Masthead marks the launch of its final print issue

A friend tells us that Masthead magazine's final print issue was launched last night with an event at a west end pub in Toronto. Over complimentary Swedish meatballs, sausage rolls and chicken wings (sponsored by CDS Global, a consistent Masthead advertiser), everyone drank and talked about how bad everything is for magazines right now.Among those in the crowd were Megan Griffith-Greene (

Teeny, tiny and fashionable

Fashion is everywhere, it seems, even in claymation. As a tribute to the late Tony Hart, the man who essentially invented animation using plasticine, Esquire magazine in Britain has taken Hart's best-known character, Morph -- usually seen, um, nude -- and clothed him in the latest togs. According to a story in Press Gazette,He is seen dressed in the style of designer labels such as Hermes, Gucci

School for Professional Publishing cancelled by Magazines Canada

Magazines Canada has cancelled its annual School for Professional Publishing. Faced with budget cutbacks and travel restrictions among member publishing companies and magazines, it was decided that the comprehensive 9-day professional development workshop, normally held each spring in Niagara-on-the-Lake, will not be held this year. Faculty have been told the workshop is postponed until 2010.The

Fitness mag hits on celebrity wrestler signing promotion

Celebrity authors are fairly commonplace, as are (we suppose) celebrity wrestlers. But celebrity magazine cover subjects who are women wrestlers are less common and it's rare that magazines in general have "signings".However there was such an alignment of a star and her fans at Indigo Books and Music in Toronto this week as Trish Stratus, the seven-time WWE women's wrestling champion, signed

Canadian Homestead rebrands as Canadian Home Trends

Canadian Homestead magazine, the Manitoba-based shelter and design title, has rebranded itself Canadian Home Trends. The new look and name is being unveiled for the February/March issue, although the transition has already begun on the magazine's web pages."The new name, Canadian Home Trends better represents our classy and modern urban magazine our readers have grown to love and the great

Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews Peter Morgan about Frost/Nixon

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Quote, unquote: sheltering from the storm

The only real pattern I see is business at its most basic: In a downturn, there's only room for the category leaders; the fringes fall away fast. And the more diversified your business is, the less you're about one thing, the better you'll weather the storm.-- Kate Kelly Smith, vice president and publisher of Hearst's House Beautiful, quoted in a story in Folio: about "diverse" shelter magazines

U.S. magazine startups steady in 2008

Some good news comes from Samir Husni, the "Mr Magazine" of the University of Mississippi whose tally of magazine startups shows that slightly more new magazines were launched in the U.S. in 2008 than in 2007.Our final tally of new magazine launches reveal that in 2008 a total of 715 new magazines were launched compared with 713 in 2007. Of note is that this number exceeds all predictions (

Three primary roles in serving your audience

Although he's principally talking about local websites, dailies and community newspapers, Steve Yelvington has put up a thought-provoking post on his blog illustrating three roles that he says every successful publication, local or otherwise, needs to fill: Town Crier (which most are good at), Town Square and Town Expert (the latter two, not so good).What he is talking about relates just as well

Media world view

Conde Nast shutters Domino (MediaBistro)National Geographic to launch record label (Folio:)Harper's Bazaar to defy media downturn and print larger March edition (Guardian)Customer publishing set to top £ 1 billion despite downturn (Press Gazette)

Time Inc. holds back popular titles in retaliation for wholesale surcharge demand

It's one thing to ask, another to get, particularly when it comes to as big and important a U.S. magazine publisher as Time Inc. Recent announcements from two big, U.S. magazine wholesalers were that they were going to tack on 7 cents to every copy they sold on newsstands. Mediaweek has reported that Time Inc. struck back saying it was not going to provide Source Interlink, one of the wholesalers

Reader's Digest worldwide cuts back, imposes unpaid vacation

Employees of Reader's Digest Association, including its Canadian division, will be sharing a certain amount of pain as part of the company's "recession plan", according to a memorandum circulated to all staff by Mary Berner, the company's president and CEO. Not only are 8% of employees to be let go, but most who remain will be forced to take one week of unpaid vacation. The so-called "shutdown

PAP topped up as part of federal budget

It appears that lobbying by the magazine industry has resulted in $15 million being injected into the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), replacing the contribution that was being withdrawn this spring by Canada Post. The funding is part of a substantial $335 million in new funding flowing to Heritage as part of the "stimulus" budget.Representatives from the industry have been vigorously

CanGeo loses EIC Rick Boychuk; McKelvie goes to New Internationalist

Rick Boychuk has been quick to say that it was his choice to leave as Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Geographic after 13 years. But he was the last of the original management and senior executive team in place when André Préfontaine took over as publisher in 2006. (A lot of those departures have been dealt with in previous posts such as this one.)***Ian McKelvie, who was director of marketing for

News Group won't surcharge on single copies, at least for now

One of Canada's two largest magazine wholesalers, the News Group, is not following the lead of two of its largest U.S. counterparts in adding on a surcharge to single copy sales -- at least for now. This, according to an item in the usually reliable column by Keith Kelly in the New York Post.Last week, Anderson News and Source Interlink -- together representing half of the magazine distribution

Geez runs intriguing write-your-own-sermon contest

This Magazine drew to our attention the creative and somewhat wacky contest being run by the iconoclastic Geez magazine:Our friends at Geez magazine, the cheeky Winnipeg publication for "the over-churched, out-churched, un-churched and maybe even the un-churchable," is running a contest that may be of interest. The Daringly Awkward Sermon Contest — "because social change is a bit awkward" — runs

There's no telling where a magazine article can lead...

We saw a mention the other day about how an article about changes in museums, written for The Walrus magazine, published in June, 2007, forms the basis for a lecture at the University of Iowa by former Montrealer Adam Gopnik. He is The New Yorker's art critic. This raises anew the question about how important the work of magazine journalism is in generating new ideas. What recent Canadian

Who will be this year's outstanding achiever?

The Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement is among this industry's highest honours and a note from the National Magazine Awards Foundation reminds us that the deadline for nominating this year's recipient looms.The deadline to submit nominations for the 2008 Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement is March 1, 2009. The award is open to circulation experts, editors, marketing, sales

Quote, unquote: involvement versus distraction

"One of the advantages of reading a magazine is that you're less likely to be distracted in terms of multi-tasking. So you can get some great involvement."-- Mike Welling, president and brand strategist at Doug Agency, which created a magazine campaign for Clover Leaf tuna. As reported in Media in Canada.

Magazine world view

Time Inc. Digital Hires Ex-Yahoo Exec Cisneros (MediaDaily News)MAD magazine goes quarterly (Folio:)Condé Nast Eliminates CondéNet (Folio:)NUJ backs journalists' bid to buy their papers (Guardian)Only quality journalism can save us, says Sun editor Rebekah Wade (Guardian)Economist pulled again from Thailand newsstands after talking about royal family (Guardian)Gatehouse Gate: Why did the New

Total Canadian ROP pages, measured by LNA, down 9.2% for 2008

The latest Leading National Advertisers (LNA) data essentially confirms what publishers of mainstream magazines have felt in their bones and seen on their monthly tallies -- ad pages and dollars are down. According to data in a story published by Masthead, total ROP pages were down 9.2% for the year, following a fourth quarter decline of 15.7%.(LNA dollar figures are based on a varying list of

Phone-app e-zine leads in interesting directions

Digital versions of magazines tend to be made available as pdfs or as websites; some put out mobile versions formatted for personal handheld devices that are usually free extensions of their paid publications.But there is now a downloadable paid magazine application for the iPhone, an e-zine called The Magazine being offered for $1.99 on iTunes; the magazine itself is not very good (sort of a

US News rolls out digital weekly

U.S. News & World Report, the number 3 newsweekly in the U.S. has struggled recently, reducing its frequency to monthly and moving steadily towards more and more focussed special issues such as health and education.Now, in what is described as a "soft launch", it has published a paid digital weekly that returns to "news" roots and is very Washington-centric, according to a column by Jeff

Maison et Demeure launch gives French reach to House & Home Media

This week marks the launch of the French companion magazine to Canadian House & Home. Published by House & Home Media, it is called Maison et Demeure and it will contain translated national content from CH&H, with new, original articles by Quebec-based contributors, featuring the work of designers, architects, stylists and chefs from Quebec, all put together by a Quebec-based editorial

Mark your calendars

Best on Page international ad showMagazines Canada is presenting its annual Best on Page exhibit of magazine ads from around the world, featuring 150 international award winners. Thursday, March 26 at Maro, 135 Liberty Street, Toronto, 5 - 8 p.m.It's free, but registration is required (registration closes March 23). There will be cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and attendees, as usual, get to cast

Locked-out Montreal newspaper workers to publish online paper

A friend notes that the workers locked out by Quebecor at Le Journal de Montreal will, like their formerly locked-out counterparts at Le Journal de Quebec, start an online newspaper next week. In Quebec, they published on paper. "It's funny that people that work for a newspaper are going to do an online version of it -- doing that they are almost saying the same thing as their boss."Although the

The curious case of the peripatetic magazine...

[This post has been updated]A curious story from Bangkok, Thailand. A subscriber-labelled copy of the October 27 issue of Maclean's showed up and was sold at a Bangkok newssstand for 20 baht (about 72 cents). According to a message from Andrew Batt,the editor of The Bangkok Bugle blog:The thing that makes this unusual is that it had the subscriber information printed on the cover. I've not yet

A made-in-France solution to the woes of the print industry

The government of France is taking unprecedented measures to help the ailing French print industries. According to an AP story, French president Nicolas Sarkozy -- consistent with recommendations from a 3-month study of the industry's health released January 8 -- announcedFree one-year newspaper subscriptions will be given to all French teenagers on their 18th birthdays;A nine-fold increase will

CLB Media closes four b2b titles

CLB Media which, a few years ago, was on an acquisition tear last week closed four titles, according to a posting in mastheadonline. The four titles were:Advanced Manufacturing (9 years old, now included as a branded section in another CLB title Manufacturing Automation).Green Business (launched with some fanfare last year, but apparently a victim of advertisers no longer as enamoured of

Magazine ad decline: the worst may be behind us, says analyst

A leading Wall Street analyst has told his clients that, tentatively, he thinks the worst is behind us for magazine advertising declines. According to a story in MediaDaily News, Deutsche Bank analyst Matt Chesler said in his newsletter that the outlook for Meredith Corporation (Better Homes & Gardens etc.) is cautiously optimistic. (Chesler follows Meredith because it is what is called a "pure

Is Esquire leading the way down the slippery slope?

The current "flap" over the cover of Esquire magazine (see previous post) is raising the question whether such an thing in a "marquee" title will make it much more difficult for other magazine editors to resist such compromising of editorial integrity.A story in Portfolio quotes Maximillian Potter, executive editor of Denver-based 5280 who says:From a selfish editorial perspective, it becomes

New look and structure being unveiled at The Walrus

After a suitable pause for reflection, Walrus editor John Macfarlane and art director Brian Morgan have unveiled a new look and structure in the March/April issue, according to an excellent story in mastheadonline. (The magazine apparently prefers to call the new look for the five-years-plus title a "re-engineering" rather than a redesign, but to an outside observer, when you change the logo, the

Maclean's and Canadian Business host series of online debates

Macleans and Canadian Business magazines have teamed up to present a series of online video debates about such contentious issues as U.S.-Canada integration, selling water, immigration policy and the carbon tax. The debate videos are sponsored by Microsoft Canada.The videos, under the umbrella heading "Thinking the Unthinkables" filmed late last year, will be posted every two weeks for the next

Magazine world view

Playboy consolidates print, online editoral; closes New York office (Folio:)New owner of London Evening Standard requests gun permits for Moscow paper staff (Guardian)Meredith earnings down 44% (Folio:)National Union of Journalists attacks Financial Times management (Guardian)

Why circulators go grey

According to a story in Folio:, a man complained in 2007 that he wasn't getting his copy of the bimonthly AARP Bulletin. 18 months later he was still complaining, when suddenly the magazine's circulation department sprang into action and sent him 1,000 copies. “A mistake occurred when the status of the member’s account was being updated–there is a code (999) that reflects Lifetime Member status

Source Interlink adds 7 cent surcharge, following Anderson's lead

U.S. magazine wholesalers representing more than 50% of single copy sales have now added a 7-cent-per-copy surcharge. A story in Folio: says that Source Interlink has now added the charge, following the lead of Anderson News.It is unclear whether Source Interlink issued its price increase announcement with as much force as Anderson, which warned publishers they’d be dropped from distribution if

New teen magazine says it focusses on "positive change"

A Toronto company has launched a digital magazine and website called More2Girls. Its tagline promises something different from typical teen mags: "Because there's more to girls than makeup, hair and clothes".Both the Air interactive application and the magazine are available as a free download."More2Girls objective in publishing this magazine is to encourage and inspire teen girls to continue to

We're BAACCKK! This time mygazines.com promises to get it right

Those who have followed the tortuous, occasionally hilarious, path of mygazines.com, the pirate magazine file-sharing site that was effectively stomped on by the full force of the magazine industry on several continents, will be interested to read an interview with the new team that is promoting an above-board version.Ontario-based founder and CEO Darren Budd acknowledges his errors:Bottom line

Shortcovers promises to resell magazine content a piece at a time

Indigo Books & Music, one of Canada's leading purveyors of magazines, is set to launch Shortcovers, a new e-reader application for iPhones, iPod Touch and Blackberries. It would give readers wireless access to sample pages/chapters of books and tastes of magazine articles that they could then buy.Called by some the "Kindle-killer", it is expected to put a severe dent in prospects for e-book

Quebecor looks set to lock out Montreal staff

Having apparently not learned anything from its 16-month lockout in 2007-08 at la Journal de Québec, Quebecor is apparently on the brink of locking out its employees at la Journal de Montréal, according to a posting on Radio-Canada. Which would make one wonder why they're pressing ahead with the draconian contract language with freelancers; the terms don't require them to be strikebreakers.

Magazine world view

Links to magazine-related stories from outside of Canada.U.S. postal rate expected to increase 4 per cent (Folio:)Mexican billionaire to loan quarter billion to NY Times (Guardian)Journalist and human rights lawyer shot by masked gunman in Moscow (Guardian)Wired unveils editorial team for UK website launch (Press Gazette)Man United soccer star Rio Ferdinand to launch new digital magazine (Press

A journalist's guide to why she's a convert to Twitter

Freelancer writer and editor Kim Pittaway, former editor of Chatelaine, has become a convert to twitter, the microblogging service. (Careful readers will note that Canadian Magazines also has a Twitter account; first, as research on the 'what-the-heck-is-this-all-about?' vein, but I admit I have become a convert, like Pittaway.) Pittaway has written an article for J-source that sets out some tips

Quebecor's TVA magazines demanding freelancers give up all rights

Quebecor-owned magazine publisher TVA Publications is pressing its writers to sign an aggressive new contract in order to work for its magazines.According to a posting on the Fagstein blog,What’s so extreme about it, sadly, isn’t that it demands complete exclusive rights, including copyright, over all work submitted, or that it demands writers waive all moral rights, or that it demands

Rogers offers four day week? Does this mean 20% less work?

Rogers Publishing, Canada's largest magazine publisher, is asking employees to cut their work week to four days and their pay by 20%. According to a story in the Toronto Star, the plan -- for which employees must apply by January 26 -- is voluntary and those who take it up must commit to it for the rest of 2009."The four-day work week offered to publishing employees is purely voluntary and time

"Flapvertising" debuts at Esquire

I'm pretty sure that Harold Hayes is spinning in his grave. According to a story in Media in Canada, the February issue of Esquire magazine has a "mini-cover" that opens up, featuring an ad for Disney's The Discovery Channel series One Way Out, featuring escape artist Jonathan Goodwin. When readers open the cover-within-a-cover, they encounter both the ad and various quotes from the articles

Rogers Publishing to launch competitive 50+ site called EverBetter

Rogers Publishing will be going head-to-head with ZoomerMedia starting in April, with the launch of a new site called EverBetter.ca targetting the 50+ segment. According to a story in Media in Canada, the site's content will use material from other Rogers properties -- both print and web. "It's just natural to go after that demographic, because they're the largest demographic in Canada right now,

Canada Magazine Fund SBDMP Applicant Survey

Hi, Jon Spencer here -- with a quick+easy favour to ask of all (fairly recent) applicants to the Canada Magazine Fund's "Support for Business Development for Magazine Publishers" program:I would be interested to hear whether your applications to this program in the current fiscal year (from April 2008 to March 2009) have been handled as they have been in previous years, or if you have encountered

Can a digital magazine sell out?

Now there's a concept. An e-mail-only promotion from Zinio, offering a $5 discount on digital magazines has the curious sell-line:"Enjoy exclusive savings on your favorite digital magazines before they are sold out." Sold out? Digital magazines? Short of refusing to send any more pdfs out, why would a digital magazine ever be sold out?

Where does Andrew fit in?

Lynn Cunningham is well known in Canadian magazine circles, as a writer, editor and professor of journalism as Ryerson University. So many of you will be interested to read a story she has written for University Affairs magazine about the prospects of higher education for her learning disabled step-grandson Andrew. [Thanks to David Hayes for tipping me to this.]

Pew Research says internet preferred source for national and international news

Not that you needed confirmation, but research from the Pew Research Centre says that the internet has surpassed every other source for national and international news, except television. And television can feel the internet's hot breath on its neck.The internet has now surpassed all other media except television as an outlet for national and international news. Currently, 40% of all the December

Does Canada Post require a radical rethink? asks Maclean's story

Maclean's magazine has run a story (not yet available online) exploring whether Canada Post policy needs a radical rethink. Although the story was sparked by the increase in first class postage rates this week, it also goes into some detail about the controversial decision to introduce distance-related pricing (DRP) for publications mail and pull its $15 million contribution to the Publications

Some well-defined niche magazines buck the downward ad trend

Specialty magazines with a strong subject focus can buck the trend when it comes to the current downward trend in ad pages. According to a story published by Medill Reports in Chicago (a publication of the graduate journalism school at Northwestern University), niche publications -- particularly trade titles serving a particularly well-defined audience -- are showing a good deal of resilience.“In

Pay an extra 7 cents a copy, or else, U.S. magazine distributor says

We haven't heard yet that Canadian wholesalers will follow suit, but one of the biggest in the U.S., Anderson News, has issued an ultimatum to publishers -- pay a surcharge of 7 cents a copy or we'll stop handling you. According to a column by Keith Kelly in the New York Post, CEO Charles Anderson asked, and answered, the question:"Why should we continue in a business where we are not making any

CAPIC hosts panel on image licensing

CAPIC, The Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communications, is holding a seminar on January 26 at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto called No Uncertain Terms, devoted entirely to the simplification of image licensing in Canada for those who sell images and those who buy them. The entire seminar will be web-cast, including the Q & A. Moderator Heather Morton will have the

No comment

The blog My Hogtown points out the irony of the cover story in the final print issue of Masthead.North Island Publishing and CDS Global are hosting a reception on Thursday, January 29, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. to mark the publication of the final print edition. It's at the Squire and Firkin pub, 3335 Bloor Street West (nr Islington subway station). (This issue will also be the last time my column Good

Shop in your own closet? How depressing!

Writer Rebecca Traister writes in Salon on how glossy magazines are responding to the current parlous economic climate. Good, and in spots funny, piece.[H]ow does an industry built on a meringue of material aspiration adjust to the fast-deflating circumstances of its readers, most of whom are trying to adapt to the new realities of shrunken 401Ks, foreclosed houses and lost jobs? Can magazines

Ascent, the yoga magazine, is closing after 10 years

Ascent magazine will be marking its 10th anniversary as a magazine by publishing its last issue by the end of March, according to people associated with the Montreal-based yoga quarterly.Started in 1969 as a newsletter, and then a small journal, based out of Yasodhara Ashram in British Columbia, Canada, Ascent moved to Montreal and launched as an international magazine in spring 1999.In a

Hello! Canada features Obama family cover story

Hello! Canada magazine shows perfect timing this week with a cover story of Barack Obama and his family, on the eve of the inauguration. I know, I know, you're perhaps up to here with pictures of Obama, wife Michelle and their daughters. But you can't help looking.Also in the issue, an interview with Obama's African grandmother who says "I am going to ask Barack to work hard to achieve world

Chicago Tribune to sell two versions of same paper

The decision by the Chicago Tribune to take what it says is an unprecedented step of selling two different formats of its paper -- a tab for street sales, a broadsheet for home delivery -- is but another example of the tumultuous changes taking place in the newspaper industry. There has always been a strategy of "throwing newsprint at the problem", whether it be to spike the guns of an upstart

U.S. magazine ad pages down 11.7% in 2008

U.S. magazine ad page results for 2008 show that the number of pages for the more than 230 titles tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau dropped by 11.7% and that only about 18% of titles saw an increase, according to a story in Folio: magazine.All of the top 12 advertising categories suffered, with the largest being automotive.

Pages gets a breather; six months to work something out

One of Canada's best independent newsstands and bookstores, Pages Books and Magazines, has negotiated a six-month reprieve on the lease at its Queen Street West location in Toronto. Apparently, according to a story in Blog TO, the outpouring of concern about the looming February 28 deadline has led the landlord to extend the lease to August. This gives owner Marc Glassman more time to negotiate

John Patrick Shanley - Doubt Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews writer-director John Patrick Shanley about Doubt

Copyright Unlikely Films, Inc. 2009. All Rights Reserved.

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An old story; freelancer goes in from the cold

In yet another lamentable departure from magazine writing, Philip Preville, Toronto Life's politics reporter has left the freelance life for a full-time job. He starts tomorrow as director of public affairs for the Toronto Board of Trade. Its gain is the magazine business's loss, as evidenced by his (last) excellent cover article (not yet now available online) in this month's Toronto Life about

Poll results: 61% not pessimistic about Canadian magazines

I don't know about you, but given the long faces I've encountered recently, I thought that the results of the little poll we conducted is reasonably heartening. Readers were asked "How are you feeling about the Canadian magazine industry in the next year?" Here is what they said: Just expecting to hold our own 45% Pessimistic 39% Optimistic & hopeful 16% Of course

Stack magazine sub service jumps the Atlantic to serve up Canadian and U.S. indie titles

About 18 months ago, we wrote about a new UK-based "curated" subscription service called Stack, serving indie-mags out of Britain. A bit later, we noted that at least one Canadian indie title was included -- the  fashion title Worn. At that time, the service offered mostly U.K.-based alternative music titles and a couple of U.S. indies.

Apparently, there was such a huge demand from U.S.

Canadian Online Publishing awards to be launched by Masthead

Mastheadonline has announced it is to honour Canada’s best online editorial and design work at the inaugural Canadian Online Publishing Awards this fall. It will be open to websites published in conjunction with print magazines, as well as online-only magazines and blogs. An awards website will be launched in the next few weeks with more information on entry, rules, judging, categories and

Subscribers? We don't need 'em; can't afford 'em

One of the things that magazine people believe, almost an article of faith, is that subscribers beat single copy buyers every time. Not only do you get the money upfront, but you have multiple opportunities to keep those subscribers and you are able to demonstrate to advertisers that these people pay for the privilege of being exposed to their message. And the costs of renewing subscribers

Caren Watkins to art direct Oxygen magazine

Caren Watkins, editor-in-chief of the recently closed Gardening Life, has joined Robert Kennedy Publishing in Mississauga as creative director, according to a story in mastheadonline. She will be responsible for design of Oxygen magazine and Clean Eating. Before editing GL, Watkins had among other things been the well-known and respected art director at Chatelaine.

Tales of outsourcing: Aussie firm handles 1,800 pages a week

An Australian firm, Pagemasters, is now sub-editing (copy editing and laying out) 1,800 pages a week for publishers worldwide on a contract basis, according to a story in Media Guardian.The Daily Telegraph in Britain has confirmed that it has contracted out the handling of 150 pages of its travelling, motoring and money content, including both daily and Sunday editions. According to the story,

Magazine world view

Cathie Black to stay on at Hearst (Mediabistro)NYT vp writes letter to Times slamming Atlantic article (Editor & Publisher)Green magazine, Plenty, folds (Folio:)Royal Mail publisher rate to rise 4.3% in April (PPA)Press Complaints Commission chair warns of European threat to press freedom (Guardian)

Longtime Rogers rep Nicola Clayton retained to sell ads for Zoomer in New York

Nicola Clayton, the managing director of the New York advertising sales agency Luxury Media Sales, for some time the vice-president of advertising sales in New York for Rogers Media has been retained to represent Zoomer magazine in New York City. Clayton has repped Maclean's and L’Actualité and some 17 other Rogers titles to New York agencies and advertisers and, according to a release from

"Arresting portrait" -- good notice for Whyte's Hearst book

Jack Rosenthal, the former editorial page editor of the New York Times, gives a good review in Sunday's Times book review to Maclean's editor Ken Whyte's biography of William Randolph Hearst. Rosenthal says The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst (Counterpoint) doesn't break much new ground, but demonstrates a prodigious amount of background reading and "largely

Quote, unquote: Dick Little's alter ego soldiers on

“We are constantly being given the message to question authority and question everything,” says Wells. “Too few people take the time to question themselves.“I am more than willing to tear down my own presuppositions. If a story isn’t leading somewhere my tendency is not to stick with it – rather than ending up at a dead end.” -- from a story by Marc Weisblott in eye magazine about Jeff Wells who,

The Wrestler Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews screenwriter Robert D. Siegel about The Wrestler

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New national executive director appointed by Word on the Street festival

Word on the Street Canada, which runs the popular annual book and magazine festival in cities across Canada, has appointed Alex Moorshead (right) as its new executive director, according to a posting on Quill & Quire magazine's website. Moorshead, who was previously festival director for Word on the Street in Toronto, will take over for Colleen O’Neill, who held the executive director title for

Morissette named vp corporate communications at Transcon

The public face of Transcontinental, Canada's largest consumer magazine publisher and one of its largest printers is changing with the appointment of Sylvain Morissette as vice-president of corporate communications. He is replacing Jean Blouin. Morissette is a journalist and former radio host who ran the corporate public relations department and most recently has been president and CEO of the

Absolutely fantastic eye-watering sneak preview

Inspired by an annual list of words which should be banished, drawn up by Michigan's Lake Superior State University (among the 2009 candidates: green, carbon footprint, maverick, first dude), readers of the Guardian, suggested a long list of additional words they hate, most of which are also in lamentably wide use on this side of the Atlantic. Among their suggestions:Get ("As in approaching the

Tick, tock...

National Magazine Awards, entry deadline 5 p.m. Friday January 9.Atlantic Journalism Awards, entry deadline Friday, Jan. 30.Western Magazine Awards, entries open February 2, close March 2.

Crapping in our own nests

Although the word has become a cliche worth avoiding, the word schadenfreude (the enjoyment of the discomfort of others) may perhaps need to be joined by a new word (suggestions gratefully received) that explains the phenomenon in which people who earn all or most of their livings from the publishing industry obtain open or secret glee from trumpeting its demise. In other words, taking glee from

Gamer magazine proves redundant and dispensable

The decision by Ziff Davis in the U.S. to wind up its Electronic Gaming magazine is logical on several levels. Not that it is any comfort to the 30-odd people who lose their jobs at EGM. First, Ziff Davis is struggling to emerge from bankruptcy protection and in its search for cash had sold its online video games site 1UP Digital Network to Hearst (to be merged with its Ugo Entertainment. So

Ken Whyte of Maclean's named Canadian Newsperson of the Year

Ken Whyte, the publisher and editor of Maclean's magazine, has been named the 2008 Canadian Newsperson of the Year by the Canadian Journalism Foundation. He handily won with 59.9% of the 1,479 votes in the online competition. Finalists were David Beers of The Tyee (21.8%), Graeme Smith of the Globe and Mail (8.9%), Chantal Hebert of the Toronto Star (5.2%), Stephanie Nolen of the Globe and Mail (

Quote, unquote: The fifth stage

Denial–"This Internet thing is just a fad," or "Craig who?"Anger–"Bloggers are NOT journalists," or "Stop linking to our site!"Bargaining–"But wait, maybe we can figure out how to get people to pay for news on the Web."Depression–"Another buyout/layoff? We're all gonna lose our jobs."Mark Potts over at the blog Recovering Journalist, adapting Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's five stages of grief to what

Quote, unquote: Undervalued journalism

If you’re hearing few howls and seeing little rending of garments over the impending death of institutional, high-quality journalism, it’s because the public at large has been trained to undervalue journalists and journalism. The Internet has done much to encourage lazy news consumption, while virtually eradicating the meaningful distinctions among newspaper brands.-- Michael Hirschorn, The

Harvard Business Review hires senior Time editor to run it

Harvard Business Review, the ultimate "credenza" magazine (as important for being seen prominently in your office as for being read), has appointed Adi Ignatius, deputy managing editor of Time magazine as its editor.

CAJ says job cuts a threat to free and vigorous press

The Canadian Association of Journalists is trying to get attention paid to what it fears is a potential death spiral for journalism in this country. What they fear? Job cuts = decline in quality = less content = smaller audiences = more cuts. In the last three months alone more than 1,200 full-time employees have been let go [the CAJ said in a release]."When do we reach the point in Canada where

English edition of Ricardo magazine suspended

The English edition of food magazine Ricardo, has been suspended by its publishers, Les Editions Gesca of Montreal. The magazine's namesake is celebrity chef Ricardo Larrivée.The English edition of the magazine was launched in November 2006 and published six times last year. Apparently, the French edition will continue and the related TV show, Ricardo & Friends, will also carry on, according to a

Masthead archives to be free as part of sponsorship deal with Texterity

Texterity Inc. has entered into a sponsorship agreement with the now-online-only Masthead to make the magazine's archive free to all, starting February 1. Readers will now be able to read the last two years of the print edition. This is part of a wider digital sponsorship which will including digital-only editorial supplements and a new Texterity interface that incorporates banner ad delivery

Little magazine people; they work among us

Interesting infiltration of mainstream magazines by little cultural magazine people. Mastheadonline has reported that Shameless magazine publisher Stacey May Fowles has joined the Walrus as circulation and marketing director; and Kent Bruyneel, who joins Venture Publishing's unlimited magazine in Edmonton as editor, after five years at the helm of the Saskatoon literary publication Grain.

Magazine world view

Another in our occasional presentation of links to magazine-related stories outside of CanadaTimes newspaper increases weekday price to 90 pence (Media Guardian)Why the (NY) Times' front-page ads don't matter (Media Nation)Telegraph slashes stringer fees to £60 (Media Guardian)Haymarket gadget magazine Stuff to launch in Vietnam (UK Press Gazette)

Ontario magazine publishers face 53% blue box fee increase

Magazine publishers in Ontario are this year facing a whopping 53% increase in the fees they pay to cover their 50% share of blue box recycling. Stewardship Ontario has released its 2009 fee schedule and it says that participating publishers will be paying 3.37 cents a kilogram. Last year, the cost was 2.182 cents per kilo. Since 2003, the cost to magazine publishers has increased from 0.081

Magawards deadline is Friday 9th at 5 p.m.

Friday 9th at 5 p.m. is the deadline for entry in the National Magazine Awards. You have been warned.

Not so fast with the JPG goodbyes...

[This post has been updated]Apparently, like the recent off-again, on-again Torontoist saga, the death of JPG magazine, about which we posted just on Friday is off, at least for now. A posting on Sunday on the Mr. Magazine site quotes a note from Mitch Fox, president and CEO of 8020 Media saying that they received a tidal wave of response to the rapidly spreading news of the shutdown. So much so

Macfarlane to give keynote at Camp BCAMP

Camp BCAMP is being presented January 23–25 by the British Columbia Association of Magazine Publishers at Dunsmuir Lodge in Sidney, BC. The professional development retreat is pitched at small and medium-sized BC publishers.John Macfarlane, editor and co-publisher of The Walrus, will deliver a keynote address. Other sessions include the following:Apocalypse L8R: The Future of Print Literacy -

Znaimer and company sinks $1 million into building Zoomer

Zoomer Media Limited's driving force and chief executive Moses Znaimer, has exercised an option to buy $1 million in shares of the company through the Toronto-based holding company he controls, Olympus Management Limited. According to a release published the last day of 2008, Znaimer made the purchase to fund the continued investment of operating capital in development of Zoomer magazine and its

JPG photography mag, online and in print, folds

8020 Media has announced that the JPG magazine is being shut down on Monday, January 5. The 6-times-a-year print and web publication based in San Francisco had a business model based on readers uploading their photographs which were then selected for publication by fellow photographers, had been named one of the top 5 notable magazine launches of 2007 by Samir Husni.The owners "extraordinary

Neilsen's PRISM media measurement in jeopardy

The leading media measurement service in the U.S., Neilsen Co. has suffered a major blow as the largest retailer in the U.S., Walmart, declined to go ahead with a comprehensive in-store measurement service called PRISM.According to a story in MediaDaily News, the complete system -- in which Walmart took part at the beta stage -- was scheduled to be rolled out this year and there were suggestions

Research roundup

Catching up on some research magazine-related research results from south of the borderMost media to suffer retrenchment in 2009 (MediaPost)Millenials anxious now, optimistic about future (MediaPost)Kids motivated by TV and print to visit web (MediaPost)