you, I agree with much of what he says. I will be the first to admit that the first two issues of this year’s Phoenix did have a liberal bias; something that I am not at all happy about. However, I am happy to say that the most recent issues of our magazine have been pleasantly neutral, and I am devoted to keeping things that way.

This afternoon at lunch, as part of my weekly ritual, I accessed my favorite weekly blog by the name of TMQ. This practice dates back to the middle of last year, when a good friend of mine introduced me to the afforementioned blog, which is published weekly by Gregg Easterbrook. I usually access the article in one of two ways: I print all twenty pages out at school, or I pull it up on my iPod. Today, I decided to utilize my iPod, realizing how it is light on the enviroment and saves tax money. Today, though, something out of the ordinary happened. My iPod was confiscated by a teacher.

And I somehow haven't even gotten around to a few articles yet - and it's a really weird feeling, not knowing exactly what's in the Phoenix.

As the year and my time at PHS both come to an end, I find myself with an amazing wealth of time on my hands. (Not taking any AP tests helps.) All of that freedom that I expected to miraculously arrive at the beginning of second semester is now finally at my fingertips. At the same time, many of my friends (ergo, many Phoenix writers) are stretching their brains to study for and take APs. So it boils down to this: You'll see fewer writers (and probably articles) in the next issue of the Phoenix, BUT you may well see some improvements to the web site.

When I was part of the PawPrint, all members had to sign a written agreement to abide by a very specific and extensive "Journalistic Code of Ethics." Although I managed to avoid this by the simple expedient of ignoring it and waiting for everyone else to forget, the ethical component of journalism does not just go away. Recently, I was faced with a question (both theoretical and practical) that I had never had to deal with before: As an editor screening submissions, where do you draw the line?

I just thought I'd mention that French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently married supermodel Carla Bruni - and anyway, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use "snogging" in my title.