Carnegie
Corporation
of New York
Spring 2008
Looking Ahead
As they continue to seek ways to re-energize Boston Review, Cohen
and Chasman concentrate on the concept of a niche publication for their
dedicated community of readers. In an effort to expand the newsstand presence
of Boston Review, the editors are working with Stephanie Skinner,
publisher, to plan a redesign of the print version of the magazine, so
it can compete more effectively for newsstand space. The current oversize
Boston Review format relegates copies of the publication to a
flat display area on the bottom of newsstand shelves. “To revamp
Boston Review and do a much larger national distribution, we
are planning to redesign the publication to make it more of a magazine
size and give it more heft and the perception of quality to match the
standards of the editorial content,” Skinner says. Another avenue
that is being explored is how to provide a media-rich environment that
will give added prominence to an article by promoting author interviews
on radio and television shows.
The emphasis on delivering Boston Review’s content in new ways while reinvigorating the print version as well was one that intrigued Carnegie Corporation’s Susan King. “When we revived the Dissemination Program there were many within the Corporation who argued against supporting books or scholarly journals since the energy had moved from the printed word to the electronic platform,” she explains. “But under Corporation President Vartan Gregorian, the foundation’s emphasis has always been on the content of communications and the importance of what is being communicated, not simply on the medium through which it is being communicated.”
Adds King, “When Deborah Chasman, with whom we had worked at Beacon Books, moved to Boston Review and emphasized the desire to concentrate on outreach, experimentation and a series of books exploring democratic ideas, we thought that Boston Review offered real opportunity. The investment in the bi-monthly journal emphasized our scholars for whom we wanted a larger audience, but also recognized the effort that Chasman and the leadership brought to the idea of re-energizing Boston Review so that it would find an expanded audience on the Internet. The number of readers who have been introduced to Glenn Loury’s work, for example, is testament to the power of content, the passion of an institution to be reborn on different platforms without compromising its values, and the importance of leaders like Cohen and Chasman.”
The success of the new web site has also encouraged the editors to continue tweaking the site in ways that will draw more visitors. Already, the home page is being changed more frequently, and the site is being geared up to handle more paid advertising and take donations online. These and other efforts are focused on finding more readers who enjoy exploring the world of ideas. Re-tooling Boston Review and the launch of its new web site, both of which Carnegie Corporation has supported, have moved the publication from being simply an intellectual journal of literary and policy ideas to a destination for people searching for new ideas and new voices. “Knowledge and the dissemination of knowledge are two of the most powerful tools at our command,” says Vartan Gregorian. “While striving to meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must bear in mind that dissemination of knowledge is only effective if that knowledge reaches its intended audience. As we seek to overcome the complications associated with information overload, we must remain mindful of the need to focus our efforts, so that we do indeed disseminate knowledge to the people for whom it is most useful.”
The re-energized Boston Review is doing exactly that.