4 ms·

MIT Tech Review sort of has a reputation for doing this.

Animats 12y ago
Yes, they do. It should be embarrassing for MIT. They're not run by MIT. They're a startup in San Francisco which somehow acquired the rights to MIT's old in-house magazine. Their self-description: "an innovative, digitally oriented global media company whose reach is rapidly expanding." Their articles about "nanotechnology" (they mean surface chemistry) are even worse.
- jph00 12y ago
  That seems like a stretch - according to Wikipedia : "The magazine is published by Technology Review, Inc, an independent media company owned by MIT. MIT's website lists it as an MIT publication, and the MIT News Office states that "the magazine often uses MIT expertise for some of its content."
- _delirium 12y ago
  They have gotten more dissociated from MIT in the past decade, but I believe MIT still owns the company that currently publishes it, so ultimately has some kind of control (or could in principle have control, if they cared to exercise it). I think overall they probably aren't unhappy with it, since MIT has long had quite a bit of tolerance (or even love) for the scientific hype machine, and the backlash tends to be infrequent and almost exclusively among academics, while the general public eats it up. I don't really single out MIT; plenty of universities' PR offices, if given the chance, would publish a magazine similar or worse. Though perhaps with their large reach and stacks of cash, MIT could afford to be more careful than most, and set a better example.
  - analog31 12y ago
    I don't really single out MIT; plenty of universities' PR offices, if given the chance, would publish a magazine similar or worse. cough Harvard Business Review cough
- ghaff 12y ago
  They apparently have an office in SF these days but they also have an office in Cambridge. They're also still the MIT Alumni magazine. Honestly, they get wrapped up in the hype for new technologies sometimes but they seem a pretty reliable source for technology news overall. They are technology optimists and are in the business of writing about new technologies but it's easy to cherry-pick articles that get overly enthusiastic. By contrast, a recent cover story delved into troll hunting for example.

Yes, they do. It should be embarrassing for MIT. They're not run by MIT. They're a startup in San Francisco which somehow acquired the rights to MIT's old in-house magazine. Their self-description: "an innovative, digitally oriented global media company whose reach is rapidly expanding." Their articles about "nanotechnology" (they mean surface chemistry) are even worse.

jph00 12y ago
That seems like a stretch - according to Wikipedia : "The magazine is published by Technology Review, Inc, an independent media company owned by MIT. MIT's website lists it as an MIT publication, and the MIT News Office states that "the magazine often uses MIT expertise for some of its content."
_delirium 12y ago
They have gotten more dissociated from MIT in the past decade, but I believe MIT still owns the company that currently publishes it, so ultimately has some kind of control (or could in principle have control, if they cared to exercise it). I think overall they probably aren't unhappy with it, since MIT has long had quite a bit of tolerance (or even love) for the scientific hype machine, and the backlash tends to be infrequent and almost exclusively among academics, while the general public eats it up. I don't really single out MIT; plenty of universities' PR offices, if given the chance, would publish a magazine similar or worse. Though perhaps with their large reach and stacks of cash, MIT could afford to be more careful than most, and set a better example.
- analog31 12y ago
  I don't really single out MIT; plenty of universities' PR offices, if given the chance, would publish a magazine similar or worse. cough Harvard Business Review cough
ghaff 12y ago
They apparently have an office in SF these days but they also have an office in Cambridge. They're also still the MIT Alumni magazine. Honestly, they get wrapped up in the hype for new technologies sometimes but they seem a pretty reliable source for technology news overall. They are technology optimists and are in the business of writing about new technologies but it's easy to cherry-pick articles that get overly enthusiastic. By contrast, a recent cover story delved into troll hunting for example.