Tuesday 12 March 2013

A NOTE FROM THEA HALPIN AND IZE EDITORS



A Note from Thea Halpin

I am writing to respond to the outcry that has occurred over my article in the latest issue of IZE Magazine. This article is an opinion piece. The point my article was making is that Brisbane still has a far way to go in comparison to other cities in Australia. This article was intended—obviously unsuccessfully—as a joke.  I thought that references to Bindi Irwin, Kim Kardashian and excessive use of hyperbole would establish the comic intention of this article but obviously it did not. 

This article is one-sided because it is meant to be. The issue was themed ‘Paradise’ and the editors of IZE and I agreed that a piece portraying Brisbane as something less than that would be a different and entertaining view.  I am sorry that a few of you have been offended by the article: that was never my intention. As for more specific grievances with the article, some of you raised good points that I will take into consideration in the future. 

*In retrospect the comment made about homeless people seems cruel. In the future I will think harder about the way things may be interpreted regardless of what I intend for them to mean. 

A Note from the Editors

Thea Halpin’s article 'The Cultural Hub They Call Brisbane' has stimulated a lot of debate. Thea’s opinion piece was included in the Paradise issue to raise a different view about Brisbane as there are two sides to every story. We published the article as we found it to be a humorous, witty, tongue-in-cheek piece of journalism. 

We're ecstatic that so many people have spoken out in praise of Brisbane. The article was not written in malice or had any intentions to offend anyone. It is for this reason that we have decided to take down the article. IZE Magazine is a venture we begun when we finished high school and we're young and are learning new things everyday. The whole experience has been a big learning curve for us and we will fully take on board all of the constructive criticism we have received. We love the city we live in, and that is why we created a magazine that showcases emerging Brisbane creatives.

3 comments:

  1. could you please offer an apology to brisbane's homeless community? i've commented a few times but i dunno if they didnt go through or you didnt post them. good on you for removing the article, but as a person who works with some of brisbanes homeless i can tell you that to brand them as aggressive made me incredibly upset. they are people who deserve respect as all humans do. I know this is an incredibly small magazine and the people who run it are young but you need to learn that you cannot attack vulnerable communities who are unable to defend themselves. For future reference, this includes refugees, children, victims of domestic violence, and people with severe mental illness. Please please please offer an apology to the homeless community in brisbane. Those things that were said about them were really cruel. If only you understood how fucked up difficult some peoples lives are, you might have a little more empathy for them.

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  2. I'm really impressed by this thoughtful reply. It shows that you take your readers and magazine seriously. Kudos!

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  3. ah thanks IZE you have risen to the challenge. kudos

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