Mostly Harmless (Magazine)

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Mostly Harmless
Type	Monthly newspaper
Format	Compact

Owner	Durham University Student Society: Mostly Harmless
Publisher	Independent
Editor	Magnus Taylor, Siddarth Khajuria, Tom Walker
Founded	2006
Price	Free
Headquarters	Crossgate House

Website: Mostly-Harmless.org.uk

Mostly Harmless is a Durham University-based student satirical magazine, published twice termly. The name is a reference to the Douglas Adams novel Mostly Harmless. The current editors are Magnus Taylor, Siddharth Khajuria and Tom Walker.

1 The Beginning of Mostly Harmless
2 Features
3 Format
4 Reception
5 Website
6 References
7 External links

[edit] The Beginning of Mostly Harmless

Mostly Harmless was founded in 2006, as a response to the general consensus that the existence of only one student newspaper in Durham (see Palatinate) did not provide a sufficient outlet for all the potential student journalists (the fact of 'not being Palatinate' is a continued selling point of the publication^[1]). To this end, Mostly Harmless was loosely modelled on the British satirical magazine Private Eye, incorporating a satirical approach to local (primarily student) events and national news stories^[2]. Many of the shorter stories are often -- either partially or severely -– fictionalised (e.g. 'Sociology Student Deconstructs Himself').

[edit] Features

In addition to satirical stories, the magazine includes a 'Comment' section, which publishes student essays on current issues, often written in a deliberately amusing or sardonic tone. As such, the magazine often blurs the boundary between genuine comment articles and invented satire, the intention being to convey a serious point by humourous means.

Other features include spoof diary entries (written under the pseudonym Esther Rudolf), recollections of conversations with -- and writings of -- the fictional Marten Lamoney, (genuine) theatre reviews, and idiosyncratic and often rambling articles (e.g. 'Why I want to be a duck'). There are also cartoons, in a variety of styles, photographs with amusing captions or speech bubbles added, unsolvable crosswords and word-searches, and advertisements for fictional University or Student Union campaigns.

Its humour, while similar to that of Private Eye, often displays a more 'freewheeling' spirit, with a strong taste for anti-humour and post-humour. In later issues of the magazine, there has been a notable increase in post-humour, particularly with the introduction of new cartoonists. The reason for this (as jokingly alluded to in many of the magazine's editorials) is the fact that, as all jokes have been done before, the only thing to now find funny is something which is entirely unfunny in every tangible way.

[edit] Format

The original intention was the print the magazine as A4 sized. However, as greater advertising potential was realised, there was the scope for a more ambitious format. The first six issues, published from October 2006 to December 2007, were in the Berliner format (the same size as The Guardian and Le Monde newspapers). These issues contained twelve pages. The seventh issue, published in January 2008, was a reduced size (self-mockingly alluded to on the front cover as "Handbag Sized"), equivalent to half-Berliner (the size of The Guardian 'G2' supplement).

The front page of the Berliner issues featured several stories, and a large picture (in issues 1 and 2 these were cartoons. Thereafter, photographs were featured). The new, smaller format features one picture that usually covers the whole page, sometimes relating to an article in the magazine, or simply a one-off joke.

[edit] Reception

In 2007 Mostly Harmless was voted 'Best New Society' by students in Durham Students' Union's annual student awards. Its then editors, Magnus Taylor and Siddharth Khajuria, were also voted Durham's 'Most Enterprising Students' in the same year. It has received a more mixed reception from the city's other student publications. Durham tabloid 'The Sanctuary' has criticized it as hailing from the 'arcane world of teenage bedroom geekdom,'^[3] and Chris Wright, writing in Durham21, has described the magazine's satirical content as 'an exercise in defeatism'.^[4]

[edit] Website

The Mostly Harmless website was built to coincide with the release of the first issue. Its objective was to enable the publication of stories that were not deemed suitable for publication (normally as a result of length or excessive obscurity of subject matter) or articles of immediate relevance which could not wait for the publication of the next issue. Due to several hosting issues, the website was not updated until the third issue.

During 2007, the website featured an archive of all previous issues and a 'blog' section, which could be added to by registered users and commented without registration. A variety of longer articles were published (at times with as frequent as daily updates) on a diverse range of subjects, including music and theatrical reviews.

A new website was launched in March 2008, which features all past issues in their original format, but no longer provides a blogging facility.