magazine mAgazine 26 OCTOBER 2021
Text by KIERAN ZAJAC and YASH SHETTY
SATIRICAL MAGAZINE’S BRIEF TIME IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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AFTER A YEAR of preparation, Last year, the founders also recruited a summer of production and an Paly history teacher Mary Sano as their untraditional distribution on club sponsor, leaving her with the impresthe first day of school, M-Maga- sion that they would merely be a club that zine, the product of Palo Alto High School’s discussed and read satire. But, without Sashort-lived Satire Club, is no more. no’s knowledge or approval, she said, the The staff of M-Mag, formally known as club leaders produced an issue of M-Mag, Magazine Magazine, disbanded on Sept. 10 releasing it to the public in August on the due to controversy surrounding the maga- first day of Paly’s 2021-2022 school year. zine’s production, which overshadowed the “Better communication would be light-hearted image the staff attempted to good,” Sano said. “Just to be given a headscreate. up about my name being printed [as the “It didn’t really feel worth it anymore magazine’s adviser]. It was a surprise to me to continue doing this [M-Mag] if we were that someone brought me a copy.” potentially, one, hurting people’s feelings Principal Brent Kline was also unaware and, two, offending the people who taught of the magazine’s production, and learned us how to do journalism,” said a member of it in a similar manner as did Sano. of the magazine’s new — and now defunct “I knew absolutely nothing,” Kline — leadership team who asked to remain said. “The magazines arrived without any anonymous. instructions, just like thrown on the sideClass of 2021 walk.” alumni Siddhartha It was not the actual Paly Journalism Sahasrabuddhe, Ben adviser Brian Wilson content that warStein and Ryan Seto said the M-Mag creators founded the Satire ranted dissociation. asked the Paly journalClub at Paly last year, It’s the concept of ism advisers for support hoping to eventually in the creation of a satire produce a satire maga- satire, and the legal magazine last semester. zine. However, the advisers implications that “We got the idea uniformly refused to be during quarantine at come with it.” involved in the effort. the end of our junior “Satire is really hard — BRIAN WILSON, journalism adviser year,” Sahasrabuddhe to do well,” Wilson said. said. “Everything we “It was not the actual wrote was in an attempt to find a common content that warranted dissociation. It’s the denominator of humor for our grade and concept of satire, and the legal implications bring people together and laugh at the same that come with it.” thing.” Adviser Rodney Satterthwaite shared One of the necessary steps before pro- similar concerns with Wilson. duction was to request funding from Paly’s “There was a little thing in the back of Associated Student Body. Though assailed my mind that oh, a satire club, that could throughout the magazine — the headline lead to a bunch of things where I have to on M’s first editor letter reads “ASB is a spend all sorts of time trying to put out fires complete joke” — ASB initially supported if people get mad,” Satterthwaite said. “Or, M-Mag and provided what ASB’s April 27 if they get sued.” meeting minutes state was to be “no more Kline also acknowledged that satire is than $800” in addition to publicizing the a difficult category to properly execute, ofmagazine. However, on Sahasrabuddhe’s ten with many potential risks involved. Linkedin page, he claims he “secured “You need to be exactly clear what this $1600 in funding from [the] student gov- [writing] is about.” Kline said. “It’s a fine ernment.” line, satire.” v
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