Dear Reader,

This past summer, accompanied by a group of fellow student journalists, I visited the largest printing press in the Northern Hemisphere. However, it was not the magnitude of the space that struck me most deeply, but rather its militaristic quality. The printing press was an industrial cavern, a maze of pumping metal machinery whose tempo sounded like that of a marching brigade. Each paper was a soldier and the printing press was raising an army, not to fight an enemy, but to champion the search for truth, whether it be of a factual nature or pertaining to the experiences of human existence. While absolute truth may be unattainable, it is in the most zealous pursuit of this objective that journalism lives.

While the Bark has seen its fair share of misspellings and errors, its dogged pursuit of this truth has never wavered nor flagged. The Bark provides a rare perspective, covering a community and niche that would otherwise slip from the sights of more widely circulated papers. This school newspaper that you hold in your hands possesses intangible, yet substantial importance. Society is incapable of functioning without a free press, and a free press is incapable of functioning without the smaller papers, even ones pertaining to a public high school.

On behalf of all Bark staff, I humbly thank you. By picking up these 24 pages marked with a slew of colors and folded into a neat packet, you have supported the Bark’s “endeavor to inform the Redwood High School student body and staff of happenings in the school and the community beyond.”

The true significance of this 60-year-old high school paper extends further than our coverage or my own affinity for the written word into the heart of human experience and the functioning of our society. Beyond the Bark’s worthy undertaking, you have supported a fundamental tenet of our democracy and protected the noblest of all pursuits: the search for the most accurate accounts of truth.

Whether through journalism or another medium, my work on Bark these last years has galvanized my desire to seek and record this truth as the Bark will steadfastly continue its own pursuit through its next generation of student journalists.

Sincerely,

Anne Pritikin