Interesting New Publisher and Business Model for 02138
Today’s New York Times reveals that a small publisher in New York, Manhattan Media, has acquired a magazine for Harvard alumni and hopes to make it a controlled circulation print/web/social network/events property. And then, if the model works, roll it out to the rest of the Ivies.
They’re acquiring 02138 [that’s the zip code for Cambridge, MA., in case you didn’t recognize it], a magazine for Harvard alumni currently owned by Atlantic Media, which owns The Atlantic and National Journal. 02138 is independent of Harvard University. It
first appeared in 2006, offering articles on alumni and staff, and campus goings-on. It publishes an annual Harvard 100, a ranking of the university’s most influential alumni: last year, its top five, in order, were Al Gore, President Bush, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Senator Barack Obama and Bill Gates.
I don’t know much about Manhattan Media; according to their website, they concentrate on community newspapers in (guess where?)-Manhattan. But the business model for this endeavor is mighty interesting-one I’ll pay attention to, even though I’m not a Harvard alumnus.
None of the coverage I’ve seen discusses where a renegade magazine like 02138 (not affiliated with the University) gets its subscriber database. As a Harvard alum who receives this piece of trash, I want to know if my fellow alums hijacked the “members only” address database/alumni directory, flouting the “not for commercial use” injunction, or if the University actually sold them the rights to use it (hardly likely given all the privacy statements). Are these people being praised, congratulated, and financially rewarded for their unethical opportunism? What else is new (especially for Harvard students and alums)?
Posted on May 16, 2008 by Gigi Edwards