As I sit in my air-conditioned home office writing this letter on my laptop, Spotify providing a soundtrack to keep me on task, I can’t help but consider the vast differences between my life and those of the MIT graduates who founded MIT Technology Review and laid out its pages by hand. My life—all of our lives—would amaze Arthur D. Little in countless ways.
(Not least is that I am the person to write this letter. When MITTR was founded, US women’s suffrage was still 20 years in the future. There were women at the Institute, but their numbers were small. Today, it is my honor to be the CEO and publisher of this storied title. And I’m proud to serve at an institution whose president and provost are both women.)
I came to MIT Technology Review to guide its digital transformation. Yet despite the pace of change in these past 125 years, my responsibilities are not vastly different from those of my predecessors. I’m here to ensure this publication—in all its digital, app-enabled, audio-supporting, livestreaming formats—carries on. I have a deep commitment to its mission of empowering its readers with trusted insights and information about technology’s potential to change the world.
During some chapters of its history, MIT Technology Review served as little more than an alumni magazine; through others, it leaned more heavily toward academic or journal-style publishing. During the dot-com era, MIT Technology Review invested large sums to increase circulation in pursuit of advertising pages comparable to the number in its counterparts of the time, the Industry Standard, Wired, and Business 2.0.
Through each of these chapters, I like to think, certain core principles remained consistent—namely, a focus on innovation and creativity in the face of new challenges and opportunities in publishing.
Today, MIT Technology Review sits in a privileged but precarious position in an industry struggling for viability. Print and online media is, frankly, in a time of crisis. We are fortunate to receive support from the Institute, enabling us to report the technology stories that matter most to our readers. We are driven to create impact, not profits for investors.
We appreciate our advertisers very much, but they are not why we are here. Instead, we are focused on our readers. We’re here for people who care deeply about how tech is changing the world. We hope we make you think, imagine, discern, dream. We hope to both inspire you and ground you in reality. We hope you find enough value in our journalism to subscribe and support our mission.
Operating MIT Technology Review is not an inexpensive endeavor. Our editorial team is made up of some of the most talented reporters and editors working in media. They understand at a deep level how technologies work and ask tough questions of tech leaders and creators. They’re skilled storytellers.