Curb magazine celebrates a decade of student journalism

Ten years ago, a group of University of Wisconsin–Madison journalism students wanted to show how Wisconsin extends beyond the stereotypes of cheese curds and green and gold.

Since then, Curb magazine has featured everything from Sheboygan surfers to the state’s top 10 employers in the annual publication that encourages readers to step “beyond the curb” and discover everything Wisconsin has to offer.

“By diving into issues and subjects left untouched by most media, Curb presents the unseen but awe-inspiring side of Wisconsin,” editor and UW–Madison senior Emily Connor says.

The tradition continues this year with a fresh group of 20 journalism students, selected through an application process. They collaborate to create all content, raise more than $10,000 to print the magazine, distribute copies across the state and construct an online counterpart.

The staff and the editorial philosophy change annually, and this year’s team will highlight the intersections of the many identities within Wisconsin.

“While exploring differences, we were astounded to find many connections existed between our stories,” Connor says. “Even though our state has faced divisions at times, everyone truly does unite as Wisconsinites.”

The 2012 edition of Curb will be available Dec. 5 in both print and online platforms. Curb will also be adapted for Apple iBooks and available for free through iTunes. In 2010, the magazine was the first college student publication in the country to launch an iPad version through the App Store.

“The digital versions of Curb include additional video and audio content that make our stories about Wisconsin even richer,” says Molly Reppen, a senior who guides multimedia packages for the magazine. “Readers can [have] a more in-depth Curb experience.”

Students in the class each received an iPad for the semester, thanks to alumni donations and fundraising by past Curb staffs. The print version is made possible by contributions from Royle Printing in Sun Prairie, now in its third year of generous support of the magazine.

To celebrate the culmination of their work and the 10-year anniversary, this year’s staff will host a launch party Dec. 5 at HotelRED. Helping mark this occasion as the night’s keynote speaker is UW–Madison alum Ali Zelenko, who serves as vice president for communications at Time Inc.

The online version of the magazine will be available Dec. 5 at curbonline.com, and readers can visit the iTunes Store the same day to download Curb for the iPad.