Editing MIT Technology Review (section)

===Relaunch: 1998–2005===
A radical transition of the magazine occurred in 1996. At that time, according to the ''Boston Business Journal'',<ref name="bbj1998">{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/1998/04/13/story4.html|title=MIT's 'TR' undergoes revamping|work=Boston Business Journal|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref> in 1996 ''Technology Review'' had lost $1.6 million over the previous seven years and was "facing the possibility of folding" due to "years of declining advertising revenue."

R. Bruce Journey was named publisher, the first full-time publisher in the magazine's history. 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."<ref name="globe1999">''The Boston Globe'', April 25, 1999, p. G1</ref> John Benditt replaced Steven J. Marcus as editor-in-chief, the entire editorial staff was fired, and the modern ''Technology Review'' was born.

''Boston Globe'' columnist David Warsh<ref name="globewarsh1998">''The Boston Globe'', April 21, 1998, p. C1 "Gloom, Doom and Boom at MIT." Warsh analogized the old TR with beloved departed Cambridge eateries like the F&T Deli.</ref> described the transition by saying that the magazine had been serving up "old 1960s views of things: [[Humanism|humanist]], [[Populism|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."

Under Bruce Journey, ''Technology Review'' billed itself as "MIT's Magazine of Innovation". Since 2001, it has been published by Technology Review Inc., a nonprofit independent media company owned by MIT.<ref name="corporation">[http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corp/corpsearch/CorpSearchSummary.asp?ReadFromDB=True&UpdateAllowed=&FEIN=000803209] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430204955/http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corp/corpsearch/CorpSearchSummary.asp?ReadFromDB=True&UpdateAllowed=&FEIN=000803209|date=April 30, 2013}}</ref>

Intending to appeal to business leaders, editor John Benditt said in 1999, "We're really about new technologies and how they get commercialized." ''Technology Review'' 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]], [[transport]]ation, and the [[military]].

Since Journey, ''Technology Review'' has been distributed as a regular mass-market magazine and appears on newsstands. By 2003, circulation had more than tripled from 92,000 to 315,000, about half that of ''[[Scientific American]],'' and included 220,000 paid subscribers and 95,000 sent free to MIT alumni. Additionally, in August 2003, a German edition of ''Technology Review'' was started in cooperation with the publishing house [[Heinz Heise]] (circulation of about 50,000 as of 2005). According to The ''New York Times'',<ref name="nyt2004">{{cite news |last1=Daly |first1=Emma |title=Glossy Alumni Magazines Seek More Than Graduates |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/10/education/glossy-alumni-magazines-seek-more-than-graduates.html |access-date=4 February 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=10 November 2004}}</ref> as of 2004 the magazine was still "partly financed by M.I.T. (though it is expected to turn a profit eventually)."

''Technology Review'' also functions as the MIT alumni magazine; the edition sent to alumni contains a separate section, "MIT News," containing items such as alumni class notes. This section is not included in the edition distributed to the general public.

The magazine is published by Technology Review, Inc, an independent media company owned by MIT. MIT's website lists it as an MIT publication,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/offices/category/publications.html|title=MIT – offices+services|work=Mit.edu|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref> and the MIT News Office states that "the magazine often uses MIT expertise for some of its content." In 1999 ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' noted that (apart from the alumni section) "few ''Technology Review'' articles actually concern events or research at MIT."<ref name="globe1999a">''The Boston Globe'', April 25, 1999, p. G1 "MIT Tech Magazine, On Plateau, Finds Killer App: Commercialism"</ref> However, in the words of editor Jason Pontin:

<blockquote>Our job is not to promote MIT; but we analyse and explain emerging technologies,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitaltechnologyreview.com/|title=Emerging Technologies Reviews}}</ref> and because we believe that new technologies are, generally speaking, a good thing, we do indirectly promote MIT's core activity: that is, the development of innovative technology.<ref name="pontin2005">Jason Pontin, personal email to Dpbsmith, August 27, 2005</ref></blockquote>

From 1997 to 2005, R. Bruce Journey held the title of "publisher"; Journey was also the president and CEO of Technology Review, Inc. Editors-in-chief have included John Benditt (1997), [[Robert Buderi]] (2002), and Jason Pontin (2004).

The magazine has won numerous Folio! awards, presented at the annual magazine publishing trade show conducted by ''Folio!'' magazine. In 2001, these included a "Silver Folio: Editorial Excellence Award" in the consumer science and technology magazine category and many awards for [[typography]] and [[graphic design|design]].<ref name="folioawards">{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/techreview-1128.html|title=Technology Review wins six awards|author=David Rapp, Technology Review|date=28 November 2001|work=MIT News|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref> In 2006, ''Technology Review'' was named a finalist in the "general excellence" category of the annual National Magazine Awards, sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors.<ref name="nationalmagawards">{{cite web |url=http://searchpdffiles.com/asme-announces-national-magazine-award-finalists |title=Archived copy |website=searchpdffiles.com |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211231509/http://searchpdffiles.com/asme-announces-national-magazine-award-finalists |archive-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On June 6, 2001, ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' and [[CNET]] Networks launched a publication entitled ''Fortune/CNET Technology Review''.<ref name="cnet">{{Cite news|last=Wall Street Journal Staff|date=2001-01-22|title=Fortune, Cnet Enter Pact For Issues of Tech Reviews|language=en-US|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB980129643559129850|access-date=2021-03-11|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> MIT sued<ref name="bbj2001">{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2001/06/18/daily9.html|title=MIT sues Time Inc. over magazine name|work=Boston Business Journal|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref> ''Fortune''{{'}}s parent corporation, [[Time, Inc.]] for infringement of the ''Technology Review'' trademark.<ref name="trademark">Trademark registration 0668713, registered October 21, 1958, to "Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology" and renewed in 1999.</ref> The case was quickly settled. In August the MIT student newspaper reported that lawyers for MIT and Time were reluctant to discuss the case, citing a confidentiality agreement that both sides described as very restrictive. Jason Kravitz, a Boston attorney who represented MIT in the case, suggested that the magazine's change of name to ''Fortune/CNET Tech Review'', a change that occurred in the middle of the case, may have been part of the settlement.<ref name="thetech2001">{{cite web|url=http://tech.mit.edu/V122/N36/36lawsuit.36n.html|title=MIT Finishes Three Lawsuits, Initiates One During Summer|publisher=Mit.edu|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref>

Many publications covering specific technologies have used "technology review" as part of their names, such as [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|Lawrence Livermore Labs]]'s ''Energy & Technology Review'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.llnl.gov/etr/etr.html|title=Energy and Technology Review|work=Llnl.gov|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref> [[Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education|AACE]]'s ''Educational Technology Review'',<ref>[http://www.aace.org/pubs/etr/issue4/index.cfm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051017042334/http://www.aace.org/pubs/etr/issue4/index.cfm|date=October 17, 2005}}</ref> and the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]]'s ''Nuclear Technology Review.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC48/Documents/gc48inf-4_new.pdf |title=Nuclear Technology Review 2004 |publisher=Iaea.org |access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref>

The magazine adopted a more serious tone in a 2004 redesign.<ref name="2004 redesign">{{cite news |last1=Shannon |first1=Victoria |title=M.I.T. Technology Review Adopts More Serious Tone |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/business/media/mit-technology-review-adopts-more-serious-tone.html |access-date=5 February 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=13 December 2004}}</ref>

In 2005, ''Technology Review'', along with ''[[Wired News]]'' and other technology publications, was embarrassed by the publication of a number of stories by freelancer [[Michelle Delio]] containing information which 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."<ref name="globe2005" /> The stories were retracted.