Teen People folds... good riddance

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about today's news that Teen People is closing down its 8-year-old magazine is that 1.45 million people still subscribe to the monthly, down only 10 percent from its high.
Teen People joined us in targeting teens several years after The Tattoo began publication and from the beginning we knew it was everything that we despise about mainstream journalism's efforts to attract young readers. Filled with pop stars, bad actors, starlets and the like, the magazine only rarely ventured into topics heavier than fluff. It catered to the celebrity nonsense that is eating away at the soul of society.
The Tattoo has always taken teens seriously. While we understand there's plenty of room for fun, gossip and such, we know that what's really important is working to let teens tell the world their perspective on 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, school violence, suicide, war and a host of other issues that involve more than where Lindsay Lohan partied last weekend.
The encouraging news in the demise of Teen People is that advertisers are looking online to reach young readers nowadays. They know that's where to find teens, as we recognized long ago.
A site like The Tattoo reaches tens of thousands of the best teens in the world -- those who write for us and the many, many others who just stop in to see what we're doing.
It's not Teen People. But, then, we don't want to be.




Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Vexed in the City

Yeah, that's Tattoo alum Joe Killian, who's writing up a storm for the Greensboro News and Record, one of North Carolina's many fine newspapers. Joe's doing great work there and we encourage any of you to go seek it out on the paper's web site. Let us know if you find anything really interesting since it's hard to keep up with it all. But here's his column from today, about sharing a car with his sweetheart, to give you a taste of what he's doing:
Vexed: Car troubles steer couple closer together





Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tattoo summer party

Here's a scene from the annual summer party in West Hartford.
That's Amanda standing on the left and Rachel on the right. Sitting are, left to right, Teague, Michel and Hila. All of them are talking on the speaker phone to Edrees, who's in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Michel's visiting from California and Teague hails from the Toronto suburbs.
More pictures to follow.










Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

"Hometown champions"

The Tattoo goes to the ballpark -- Here's the gang after the ceremony on the field. From left to right: Rachel, Mary, Teague, Hila, Amanda, Kiernan, Steve, Wesley, Jackie and Katie.

The New Britain Rock Cats, a AA minor league baseball team in Connecticut, honored The Tattoo tonight as one of its "Hometown Champions." In practical terms, that means a bunch of us got to the game, stand on the field behind a big banner and smile as an announcer talked about The Tattoo to several thousand fans who mostly didn't care.
Our son Kiernan got to throw out the first pitch for the game against the Fisher Cats of New Hampshire. He threw a perfect strike and was awfully pleased.
Pictures will follow, maybe, but here's what the Rock Cats said while we stood there on the field:

Begun as a local group in Central Connecticut in 1994, The Tattoo, an online newspaper written by and for teenagers, has grown into an international organization with members from 15 different countries around the world, and 23 states in the U.S. Still based here in Connecticut, The Tattoo has readers from every country in the world.
The Tattoo is an all-volunteer organization led by founders Steve Collins and Jackie Majerus, with considerable help from alumni, including some of those here today. Some, though not all, who pass through The Tattoo emerge as professional writers. Tattoo alumni are writing for many different newspapers, including the Cape Cod Times. Other Tattoo graduates are pursuing careers in law, social work, teaching and medicine. All of them learned to be better writers and made lifelong friends from other cultures and from other countries through The Tattoo.
The Tattoo and its writers, cartoonists, photographers and advisors have won numerous awards from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists, the National Quill and Scroll Society and the Scholastic Press Forum for coverage of everything from hard-hitting news on teen suicide and school violence to heart-wrenching journals from a survivor of Hurricane Katrina to its stellar Insider's Guide to High School, an annual collection of valuable back to school advice from the kids who've been there and done that. On the website, there are music, book and movie reviews and plenty of travel and journal writing to round out the offerings.
The Tattoo is free and open to any teenager anywhere in the world who is interested in journalism. Go to www.ReadTheTattoo.com to check out The Tattoo's website or to contact the advisors.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

More reviews!

In his new review of Will Leitch's Catch, teen writer Stefan Koski gives the new book a big thumbs... well, up or down. You'll have to read the review at www.ReadTheTattoo.com to find out what Koski has to say.
And Jeffrey You, a Tattoo newcomer, wonders if the X-Men movies are off track in his new review of X-Men: The Last Stand. Don't miss it -- even if you do choose to miss the movie!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Well, shiver our timbers, we've got the definitive word on Dead Man's Chest

Louisiana writer Samantha Perez went to the movies to see Johnny Depp's latest - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Man's Chest -- and tells readers whether it's worth the time in her new review, published at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.
Don't miss it!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Take off with 'Superman Returns'

Kate Haire lets you know in her new review whether the new Superman soars or sinks. Check it out at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.