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 . . . ”
