Joanna Weiss Turns the Page on Harvard Magazine’s Next Era

Taking the reins of Harvard Magazine during a turbulent moment on campus — marked by lawsuits, federal funding cuts, and challenges to Harvard’s ability to host international students — Joanna M. Weiss ’94, the publication’s newly-appointed editor, has found the chaos “exciting.”

“It’s challenging, for sure, but also exciting to have big things happening,” said Weiss, “and I feel like Harvard is really in the middle of this important conversation that the entire nation is having right now about higher ed.”

Weiss is returning to Harvard to lead its alumni publication after a long career in journalism that started with The Crimson, where she served as chair of the Editorial board. She continued to report after graduation, eventually moving back to Massachusetts to write for the Boston Globe in 1999.

Then she made a shift from daily reporting — she wrote for athenaInsight, a healthcare publication, before becoming editor-in-chief of Northeastern University’s Experience magazine.

“I was like, ‘Well, I’ve done a whole bunch of really great things at newspapers, and it was super fun. And here’s just a brand new thing,’” she said.

The change from daily news to magazine reporting “was really fun and exciting,” Weiss said.

“It’s just a really great universe of things to cover, and a great way to collaborate with a small team and do some really interesting things,” she said.

And when she discovered that the Harvard Magazine needed an editor, she knew she needed to look into it.

“I felt like it was just something I needed to explore,” she said.

Now, Weiss has taken over from Harvard Magazine’s long-serving previous editor John S. Rosenberg. Rosenberg, who retired in April, spent 30 years at the magazine’s helm.

The first print issue of Weiss’s tenure rolled out a week after Harvard’s Commencement, which “is always a big coverage endeavor for us,” Weiss said.

For the issue, Weiss said, the magazine wanted to delve deeper into the conflict between the University and federal government.

“We put together a very visual package that went a little bit deeper into different elements of the conflict that Harvard and the federal government are having right now,” Weiss said.

The magazine’s July-August issue included a breakdown of Harvard’s expenses and revenue sources, a timeline of conflict with the government, statements from former presidents, and a spread describing key figures in Harvard’s two lawsuits, styled like playing cards. The cover — depicting a pair of boxing gloves representing Harvard and the Trump administration — read, simply, “It’s on.”

“When I tell friends that I’ve returned to Harvard, 31 years after graduating from the College, to become the editor of Harvard Magazine, the response is always some permutation of ‘What a time to be there,’” Weiss wrote in an editor’s note. “It’s always a time at Harvard, but this is the most consequential in my memory, and perhaps in Harvard’s history.”

Weiss said the staff of the magazine dove into the financial and legal implications of the Trump administration’s standoff with Harvard to help readers “feel like they’re taking away a greater understanding of what is going on with the University,” Weiss said.

Throughout her career in media, Weiss has not only contributed to a number of written publications, but made television and radio appearances on countless national and international news outlets, including CNN, NPR, and SiriusXM.

The opportunity to oversee Harvard Magazine, Weiss said, offers her a unique opportunity to focus on a distinct audience.

“It ties into what I’ve done for most of my career, which is respond to the news, but also look for the next angle and the next angle and the next angle and how do you advance the story,” she said.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.

—Staff writer Caroline G. Hennigan can be reached at caroline.hennigan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cghennigan.