Issue no.2 October - December 2009

Welcome to the second issue of KERB (and our first issue online). You may have known us in our previous incarnations as HOT, WILD & FREE and hwfmag, both of which appeared exclusively online.

In April of this year we went to print with issue no.1. We learned a lot, feel proud of much of what we achieved, recognise our many shortcomings and have decided the best way to further improve KERB is online - for now.

Everything changes so fast (when you get to my age!). Not only have I never yet owned an iPod or a digital camera, I never even got around to buying a Walkman... Does this make me a dinosaur? If not, how about this: I edit an online magazine but lament the trend - or do I mean lemming-like rush? - towards online and digital media and the consequent demise of print journalism. The Internet has enormous potential to bring people together, bring awareness of the world and contribute towards changing it. Yet more often than not it provides yet another excuse to keep us apart, to fragment us.

At a recent meeting in support of saving The Observer - the world's oldest Sunday newspaper - the point was made that the Internet allows amateurs, and sometimes very irresponsible amateurs, to take the place of trained and responsible journalists with the resources and backing to investigate fully, and editorial boards to whom they are accountable. (By contrast there is of course Jan Moir and the Daily Mail…) And the Internet too easily enables us to be self-selecting. We can choose what we want to read, and never so much as browse the stuff we don't think important. Flicking through a newspaper or magazine brings with it the possibility of discovering an article you'd never search for online, and the chance to open yourself up to an issue, a point of view, a situation that you wouldn't have found in the virtual world.

I'd like to think you'll take the time to read all our articles and enjoy all our photo shoots. We'll be setting up forums shortly for you to discuss what you see and read. We want to engage our readers in discussion here online and we hope these conversations will carry on offline.

We have plans to organise events and meetings in the real world where issues raised in KERB can be explored in a variety of engaging and provocative ways. And we look forward to the time when we shall become a viable print publication - while maintaining and developing our online presence. I don’t think the age of print journalism is over. Foolishly perhaps, and certainly against the better judgement of many, I predict a renaissance of print media. Look out for the article dealing with this as part of our rolling out of new material which will characterise the way we shall be working online.

So… real men… we know we have barely touched upon this theme. We’ve said nothing about men and violence - especially violence against women, and the alarming rise of gun and knife crime among young men; nor men at war; or the complexities of being transgender - and the feelings of discomfort this engenders in many who feel no confusion over their identity. In fact we haven’t grappled with a vast range of topics which we could have done. But we have raised some interesting issues, some provocative, some funny, that we hope with start the conversation. We shall be adding material all the time while issue no.2 is live - and we shall be inviting you to make your contributions to the subject.

Developments will be highlighted on this page

Be part of KERB's future online, and also offline at our London-based events - details of our future plans will appear soon. (By the way, we had a great launch party back in April - you can take a look for yourself in the Events section...)

Thanks for stopping by.

Here’s to being real, not virtual.

CONTACTS

EDITOR Tony Green

tony.green@kerbmag.co.uk

07900883910

ASSISTANT EDITOR Sam Waterman

sam.waterman@kerbmag.co.uk

FASHION EDITOR Gavin Pierre Medford

gavin.medford@kerbmag.co.uk

Tony Green

EDITOR