The Story of T.i.P:

Boston Teens In Print

With no time to waste, the papers were packed up and distributed to every Boston public high school, library, and many community centers - the only newspaper with that breadth of distribution. Today, T.i.P. is published four times during the academic year. Since its launch, more than 200 teens have been published in the paper. With each successive issue, staffers have improved their journalism skills and gained confidence in their ability to communicate with their peers. Each issue also features the strong, vibrant art and photography of Artists for Humanity students. They continue to build their photojournalism skills, further strengthening T.i.P.'s commitment to quality.

It's not just students who benefit from T.i.P.'s unique voice. The Globe's City Weekly section has printed T.i.P. articles and photos for the benefit of its Boston readership and T.i.P. staffers have had their work published in other media outlets. With the 2005 launch of bostontip.com, T.i.P. has gained an online audience, further expanding its voice and reach. T.i.P. staffers continue to meet weekly at the Globe to share ideas, mete out assignments, and hone their skills. This citywide platform for young journalists has become a critical outlet for Boston teens to inform, communicate, and provide positive change through written expression.

An Idea is Born

T.i.P., Boston's citywide newspaper for high school students, was born out of the fruitful relationship between the Boston Globe Foundation and WriteBoston, a city initiative founded to improve writing skills among local students. Both organizations celebrate and venerate the written word and have collaborated since 2002, when WriteBoston received its first grant from the Foundation. In 2003, WriteBoston became a Globe Foundation Flagship partner, further solidifying their collaboration.

Like most good ideas, the inspiration for T.i.P. came out of a "blue sky" conversation in the summer of 2003 between Globe Foundation Executive Director Leah Bailey and WriteBoston Director Betty Southwick. They were discussing new ways to harness the energy, activism, intelligence, and talent of the city's high school students when Bailey asked, "Could we do a teen newspaper?"

Southwick agreed that giving a voice to teens had great appeal. Unlike suburban schools, where student newspapers are near universal, few Boston high schools had the resources to sponsor a paper. Budding journalists had little opportunity to hone their skills under the guidance of professional mentors, a critical part of writing development. And bringing together students from all Boston public high schools would benefit the city as well as the teens.

Excited by the idea of a citywide teen newspaper, Bailey and Southwick set out to test the concept withthe people who mattered most: Boston high school students.

Checking Out the Audience

WriteBoston conducted a survey of close to 300 Boston public school students to assess the feasibility of a citywide student newspaper. Not surprisingly, television was cited as the top source for news but newspapers came in second, an encouraging result. The majority of respondents - 84% - said they would read a printed news source for Boston teenagers and 57% said they would consider submitting their writing to the news source.

In-depth focus groups with students across the city helped define teens' preferred content, format, and frequency. An investigation of teen newspaper programs in other markets confirmed that a citywide high school newspaper was not only a good idea but had a great chance at success. The Boston Globe agreed. The Foundation committed multi-year funding while Globe editors and reporters eagerly signed up as mentors and advisors.

What to Call It?

As the shape and format of the new venture took place the next looming decision was the newspaper's name. WriteBoston convened a Youth Advisory Board to brainstorm ideas and recommend names. Newly appointed Writing Coach and T.i.P Manager Kelly Knopf-Goldner walked the students through an exercise of cutting out words that made sense for a youth newspaper - teens, youth, news, print etc. - and moving the words around to create possible names. The lengthy list was culled to three likely candidates and then presented to the Globe newsroom staff. With a little tweaking from the Globe, the winner emerged - Boston Teens in Print or T.i.P.

Shaping a Newspaper

Planning for the first issue of T.i.P. began in earnest in January 2004. Long-time Boston Globe Editor Marie Franklin came on board as the "adult" T.i.P. editor. Franklin said the Globe had been talking about launching a youth paper for more than 15 years; she was thrilled to help breathe life into T.i.P. Volunteers from the Globe's design, production, and marketing teams joined Franklin, T.i.P Manager Knopf-Goldner, and the Foundation's Leah Bailey and Cathy Downs in developing the paper's look and feel.

Knopf-Goldner went on a "recruitment drive" to find Boston high school students to join the T.i.P staff. Great writing skills were explicitly not the criteria for selection. T.i.P. was looking for teens with a desire to write and a willingness to learn. After a month of vigorous recruiting, a dozen students from across the city signed on as writers. One of the first staffers was freshman Phil Donahue who today is T.i.P's Senior Editor.

"But What Should We Write?"
At the kick-off staff meeting, held over pizza and sodas in the Globe's conference room, students nervously contemplated the task ahead of them. They asked, "What should we write about?" and were promptly told, "This is your paper; you tell us what you want to write about." Knopf-Goldner offered some stories to get things started and the teens took it from there. Soon, ideas were flowing and the first issue of T.i.P. began to take shape.

The budding journalists returned to the Globe each week to learn the fundamentals of journalism and receive help crafting their stories. Knopf-Goldner edited the articles for content clarity and then turned them over to Franklin, who further edited for length, accuracy, and "newsworthiness."

To complement the teens' writing with equally compelling visuals the Globe Foundation turned to Artists for Humanity (AFH.) This Foundation Flagship Partner provides underserved city youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in the arts. AFH students and staff worked closely with the Globe and WriteBoston to develop the look and feel of T.i.P.

Stories written and artwork designed, it was time for the Globe's design and production team to get the first issue of T.i.P. ready for printing.

T.i.P. Hits the Streets…And Keeps on Going
In May 2004 the debut issue of T.i.P. rolled off the Boston Globe presses with great fanfare. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and schools Superintendent Thomas Payzant joined Globe executives and, of course, the T.i.P. staff at the pressroom celebration. Students pulled the first issues off the press and donned paper hats made for them by Globe pressmen. Articles ranged from "Boston Teens Face Summer Job Squeeze" to "How to Find Your Own Fashion" and "I am Ready to Go to College."

With no time to waste, the papers were packed up and distributed to every Boston public high school, library, and many community centers - the only newspaper with that breadth of distribution. Today, T.i.P. is published four times during the academic year. Since its launch, more than 200 teens have been published in the paper. With each successive issue, staffers have improved their journalism skills and gained confidence in their ability to communicate with their peers. Each issue also features the strong, vibrant art and photography of Artists for Humanity students. They continue to build their photojournalism skills, further strengthening T.i.P.'s commitment to quality.

It's not just students who benefit from T.i.P.'s unique voice. The Globe's City Weekly section has printed T.i.P. articles and photos for the benefit of its Boston readership and T.i.P. staffers have had their work published in other media outlets. With the 2005 launch of bostontip.com, T.i.P. has gained an online audience, further expanding its voice and reach. T.i.P. staffers continue to meet weekly at the Globe to share ideas, mete out assignments, and hone their skills. This citywide platform for young journalists has become a critical outlet for Boston teens to inform, communicate, and provide positive change through written expression.