MIT Technology Review

Technology Review is an innovation and technology magazine affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It identifies itself as "An MIT Enterprise" and "MIT's Magazine of Innovation" and MIT's website lists it as an MIT publications.

Historically, it had been published by the MIT Alumni Association. It was relaunched in 1998 with a new publisher, new editor, new mission, and virtually all-new staff. The new editor stated that frankly that "nothing will be left of the old magazine except the name." (It nevertheless continues to use the original founding date of 1899 and claims to be "the oldest technology magazine in the world."Template:Fn) Since 2001 it has been published by Technology Review Inc., a nonprofit independent media company owned by MIT.

The current magazine primarily covers breakthroughs and current issues on fields such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and computing. Articles are also devoted to more mature disciplines such as energy, telecommunications, transportation, and the military.

First published in 1899 with a focus on scientific policy, a sharp transition occurred in 1996 when R. Bruce Journey was named publisher, the first full-time publisher the magazine had ever had. According to previous publisher William J. Hecht, although Technology Review had "long been highly regarded for its editorial excellence," the purpose of appointing Journey was to enhance its "commercial potential" and "secure a prominent place for Technology Review in the competitive world of commercial publishing." John Benditt replaced Steven J. Marcus as editor-in-chief, the entire staff was fired, and emphasis shifted to corporate and research topics.

Boston Globe columnist David Warsh, in a nostalgic lament for the older magazine, compared it to the F&T Deli and other beloved lost Cambridge eateries. He said that the magazine had been serving up "old 1960s views of things: humanist, populist, ruminative, suspicious of the unseen dimensions of new technologies" and had now been replaced with one that "takes innovation seriously and enthusiastically." Former editor Marcus characterized the magazine's new stance as "cheerleading for innovation."

In 2002 Robert Buderi was named editor-in-chief, replacing Benditt.

By 2003, circulation had tripled, from 92,000 prior to the re-launch to 315,000.

In 2004 Jason Pontin replaced Buderi.

In 2005, once ranked No. 1 in credibility in a survey of business and government leaders, was forced to retract several inaccurate articles it had published. The stories, by freelancer Michelle Delio, could not be corroborated. Editor-in-chief Pontin said "Of the ten stories which were published, only three were entirely accurate. In two of the stories, I'm fairly confident that Michelle Delio either did not speak to the person she said she spoke to, or misrepresented her interview with him."

Editor-in-Chief: Jason Pontin

President and CEO: R. Bruce Journey

Editor At Large: Robert Buderi

Senior Editors: Sally Atwood, Herb Brody, Wade Roush, Rebecca Zacks

Associate Editors: Corie Lok, Lisa Scanlon

Writers: David Talbot, Gregory T. Huang, Simson Garfinkel, Stephan Herrera, Charles C. Mann, Michael Schrage

There is a special MIT alumni edition every month that contains campus and class news.

Notes

Template:Fnb Scientific American has been published continuously since 1845. Presumably Technology Review has some criterion by which Scientific American does not qualify as a "technology magazine."

External Link

Technology Review homepage