The Exonian is the weekly student-run newspaper of Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. It has been printed continuously since April 6, 1878, making it the oldest continuously-published preparatory school newspaper in the country. It is published weekly by its student board and is subject to limited faculty censorship. Many parents and alumni hold subscriptions to the paper, which acts as a forum for the ideas of the Exeter community and prints extensive news, investigative, opinion, sports, and feature articles. In 2011, the newspaper became available to all students free of cost. The current Editor is Anne Brandes.
History
The paper was begun as a weekly in 1878, when three Exeter students, two of whom were roommates in Abbot Hall, decided to publish a newspaper for the Academy. The first issue appeared on Saturday, April 6, of that year.
Operations
The Exonian has been published online since 2010. In its ten years of online coverage, its website has been redesigned twice, most recently under the 142nd Board. The 142nd Board also redesigned the paper's print layout. The Exonian consists of three boards, an Executive Board, an Upper Board and a Lower Board. These three boards exist for all three branches of The Exonian. The Executive Board of The Exonian is directed by the Editor-in-Chief and typically includes a Managing Editor, Director of Writing, Chief Digital Editor and Business Board Chair. The Editorial Board’s Upper Board is charged with producing all of the paper’s content. The Editorial Board assigns and edits articles, designs the paper and manages visuals, including photography and graphics. The Lower Board, composed of Staff Writers, writes the content in the paper. Typically, staff writers are underclassmen, while the Upper Board is composed of upperclassmen. The Business Board’s Upper Board conducts all advertising, operations subscriptions, accounting and outreach. The Business Board’s Lower Board, composed of associates, works within the aforementioned branches. Similarly to the Editorial Board, upperclassmen typically make up the Upper Board, whereas underclassmen typically make up the Lower Board. The Web Board’s Upper Board controls all aspects of The Exonian’s web presence. They are in charge of all long-term projects and the appearance of the website.
Mission
As stated on The Exonian's website, the paper's mission is as follows:
The primary focus of The Exonian as a high-school newspaper is to provide meaningful content and independent reporting to the Exeter community by allowing students of Phillips Exeter Academy to work as practicing journalists. We strive to achieve or surpass the professional standards of journalistic integrity in all of our work.
