Opinion

Leadership is something that must be earned, never handed to you. Frank Smith III, Corina Tapscott and Sally Lopez have truly demonstrated what it means, and what it takes, to be an efficient team.

We were young, naive and believed that we could make a difference in the campus and community — and we did. That same spirit still remains with the Downtown Devil five years later, as co-founder Salvador Rodriguez looks back at its beginnings.

With each passing semester, Downtown Devil aims to put itself in a position to give its staffers more opportunities and cover the downtown Phoenix area better. This semester is no different, as Downtown Devil has added a new top editor position and is expanding the organization’s managing board.

Downtown Devil launched the publication's first ever internship program in collaboration with Bioscience High School. Ruby Ramirez, a Bioscience High senior, is Downtown Devil’s inaugural editorial intern. The internship will last through May 2014.

The Downtown Devil is excited to announce a change in its leadership structure, one that will more closely mirror that of major professional news organizations while maintaining its unique collaborative nature.

Downtown is Phoenix’s greatest hidden gem. This statement seems ridiculous to say, but it’s the best way I can describe it. It’s almost embarrassing though, calling the downtown of the sixth largest city in the country a hidden gem.

After our critique of State Press Magazine's Best of Downtown, we conducted our own poll to determine what our readers felt were the best of locations. Our categories differ at times because we felt they better represent the unique offerings of downtown Phoenix. More than 500 votes were cast in total, with the most in the category of "Best Coffee Shop." Please enjoy our readers' selections for the top downtown locations.

Today's earlier editorial, "Editorial: Better of Downtown," has been misconstrued as bitter, immature and disrespectful. None of that was our intention, and I apologize for any who were offended and felt that the critique became personal.

As a conclusion of sorts to our critique of State Press Magazine's Best of Downtown coverage, we have decided to compile our own, admittedly small Better of Downtown list. We believe our categories are a more accurate depiction of the many offerings in downtown Phoenix, as it is the community that we aim to serve.

We got our hands on State Press Magazine’s Best of ASU last night, and after flipping through roughly 40 pages of non-Best-of content, we happened upon the Best of Downtown section. This spread was particularly interesting to us, an embedded, hyperlocal publication that exclusively serves the downtown community.