Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day. Posting will resume Tuesday.

The New Quarterly presents storytelling in Stratford in aid of breast cancer funder

The New Quarterly, an award-winning and critically acclaimed literary magazine published in Waterloo is presenting two spoken word programs drawn from its pages, in Stratford this summer (one, next week).It is part of a larger series of song, dance and the spoken word throughout the summer in support of THE QUILT: A Breast Cancer Support Project.)Forbidden Fruit & Forbidding Mushrooms - a pair of

The Devil Wears Prada Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna about The Devil Wears Prada

Not Currently Available

Is TVO to become yet another ad competitor?

It's a sideline issue about another medium, but there is one interesting aspect about the announcement yesterday about TV Ontario's revamp. A story in today's Toronto Star says that one of the outcomes may be selling advertising on the previously ad-free channel."While Education Minister Sandra Pupatello pledged $7.5 million in new funding for each of the next two years for digital equipment and

Kinder, gentler couture the rule at Canadian fashion mags

The devil may be in the details, but not in Prada, in Canada at least. Comparisons with the just-released movie, The Devil Wears Prada, based on former Vogue intern Lauren Weisberger's "fictional" memoirs of her own experience working for the tyrant Anna Wintour at Vogue are a long way from how things are in Canadian magazines."The truth is that the Canadian magazine industry can't pay anyone

Third time lucky?

Cut down by its investors twice before, hip New York magazine Radar is taking another run, according to an interview with the New York Times. Maer Roshan said the magazine’s web site will be launched in August, but the magazine itself won’t hit newsstands until 2007. Radar was launched in 2003 and was suspended a few issues later because of money woes. News tycoon Mortimer Zuckerman financed a

ABC rolls out self-serve, "Rapid Reporting"

The Audit Bureau of Circulations is rolling out "Rapid Reporting". An article in Folio: says that consumer magazine members in good standing will be allowed voluntarily to report their top-line circulation data on an issue-by-issue basis, usually within weeks of circulation to subscribers and on newsstands. Information on the system is available here, including samples and a tutorial. Starting

OMDC application deadline announced

Half the magazines published in Canada are published in Ontario, so it's a big deal when there's some money available. The Ontario Media Development Corporation has put out a call for its Magazine Fund. It provides support up to $25,000 for projects that have clear, objective and measurable results that will support the overall business growth of Ontario-based magazine. Several kinds of projects

Good news for B2B magazines -- they work

More than half the executives who read business to business magazines (B2B) have acted on an ad they saw, according to a new study by Harris Interactive conducted on behalf of American Business Media (ABM)."Fifty-seven percent [of respondents] said it had caused them to make a purchase or recommend a purchase" for their company, recalled Regina Corso, research director for Harris Interactive. "

Naughty, but not that naughty

The raunchier they get, the more nervous the industry gets, at least in Great Britain. So called "lad mags" are in danger of being segregated to the top, back row of the newsstands, behind the modesty shields and in company with skin books unless the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) can persuade the British Parliament otherwise.According to a story in the Guardian, The PPA has written to

Maclean's closing...early

[THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED] The current Macleans (July 1) contains the news that the magazine, which has been published on Mondays for as long as anyone can remember, is going to come out on Thursday from now on."After nearly 30 years of putting out a magazine every Monday, Maclean's has decided to stop. From now on, we'll be putting out a magazine every Thursday," said the upfront note from the

Free magazines are less valued & lack awareness, says MMR study

Was that a slight shiver that ran down the backs of the necks of controlled magazine publishers everywhere? Could be because they have seen a recent study commissioned by Emmis Communications, one of the largest publishers of city and regional magazines in the U.S. (Texas Monthly, Atlanta Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, Cincinnati Magazine).The results of the admitedly

Fuller signs on for another, richer, tour

Bonnie Fuller, the celebrity-magazine editor has renewed her contract as editorial director for American Media for three years. According to the New York Times, she signed the new deal on Friday and is to receive the same $1.5 million annual base salary as in her current three-year contract, but more in bonuses over the next three years than she did in the previous three."Under her old contract,

Taking the long view

Masthead magazine does the industry a huge favour each year by calculating total revenue for the top 50 magazines in the country. It is done by multiplying the advertising pages tracked by LNA and the key 1x page rate and the audited circulation numbers published by the magazines. Masthead applies a weighting factor to take account of discounts and special offers and, while publishers grumble

High stakes advertising; what's the deal?

The so-called "World Series of Poker", is running an insert in the July issue of Maxim magazine, (on Canadian newsstands now) and featuring Full Tilt Poker star player and erstwhile sex symbol, Clonie Gowen. She is a member of "Team Full Tilt", a group of accomplished poker players assembled to play each other and all comers online by Fulltiltpoker.com. In turn, the Full Tilt Poker software is

Is traffic killing us?

Spacing magazine, which this year won a gold medal in the Editorial Package category* in the National Magazine Awards, runs something called spacingwire, a daily log of interesting articles on urban planning and environmental issues that should be of great interest to all of us. One posting caught our eye, discussing the effects of traffic on health, based on a report released this spring by the

Magawards TV

For those who weren't able to show up, booze and schmooze, the National Magazine Awards Foundation has now posted a web show that includes a video record of the awards night at the Carlu in Toronto on June 9. It's a welcome innovation, not least because it makes available a record of the host's best (and worst) jokes and the finalists and winners that goes beyond the terse paragraph of the news

Group buy offered in horseracing books

Two smallish Canadian horse magazines -- HorseLife Magazine, the official publication of Equine Canada and The Racing Journal, a print and online publication which covers thoroughbred and quarter horse racing in Western Canada and the United States -- have signed on with Racing Unified Network (R.U.N.), a wholly owned subsidiary of Toronto-based Sungold International Holdings. R.U.N. will sell

Howe takes over Canadian Living and Homemaker's

Very good news that Canadian Living and Homemaker's have been added to the responsibility of Vice-President and Group Publsiher Jacqueline Howe at Transcontinental, according to an article in mastheadonline (sub req'd). This consolidates English language consumer publishing for the company in Toronto. Howe, the former president of Avid Media, joined Transcon when it bought Avid (Canadian

Canada Post rate increase likely to be 3%

Canada Post has apparently heard what the magazine industry was saying and moderated its rate increase, which will come into effect in January. According to a letter sent to Canada Post president Moya Greene by Magazines Canada President Mark Jamison, the rate increase will be about 3%. It will be officially announced in July. Last year, in some categories, postage rates for magazines in some

Corporate Knights dubs Shoppers tops

Corporate Knights magazine named Shopper's Drug Mart as Top Corporate Citizen as part of the fifth annual ranking of Canada's Best 50 Corporate Citizens. The rankings, sponsored by The Ethical Funds Company, will be published in the June 26th issue.Companies are measured against 13 different indicators including tax generation, pension fund coverage, toxic releases, transparency around political

Av***ance char**ters

Fun piece in Language Log about the cat-and-mouse game that ensued as Chinese censors tried, and sometimes failed, to insert "avoidance characters" in articles by the New York Times' Nicholas Kristof. He details it in an op-ed piece today (sub req'd). Apparently, there is so much net traffic that the 30,000 internet censors (!) can't keep up! You might want to browse through links of earlier

Sun chain dumps 170 jobs

Sun Media Corporation announced layoffs of 170 people today -- apparently most of the people involved in library and research across the country were included. The press release spun it as a $7 million investment in new technologies and to "streamline production of newsgathering" (whatever that means). The savings from the firings is about $4.6 million.The daily Sun papers seem to be bearing the

June Callwood wins intellectual freedom award from Canadian Library Association

We'd like to acknowledge that longtime magazine writer and activist June Callwood has been named the 2006 recipient of the Award for the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada, presented by the Canadian Library Association (CLA). You can read the CLA's June 8 press release here.“Long before they were safe or fashionable, June Callwood was a courageous and principled pioneer in many social

OK not quite so OK, it seems

In light of the recent abrupt closure of Weekly Scoop by Torstar and the impending launch of Hello! magazine by Rogers, it's worth paying attention to how such celebrity titles are doing south of the border. An article in Ad Age says that OK, published by U.K. press baron Richard "Dirty Dick" Desmond, is not doing as well as Desmond promised and that many in the media think the whole idea of an

Shock pulled from major retailers' shelves

No word about Canadian retailers doing so, but according to Ad Age, major retailers in the U.S. have pulled the premier issue of Shock magazine after the photographer who took the picture disputed their right to publish it. Tower Records, Rite Aid drugstores and Brooks Eckerd have taken the magazine off their shelves. An earlier post gives details on this dispute.Meanwhile, over at Media Life,

Guilt and Pleasure

Not having heard about it, it was very interesting to read about an international magazine that talks about what it is to be Jewish today called Guilt and Pleasure. Cynthia Brouse posts an item on her blog The Clothesline Saga about working temporarily as a copy editor on G & P and her pleasure at working on a magazine of ideas again. She met the editor-in-chief Mireille Silcoff (now based in

The antithesis factor: Guardian plans launch of American magazine

Interesting piece in this week's New York magazine about the impending American edition of the Guardian from Great Britain. Many people in Canada regularly read the Guardian online or subscribe to the excellent weekly. But the New York article wonders what effect the new publication will have on the U.S. publishing zeitgeist.Media columnist Michael Wolff wrote about getting a preview from the

X-Men 3 Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews co-writers Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn about X-Men 3

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Lies my media buyer tells me

Hey, I can live with the feeling of being an unworthy, obsequious reptile but please don't lie to me. I'm not a baby. I won't come crying because my magazine is not on the plan.So says Reptile, in Rep Life. And who are we to gainsay it? An interesting post about lies, damned lies and media buyers.

How The Walrus works

The Walrus magazine is now using an unusual freelance contract that is interesting in two respects: its view of what's fair in terms of kill fees and payment terms; and in giving an insight into the hoops through which the magazine has jumped and is jumping in order to get, and keep, charitable status.The contract varies in several ways from standard magazine practice and from the standard

Better Chinese Homes & Gardens

Meredith Corporation announced Monday that it has launched a Chinese edition of Better Homes and Gardens, in partnership with SEEC Media Group Limited, one of China's biggest print media companies. The magazine became available in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore--which has a large ethnic Chinese population--in early June. The magazine will be a mix of American content from the parent

60% favour same-sex marriage: Toronto Life

According to a Leger Marketing poll published in the current issue of Toronto Life, 60% of Ontarions support same-sex marriage, including 49% who support it outright and 11% who give tacit support by saying "it's none of my business". 44% of respondents said that a free vote on the definition of marriage should not be a priority of the federal government. Three in ten say it should be a "minor

Sounds like a laff riot

The new fall lineup for CBC has been announced and features, among other shows, Rumours, a comedy about modern life inside a Toronto women's magazine.

So that's what a billion is

Highlights , a 60-year-old U.S. kids magazine which has some subscribers in Canada, has reached the milestone of publishing one billion copies. According to editor Christine French Clark, the August issue will explain the concept of a billion this way: ``If Goofus stacked a billion children on his shoulders, they would reach the moon, wrap around the moon 11 times, stretch back to the earth,

Bonnie Fuller renewal in some doubt

[This post has been UPDATED] The bloom may be off Bonnie Fuller's rose, as there is some question whether the sweet deal she negotiated three years ago to be editorial director at American Media Inc. will be renewed, at least on the same generous terms. Fuller, as most people in the Canadian media know, got her start here, at the Toronto Star and Flare, then became something of a shooting star

Strong dollar chips away at Transcon revenue

The relative strength of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar and the peso had a significant effect on the second quarter results of Transcontinental Inc. It reported an 11 per cent drop in profit for the quarter, the result of an $11.4 million drop in revenue, largely driven by changes in the exchange rate. Although Transcontinental is the largest consumer magazine publishing company in

Pink Triangle buys The Guide

Pink Triangle Press of Toronto, the not-for-profit publishers of Xtra biweeklies in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa, is purchasing The Guide, a Boston-based international travel and sexual politics monthly from Edward Hougen, the retiring owner, who is turning 65 come January.The Guide is a newsprint magazine; its website states it has a print-run of 30,000. It's distributed in the U.S. and Canada,

Absolutely, maybe, sometimes

People who are adamant about the separation of church and state, advertising and editorial, in print, are less resolute about online and the more they talk about it, the more "nuanced" their views become. Consider two statements made during a conversation in New York in a panel discussion hosted by a media firm MediaVest. It was reported by MediaDaily News.Conde Nast executive Sarah Chubb,

Modest gains forecast for U.S. consumer magazines; slump for trades

Ad spending in the United States -- a pretty good bellwether of what's happening in Canada -- is expected to rise 4.9 percent to $150.3 billion for full-year 2006, a downward revision from original forecast of 5.4 percent growth in January. The figures were released by TNS Media Intelligence, one of the most respected sources of such data for Madison Avenue, according to a story in MediaDaily

Ken Thomson dies

Canada's richest man, one of its greatest philanthropists Ken Thomson (Lord Thomson of Fleet) has died at the age of 82. Thomson's relationship to the magazine world was at several removes, since he took Thomson Corp. in a new direction in the last two decades, away from the newspaper and publishing empire his father, Roy, had built. Thomson Corp. became known for its strengths in data and

Canada Magazine Fund review recommends cuts in aid to literary and arts magazines

Canadian Heritage will be ending Support for Arts & Literary Magazines (SALM) and making major changes to the Support for Editorial Content (SEC).A review of the Canada Magazine Fund has been underway since last summer. The report has just been released and can be read here. The report includes recommendations from the consultants, management discussion of the recommendations and deadlines for

Weekly Scoop closed

Weekly Scoop, Torstar's energetic run at finding a place for itself in the crowded celebrity publication field, is closing. Staff were told today. According to a terse press release on the Torstar website, if you bought the issue distributed last Friday, June 9 it's now a collector's item; there will be no more. What will happen to the 27 employees involved? Not yet announced."This was a

Mags Canada announces 2007 date for new conference in cooperation with CMC

The other shoe dropped with today's e-bulletin from Magazines Canada, officially announcing the Magazine Industry's BIG conference, to be held June 13-15, 2007 presented by Magazines Canada and the Circulation Management Association of Canada (CMC). Last week, CMC announced it was joining Magazines Canada in presenting the new conference.As a post last week noted, Magazines Canada and CMC are

Canadian Tourism ads target U.S. gays

Though it doesn't benefit Canadian magazines, it is worth noting that there is a concerted, government-sponsored advertising campaign going into U.S. publications, aimed at luring gay and lesbian couples to come north to get married. The first such ad appeared in Passport in May. According to a story in Pink News, an online site from Britain, the Canadian Tourism Commission has launched an

This week, brought to you by Deadwood

For those who were not very happy with the single-sponsor issue of the New Yorker a couple of years ago, there will be continued unhappiness with news that the June 16 issue of Felix Dennis's newsweekly The Week will be all "Deadwood", all the time. The British magazine (sold in Canada) will have 12 pages of advertising (it's always an edit-heavy, newsstand-driven book) from the producers of the

Time marches on, heroes at the ready

Time Canada names its Canada's Heroes in this week's issue, on newsstands today. You can read the list of heroes here. This is the third year for this particular editorial promotion by Time, throwing around its shoulders the mantle of national pride and scattering maple leaves (very pretty leaves, mind) everywhere to paper over the fact that the magazine is simply the splittest of split runs.

What a night at the magawards

Magazines Week, culminated splendidly on Friday night, as it does every year now, with the always splashy and enjoyable National Magazine Awards. (The list of all the winners can best be seen here.) The magawards has just completed its 29th year and did it in fine style again at the Carlu in Toronto.There was some truly excellent work shown this year and some laudable wins, such as the gold to

A Canadian food mag? Fat chance

Supportive stories must be taken where they are found; one supporting the position of the Canadian magazine industry concerning the predatory practices of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission has appeared in the National Post. The paper is not usually noted for a positive attitude towards Canadian magazines.Gina Mallet, however, makes again a point that

When is a magazine an annual report?

There's no trademark on the word "magazine", of course, and a lot of people trade on the inherent trust and entertainment values of magazines. Think of some "custom publications" and magalogues. However, we had always thought that an "annual magazine" was something of an oxymoron; that a magazine needed to be a periodical. However, the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of

Low scores and sports snobbery

In honour of the start of the World Cup, here's a contrarian view from Martin O'Malley, a regular columnist over at cbc.ca. O'Malley, some of you may know, is a writer with a lovely light touch who once was a frequent writer for the Globe magazine (not that one, the long-gone, excellent weekend supplement that was published by the Globe and Mail) and, for two and a half glorious years was the

Taking the mickey out of Captain Copyright

The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, known popularly as Access Copyright was created in 1988 by Canadian writers and publishers to license public access to copyright works for use within Canada. In an effort to educate the public, it invented a comic book character, Captain Copyright and put up a website for teachers and kids.Of course, such an effort was ripe for satire*, and

Variable pricing

Word that People magazine's issue this week has its price jacked up because it has "exclusive" pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's baby Shiloh. Can't think of an instance when, for one week only, a Canadian magazine raised its price because of some exclusive story. (There are instances of lowering the price for a week as a promotion, of course -- most recently the 25-cent offer of Weekly

Toro stands firm on Haiti shooting story

Toro magazine has made some significant waves with this week's publication of a story about an ex-Mountie's shooting death in Haiti. The story accused Jordanian peacekeepers of failing to assist Mark Bourque after he was shot; as a result, he essentially bled to death. Toro said (and used phone pix to prove it) that the Jordianian members of the peacekeeping mission delayed summoning help during

CSME picks Today's Parent and Cottage Life best magazines

The Canadian Society of Magazine Editors has announced the winners of the 2006 Editors’ Choice Awards. The awards ceremony took place at a gala dinner at the Old Mill Inn in Toronto on Thursday night. (At left, Linda Lewis, Editor in Chief of Today's Parent, which won Best Magazine in the large-circ category and also Best Display) Cottage Life magazine won Best Magazine in the

Kenneth R. Wilson trade magazine awards

The top awards in the Canadian business press were made last night. The full list of gold, silver and runner-up winners by category is available here. The following were first place (gold) winners:Best editorial -- HazMat Management, Fuel for the Fire. Connie Vitello, EditorBest industrial/manufacturing article -- Machinery & Equipment MRO, Curbing the Bad Actors. Carroll McCormick, Contributing

Profit 100 taps fastest companies

Profit magazine has published its annual ranking of Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies, the Profit 100. For the first time in its 18-year-history, the top spot on the PROFIT 100 goes to a company from Atlantic Canada. Rutter Inc. of St. John's, Nfld., is a marine technologies, engineering and automation company that saw a whopping 31,598% revenue growth over the past five years. You can see the

Segal will absorb Botting's role at Rogers

President Brian Segal's grip on the future of all kinds of magazines at Rogers Publishing will tighten with the departure of Harvey Botting as head of trade publishing at the end of this month, according to an item in mastheadonline (sub req'd). Segal told Masthead that he is assuming Botting's duties as Senior Vice-President, Business Information Group, rather than replacing him. the only

Emphatic !? question?!

To the delight of font-dweebs and typography mavens everywhere, it is apparent that the "interrobang" glyph is being seen more often now in font libraries and thereby may find its way into magazine pages.The interrobang combines the exclamation mark and the question mark in one and was developed in 1962 by Martin Speckter with the intention of conveying additional information for advertising

CMC and Magazines Canada bailing from Magazines University

It was not exactly a thunderclap, but some people will be shocked now that it has been made official. In an e-mail to members on the very eve of Magazines University 2006, the Circulation Management Association of Canada (CMC) executive and board has announced that it will be its last. It is joining the decamping Magazines Canada in a wholly new event beginning in 2007.There should be some talk

Scratch Reptile behind the ear, go on

Poor Reptile, the anonymous ad rep who posts occasionally over at Rep Life is feeling unloved, unappreciated and un-responded to. Which is a shame, because his posts often say what other reps only think about media buyers and the whole advertising business. Reptile needs feedback, he craves it. Send him a comment as a simple act of charity.

Maxim brand for Vegas hotel and casino

Line extensions, you want line extensions? Read the New York Times report on how Maxim magazine is putting its brand on a Las Vegas hotel. Figures.

Black watch

If you are among those who can't get enough of the Conrad Black saga, you'll want to read the Telegraph story from London, detailing the ways in which his Lordship is apparently rebounding from his troubles (even though he still faces a trial later in the year).

Western Magazine Awards finalists announced

The nominees for the Western Magazine Awards, have been announced. There are 27 categories and the winners will be named on the evening of July 7 in Vancouver. Among the nominees (the complete list can be seen here) are:Best New Magazine: Acreage Life, Adventurous, Small Farm Canada and SwerveMagazine of the Year–Manitoba: Border Crossings, Prairie Fire, The Beaver, Winnipeg WomenMagazine of the

Circ IQ: crunch go the numbers

A new tool for media buyers has been developed, and is being launched today in New York, that will assess magazines' audited circulation data and come up with a score based on the advertisers needs and criteria. It's not the first such system; McPheters & Co. has launched similar services to provide both publishers and agencies with an on-the-fly database of accurate circulation data

Indexers delight (see: conference, annual)

Of particular interest to scholarly and literary magazine people is word that Toronto plays host June 15 to 17 to hundreds of international indexers at the Triennial International Indexing Meeting and Conference of the Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada/Société canadienne pour l'analyse de documents (IASC/SCAD) and the American Society of Indexers (ASI). The meetings are held at the

Globe headline on Rogers' Chocolat launch

[See earlier items here and here.]It's fascinating to see the negative spin that the 3 June Globe and Mail article (and in particular its headline "You can move, but can't hide, from new Rogers magazine") put on the Chocolat launch ... not to mention the roughly 20-to-1 negative comments that Globe readers posted online. Words like "appalling" and "disgusting", and (so far) 4 references to

Quote, unquote

In an e-mail to Toronto Star entertainment reporter Judy Stoffman (part of a longer column and interview with New Yorker editor David Remnick) , bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell (a native of Elmira, Ontario), compares Remnick to basketball star Tayshaun Prince."[Prince is] smooth and elegant and glides quietly around the court, never breaking a sweat, and then at the end of the game you look

Who will have the last word?

It's hard for a casual observer to know the truth, but here's an entertaining column in the Rocky Mountain News that's about journalists mangling, misinterpreting and otherwise messing up when it comes to writing about language.Columnist Linda Seebach quotes Geoffrey Pullum, a noted linguist from University of California: "I tell you honestly," Pullum writes, "I wish English had a word meaning '

Rinehart out before she's in at Transcon

[UPDATE] Dianne Rinehart sent a message in response to the post below, so I thought I'd give her the first word. Here's what she said (objecting to the characterization of her tenure at Homemaker's as "stormy"):I just read the blog you wrote on my decision not to accept Transcontinental’s offer. I hope you will consider rewriting it since it is totally off the mark. (I know that’s not your fault.

London to get local mag for women

Real Women London, a monthly, full-colour magazine to launch this week will feature plus-size models, modern fashions found in London, local restaurant reviews and many other features and columns, all with a local emphasis. This, according to a story in the London Free Press.“We like to think of it as our own little Oprah magazine,” says publisher Shelly Wilson, who has partnered with

Growing up with Stop Spadina

A delightful memoir by Adam Vaughan is published in the current issue of eye magazine, about the fight his parents helped to lead against the Spadina Expressway in Toronto. There will be a celebration, hosted by Spacing magazine, of the day the Spadina was stopped, 35 years ago, with a reception on Friday, June 2 from 5 to 7 pam. at Historic Spadina House, 285 Spadina Road. Adam Vaughan’s

Chocolat -- Rogers' sweet taste of success?

Rogers Publishing Ltd. has unveiled plans for its new national shopping magazine for the home. It's called Chocolat and will be produced in both French and English with first editions available in September.While building on the success of Rogers other shopping magazine LOULOU, Chocolatis using a much different circulation model. It will be delivered to an exclusive list of 250,000 Canadians who

Post to carry new, luxury magazine

Media in Canada today reports that a new, luxury, controlled circulation magazine called Avant will start distribution this fall. It will be aimed at high personal net worth (greater than $100k in annual personal incomes) subscribers of the National Post. (Does the National Post have 150,000 high net worth subscribers? Ed.) Avant, which will explore trends in business, politics, arts and

Google magazine ad auction falls flat

Google's venture to auction off print ads in magazines, which launched in February, has been one of the biggest disappointments in the last six months, says Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's senior vice president for product management. It fell short of the company's expectations, he told investors and the media during a conference call on Wednesday. (The story was reported in Media Post.) "That

School fundraising switching from student door-knocking to e-mail sub pitches

Watch your inbox for a subscription pitch from students of your acquaintance, switching from traditional fundraisers like selling chocolate bars door-to-door. A story in the Montreal Gazette says that EFundraising.com, a Montreal company owned by Reader's Digest, is making its online sales system available to Canadian schools this fall. Already the company has 125 employees and a projected US$25

Disqualification, chapter and verse

Sometimes the light of reason shines from rather unexpected places, such as the front-of-the-book item in Canadian Business (May 22-June 4 issue), in which Andrew Nikiforuk neatly dissects the Gwyn Morgan affair. [sorry, I couldn't find it online]You'll recall all the sturm und drang surrounding the Commons committee that rejected Morgan as new head of the public appointments commission. And how