Letter From the Editors
We write to you on behalf of a group of journalism students who have created a magazine as part of a class project. Because we are convinced that our magazine is worth being published, we enthusiastically ask of you to consider doing so.
The magazine, called Fearful Obsessions, covers articles dealing with several phobias including agoraphobia, arachnophobia and homophobia. Throughout the research process, we found that many people knew little to nothing about some of these fears. Those who experienced them cared to say very little about their phobias because of embarrassment.
Our magazine aims to change how phobias are viewed and we have put a face to all of these phobias with stories of people who are affected by them. Expert sources who study the different phobias have shed some light about newly emerging information such as origins and possible treatments and cures.
Our articles include people who are affected by the phobias. For example, we wrote an article about a young man who proudly professed his homophobia, saying that homosexuality was simply unnatural. We incorporated sources from various religious and gay rights groups who swung the pendulum from side to side as to which view was the right one, if any. In another story, we documented the life of an elderly woman whose agoraphobia has kept her at home for more than 30 years. Her family bears a heavy burden in dealing with the situation. Life, they say, has become increasingly difficult for them all with each passing day.
These stories deserve to be shared, and others with similar issues can find solace knowing that they are not alone in their suffering. The power to do so has strengthened our faith in our magazine. The four of us who created the magazine, Patrick Clarke, Brooke Reid, Thandiwe Vela and Salima Virani, are currently in our fourth and final year of a 4-year journalism program with Centennial College and the University of Toronto. Outside of the classroom, we work as reporters with local TV and newspaper companies. We know what it means to work hard and produce excellent work. No better proof of that exists than in our magazine, called Fearful Obsessions.
