"The feeling here was that the University is amajor force in American society, and that this wasa milestone in its history," says Alvin P. Sanoff,a U.S. News senior editor. The magazine also plansto cover the birthday bash itself, though"probably more as a Harvard celebration story thanas a big public policy story--barring somethingsignificant," Sanoff says.
By far the most reflective piece inspired bythe 350th appeared in the pages of The NewRepublic. In the magazine's September 8 issue,Professor of History Charles S. Maier '60 toucheson a host of current Harvard affairs, and writesthat "at 350, the prevailing attitude amongstudents and faculty seems to be one of cautiousincrementalism and earnest moralism: a whiggishequipoise. This is certainly Derek Bok'sposture..."
Cautious incrementalism, though, has notcharacterized coverage of Harvard and its 350th inthe nation's major daily newspapers. Leading thepack is, not surprisingly, The Boston Globe.
The Globe published a 72-page magazine sectionon "Harvard at 350" last Sunday and will have 12reporters and eight photographers covering theevent itself. The magazine provides the onlycoverage in the media of the ups and (mostly)downs of town-gown relations, and the onlyextensive discussion of women at Harvard. The restof the special supplement, however, provides onlya conventional view of the institution and theevent.
Several articles have appeared in The Globeleading up to the Celebration, most notably anexhaustive duo by Gil Fuchsberg '85 providing aclose look at the current state of Harvardfinances and its marketing of the 350th. The Globewill cover the three convocations and 16 of themore provocative and potentially newsworthysymposia, says Anne Weyman, who is coordinatingthe paper's 350th coverage.
The New York Times prides itself as thenation's paper of record, and editors in its West43rd Street offices consider goings-on at theCollege on the Charles among the news that's fitto print. A rhapsodic cover piece on Harvard at350, for instance, graced the The Times's SundayMagazine earlier this summer. However, The Timesdoes not plan the type of comprehensive coverageof the 350th which garnered it a Pulitzer 50 yearsago.
"It's hard to judge [the celebration] as a newsevent, and an anniversary story per se doesn'texcite us," says Times Deputy National EditorDaniel Lewis. "[The 350th] is hard to define as anews event that requires a full-court press."
The Washington Post, though, did not have muchtrouble defining the event. The Post will run its350th stories in the paper's "Style" pages. "It'sa ceremonial event, and that's where we coverceremonial events," says Mary Hadar, the Post'sstyle editor.
Still, The Times will run a daily round-upstory on happenings at the 350th, and publishgeneral features on the University by BostonBureau Chief Fox Butterfield '61.
Lewis says the paper "is tending to underplaythe thing" because of the prominent magazinearticle, and the University's decision to portraythe 350th--unlike the 300th--as an event withoutgreat reverberations beyond Harvard Yard. "Ourproblem is figuring out how we can report thisseriously without covering every nickle and dime,"he says.
Perhaps the most prescient thinking behinddecisions to cover or not to cover went on insidethe editorial offices of the Wall Street Journal.After publishing a caustic preview of the 350th inmid-August, the paper has no plans, barring anyunforeseen events newsworthy in and of themselves,to cover 350th festivities. "Our philosophy is togive our readers what they need to know," says thepaper's Boston bureau head Larry Ingrassia, "notmore than they need to know."