The final Kevin Review of the year.. sigh. But at least it's one near and dear to my heart: the Berkeley Political Review.

Back in February I was pretty negative on BPR's chances of survival, based mainly on pessimistic fiscal predictions. I couldn't figure how a magazine with niche readership, shaky ASUC funding, and inexperienced Business managers could make it in a hostile ad market. But it appears I've been proven wrong: Calstuff's former roommate Pavneet Singh has signed up good levels of ad revenue, and Mr. Mokalla has secured good financing from the ASUC for next year. So that appears to be done with.

BPR finally found their stride with this issue. They went through growing pains-- most noticably a level of Egoism from writers and editors more concerned with getting bylines then good writing. Also timing difficulties and Editor/Writer mismatches. All normal first year stuff, but tough for a magazine that needed a running start.

But this is the issue that gelled. The cartoon on the front is clever; securing Squelch's Derek Yu was a coup. The articles are focused on facts and figures, not rhetoric. I feel a bit ashamed of my own article, which is rhetoric/jargon heavy compared to the others. I see lots of quotes from policymakers, skillful use of studies, etc. This automatically improves the level of writing.

Not to say I agree with all the articles, most noticeably Editor Matteen's Proposition article. But solidness is the watchword. The layout is tasteful. The photos show pixelation, but are well chosen.

But BPR still hasn't passed from interesting but still second-tier opinion leader to coming up with new angles and ideas. Everything in the issue I've seen elsewhere at some point. Next year I'll be pushing for nothing but new angles for every issue, no matter how easy it would be to redo Enron.

So hey, alright. Gonna be a good next year.
Email This Post!