From technology to sex, Graham Webster and Nathaniel Whittemore want to give college students new ways to think about the issues that face them.
This week the two Northwestern students launched the first issue of The Passenger, a magazine aimed at speaking to their peers.
“The focus of the magazine is to be the journal of the generation that we’re all a part of and to help the generation find its identity and become more cohesive,” said Webster, a Medill sophomore and former Daily online editor.
After working for a little more than a year, Webster and Whittemore placed 150 copies of the 28-page magazine at different locations on the Evanston Campus for the first time Monday. The first edition addressed how students make and perceive music with a lead story on the ethics of downloading music.
Future issues could focus on sex or the concept of a global generation, said Whittemore, a Weinberg sophomore and the publication’s business manager.
Although the first issue was distributed this week, the magazine will be launched officially in January 2005.
“It’s looking at cross-cultural points of interest and framing the questions we’re asking in terms of this generation,” Whittemore said.
Last year, Webster and Whittemore began talking about creating a magazine that would change the way college students view the world in a way other magazines have not.
Medill Prof. Abe Peck and Medill Assistant Prof. Charles Whitaker advised the students while the magazine was being developed.
Whitaker said he thought NU “desperately” needed a student magazine.
“I think there’s something about a magazine and long form writing that speaks to each generation in a way that is more complete and sometimes more moving and slightly more eloquent,” he said.
The professors also aided with financing the magazine by helping Webster receive a one-time grant from the Medill School of Journalism.
The grant paid for about half the publication costs, Webster said, and the remaining was paid for by advertising and an independent investor who is interested in the magazine.
Some students at Norris University Center on Wednesday said they were not aware of the magazine, but said they would read it if they knew about it.
“I saw one, but I didn’t pick one up because I thought it was some form,” said Matthew Banti, a Weinberg junior.
The Passenger’s editorial staff held a recruitment meeting Wednesday night to attract new writers. Most who attended the meeting said were excited that the magazine would give them a chance to publish longer articles.
“I feel like my efforts are more appreciated and I can have a bigger impact,” said Tasneem Chithiwala, a Medill freshman.
Brad Hirn, a Weinberg freshman, said he was impressed by the first issue and wants to contribute to the magazine.
“It has a creative element to it, but it has a purpose as well,” he said.
Webster said that although the edition was a little rough, he was happy with the staff’s first effort.
“I don’t think it could’ve come out any better,” Webster said.
