Whether you mark its demise as yesterday or, like me, a
couple of years earlier, the fact remains that, for decades, the Phoenix was a
Boston institution. A weekly newspaper that defined as much as covered the
city's arts and culture and was, in my biased view, its political conscience.
For me, it was also an invaluable training ground: my first real newspaper job.
The place that taught me the value of work done well. Hard-nosed reporting. Investigative
journalism as a form of engaged citizenship: a high calling. Thank you Renee
Loth, Richard Gaines, and John Ferguson. Great teachers, all. And for more on the Phoenix, treat yourself to Susan Orlean's post in yesterdays New Yorker blog.
