Tuesday

March, a journal
of young ideas

New Gen Y literary title in spirit of New Yorker

By Jeff Bercovici

   If recent publishing history has taught us anything, it is this: Young people are dumb.
   Or if not actually dumb, they at least have very short attention spans and are easily distracted. The only way to communicate with them is in little bite-sized chunks of information, washed down by plenty of charts, photos, sidebars, eye-catching graphics and cheeky humor.
    That, at least, is the conventional wisdom nowadays, and it’s reflected in booming new magazines such as Maxim, ESPN the Magazine and Lucky, to name just a few.
   Now there comes a magazine intent on challenging that wisdom. Called March, its objective is to entertain readers in their twenties — so-called Generation Y — with long-form narrative journalism about matters of art, politics and culture.
   In light of the dwindling number of publications with similar aspirations, the question begs to be asked: Is trying to make young people read a smart magazine a dumb idea?
   From a business standpoint, it may be, acknowledges Adam Van Loon, March's editor in chief and publisher.
   He sees March, which published its first issue this month and will enter regular bimonthly publication this spring, as no less than the inevitable successor to such august titles as The New Yorker, Harper's and The Atlantic Monthly -- titles that, in his opinion, appeal mainly to older readers.
   "There really is no magazine out there that can be considered a general-topic literary magazine geared to this audience," says Van Loon, who was previously a contributing editor at the Washington Square News in New York City.
   Of course, there's an excellent reason that publishers haven't been falling over themselves to fill this void: literary magazines are notorious money-losers, to the point where Conde Nast Publications recently made a big deal of The New Yorker having actually turned a profit last year. Several literary magazines have shut down over the last few years, although one, the Oxford American, has announced plans to resume publication this month under new ownership.
   Van Loon says he is aware of the genre's financial track record but hopeful nonetheless that March, which is based in Portland, Ore., can eke out a profit by keeping overhead very low.
    Toward that end, the magazine, which is backed by a consortium of private investors, opted to debut quietly with a tiny press run of 15,000 rather than go with a splashier rollout.
    "We're ready to face the challenge that running a literary magazine presents and we understand the business difficulties of doing so, but we believe it's possible to make money," says Van Loon.
   For such a small undertaking, March was able to attract impressively high-profile contributors for its first issue, including political cartoonist Ted Rall and humorist Neal Pollock.
   Van Loon says March will feature "edgier, quirkier subject matter and more eye-catching design" than established literary magazines. Members of Generation Y, he says, differ from their elders chiefly in that their tastes tend to be more eclectic.
   "I don't think that there is the same exclusivity of interest now as there used to be," says Van Loon. "People who read our magazine are as comfortable listening to the Strokes as to jazz, as comfortable going to see a French independent film as they are watching 'The Simpsons.'"
   The lineup of stories in March's preview issue is accordingly diverse, with articles on the music industry's hype machine, Evel Knievel’s philanthropic activities, and the dating scene as seen through the eyes of a devout Buddhist.
   Samir Husni, a professor of magazine journalism at the University of Mississippi and expert on launches, says the first issue of March is promising.
   "It has a lot of good content, although there's a lot that could be done to the magazine in terms of making it more visually appealing," says Husni.
    He is doubtful, however, that March will ever be profitable.
   "They'll have to find a sugar daddy. Literary magazines have always been a tough sell. The literary magazines still making it are those funded by a foundation or some kind of big donor who wants to support a cause."

-Jeff Bercovici is a staff writer for Media Life.

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