ONE AND TWO: Ad pages increased noticeably between the first and second issues. |
It’s easy to hate 02138, the Harvard-centric magazine whose second issue comes out later this week. The anti-02138 argument goes something like this: Who in God’s name do these people think they are? Are Harvard graduates really so mind-bogglingly narcissistic that they’ll read a publication devoted entirely to themselves — and pay $36 a year for the privilege, when they already get Harvard Magazine for free? Given Harvard’s notorious self-absorption, this reaction is understandable, though not entirely fair. According to Lisa Granatstein, news editor at Mediaweek, 02138’s business model fits a broader trend in the magazine world, away from general-interest publications and toward niche titles — especially niche titles that can attract high-price advertisers. “It’s a much more efficient sell than going mass-market, where you throw everything against a wall and see what sticks in terms of readers and advertisers,” Granatstein says. “What they’re doing is smart: going after affluent readers who share a very prestigious common bond.”
Sure enough, from a business standpoint, things at 02138 — which is bankrolled by Atlantic Media Company mogul David Bradley — seem to be going swimmingly. The 20 pages of advertising in issue one have risen to 25 in issue two, most dedicated to high-end goods and services: Glenmorangie Scotch ($120 a bottle), Eos Airlines ($3200 for a round-trip flight from New York to England), the Maybach 57S sedan (upwards of $300,000). Meredith Kopit, 02138’s publisher, claims she’s “delighted” by the collective advertising response.
Editorial content is another story. Bom Kim, the magazine’s president and founder, and Daniel Loss, 02138’s co-founder, profess a commendable inclination to skewer Harvardian self-importance. In a recent Phoenix interview, for instance, Loss spoke of injecting “a dose of irreverence and self-deprecation, at the same time that we celebrate Harvard and Harvard alumni”; for his part, Kim intimated that the Harvard community might not be as important as it thinks it is(!).
But there’s a problem here. Put simply, 02138’s very existence is predicated on this sense of outsize self-importance. Skewer too sharply and readers might balk; advertisers might take a pass; the whole venture might break down.
Worst things first
How to respond? Two issues in, 02138 seems to have formulated a rough rule of thumb: put the really masturbatory stuff toward the front, and gradually ratchet down the smugness as the issue progresses.
For example, the debut issue’s front-of-the-book “Vanitas” section began with a brief profile of Jennifer Rubell — an alum who, we’re told, is “lithe, with wavy dark hair, has an appealingly resonant voice, and is equally comfortable discussing a Francis Alys video work and a recipe for naeng yun, Korean cold noodles.” In the Winter 2007 issue, meanwhile, the object of adoration is Rebecca Kirshner, co-executive producer of the Gilmore Girls, who sounds even more annoying than her TV show. Consider: “ ‘I’ve found I can still dance on tables and say embarrassing things without the aid of alcohol,’ says the spirited blond, who has a penchant for Edith Piaf, P.D. James books on tape, and Albertus Seba’s 18th-century Cabinet of Natural Curiosities.” Or, later: “[W]ords are her capital. Dinner is punctuated by staccato bursts of laughter and occasional forays into pidgin French, Marilyn Monroe imitations, and discussions of atoms . . . ”
This is as bad as it gets — but the wince-inducing content doesn’t vanish immediately. Another “Vanitas” item sizes up the performance of Harvard men and women in the midterm elections, noting that Congressmen Barney Frank and Jane Harman will be taking over the Financial Services and Intelligence Committees, and concludes: “Harvard in charge of money and intelligence: That sounds about right.” Later, Anula Jayasuriya, a private-equity bigwig who’s part of one of this issue’s featured “power couples,” discusses separation from her relatives in India near the end of the piece on her and her husband, David Gilmour. “Of course I miss my family,” Jayasuriya tells writer Tara Leonard. “But David and Shanika [their daughter] are much more focused on hearth and home. I’m a nomad at heart. I have a sense of home in many places.” The piece could end there — but Leonard can’t help herself. “Including Harvard,” she adds. Awww.
Thankfully, this prose persona — call it the Smarmy Admissions Rep — is just one of 02138’s three editorial voices. A second, which I’ll creatively dub the Reporter, is primarily interested in the unusual pursuits of certain Harvard grads, as well as the bigger questions posed by their activities. In the debut issue, for example, the Reporter gave us a fascinating profile of Jerome Corsi, a Harvard PhD and right-wing activist. In the Winter 2007 issue, meanwhile, the Reporter can be found in John Sedgwick’s profile of string-theory debunker Peter Woit; in a visually stunning photo essay on modern China by Mark Leong that’s accompanied by an Orville Schell essay; and in a mini-profile of Richard Wayner, who helped launch the polyglot hip-hop network Trace TV. This is a hunch, but based on Kim and Loss’s remarks, this seems to be the persona they favor most. (“These are the people through whom you can personalize bigger stories, bigger issues,” Kim told the Phoenix.)
