FOUNDERS Bom Kim and Daniel Loss incorporate an undercurrent of irreverence. |
Who loves Harvard?
02138’s editorial voice may come into sharper focus as the publication’s finances solidify. In addition to the growing ad base mentioned earlier, 5000 subscribers have already signed on — about 10 percent of the 50,000 Harvard alums initially targeted by 02138. As the magazine moves toward self-sufficiency, the 02138 brain-trust may feel comfortable ramping up the satire and straight reportage and toning down the narcissism.
Or will they? According to John Galloway, Atlantic Media’s president, 02138’s progress to date leaves almost nothing to be desired. “We could not be more pleased with the first two issues of 02138 as the reception we’ve received both from readers and from the advertising community has exceeded our expectations,” Galloway said via e-mail. “We’re very appreciative of the hard work and creativity that Bom Kim, Dan Loss, Meredith Kopit and all their colleagues on the editorial and business staffs have put into achieving this early success.”
Ultimately, the magazine’s editorial persona may hinge on the still-unanswered question of what kind of magazine it aspires to be. In the debut issue, Kim’s introductory note to readers offered 02138 as the “magazine for the Harvard sensibility.” But last week — after Loss described the positive reactions non-Harvard alums had to the maiden issue — Kim intimated that, someday, 02138 may cast a wider net in terms of coverage and audience. “We have, on the one hand, thought about broadening this model: 02138 in different forms, maybe customized to different communities,” he said. “But we have also thought, could this have the kind of appeal that a New Yorker has beyond New York City?”
It’s an intriguing idea. But given the location where Kim proposed it— 02138 is housed in the recently vacated headquarters of the Atlantic, which was moved by Atlantic Media’s Bradley to Washington, DC, last year, after 148 years in Boston — it’s also painfully ironic. The prospect of a Bostonian New Yorker would be more exciting if we hadn’t just lost the one we had.
On the Web
Adam Reilly's Media Log: http://www.thephoenix.com/medialog
02138:http://www.02138mag.com
Harvard Magazine: http://www.harvardmagazine.com/
