Word watch: goodbye "media agency", hello "communications services"

There are few better signs of the changing media environment than when someone changes the name of what they do. Ad agencies became media agencies, and now media agencies are re-dubbing themselve "communications services", according to an item in MediaPost.While there is confusion on where creative agency role stops and media agencies' role starts, the media buying role isn't going away, just

Blanket coverage

It's probably not the first time it has happened, but Torontoist pokes a little fun at the two night-out Toronto giveaway mags eye and NOW for having the same cover subject this week. Not a major event like the Toronto film festival, mind you, but "Nuit blanche", whatever that is. As one reader noted, acidly, it is driven by who gets free tickets. Or it is a sign that there is a killer publicist

Quote, unquote

"What's interesting is that in all the places where I had a lot of fun, I also had a lot of anxiety. In this business, they go hand in hand."-- Former Newsweek Editor Edward Kosner who has just published a memoir "It's News to Me: The Making and Unmaking of an Editor," (Thunder's Mouth Press)

The day old bread discount and other variable pricing

Magazines usuallly have a hard enough time getting their current issue in front of the public through the byzantine maze of the single copy sales network. Often, we don't give a thought to the fact that, in many instances, back issues of the magazine have untapped potential. I was prompted to think about this by a presentation this week to a group of "creative industries" types in Toronto (part

The Last King of Scotland Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews director Kevin Macdonald and actor James McAvaoy about The Last King of Scotland

Not Currently Available

Green Living Enterprises to launch chic Eco Options

Since he sold most of his Key Publishers assets to St. Joseph Corporation in 2002 Michael de Pencier has not been standing still. He has been building a portfolio of "green" ventures. At first, it was Investco Capital Corporation, private equity funds that invest in wind power, organic foods and water purification projects.Then it was Green Living Enterprises, with a shift back into publishing

Magazines eligible for Creative Cluster Fund launched in Ontario

October 27 is less than a month away, but it's the deadline for the first round of the new funding source from the Ontario Ministry of Culture (administered by the Ontario Media Development Corporation). The OMDC held the first of three information sessions yesterday and is hosting two more today to outline the criteria and the details of the Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships

Canadian Business partners with interior design awards program

It's hard to know how tight is too tight when it comes to media sponsorships and partnerships, but they are becoming a vital marketing tool for many Canadian magazines. Canadian Business magazine, for instance, is certainly cementing its relationship with a number of industry groups. It is a sponsor and partner for the nation's largest interior design trade show and its awards for booth and

Print is harder to sell as essential, exec tells New York magazine audience

If you think print advertising is enough, think again, says Robin Steinberg svp and director of print investment at Publicis Groupe's MediaVest. She told a packed New York Times auditorium (according to a story in AdWeek) Tuesday morning that pressure is mounting on magazines to offer advertisers multiplatform packages that tie-in to the Web, mobile and other appropriate digital media.To

People read what they like, and sometimes it is in a doctor's office

It ain't what you do, it's the way what you do it; as apparently true in magazine reading as in other aspects of life, at least according to a paper published by the Magazine Publishers of America. The paper can be found at the MPA website and was summarized in a report in MediaPost's Center for Media Research.The Value of Magazine Readership study is an update, pulling together new information

House & Home expands reach on U.S. HGTV

The doyenne of Canadian House & Home magazine, will have her television show, House & Home with Lynda Reeves, on the screens of the House and Garden TV in the U.S. starting October 7. According to a story in mastheadonline (sub requ'd) . The popular program, which makes a powerful one-two marketing punch with the very prosperous magazine, is already seen daily on Global Television in Canada and

Hey, ho! We're not called "Glamour" for nothing

From the blog Gawker (thanks to Barb Adamski for the tip):British Glamour editor Jo Elvin was shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that for an upcoming piece about women who had lost their husbands in Iraq or Afghanistan, a freelancer named Victoria Lambert sent an email to members of Military Families Against the War looking for "photogenic" case studies. The email read: Glamour is very

It's small, but I like what you've written about it

Dynamic Resource Group (DRG) in Berne, Indiana, will begin publishing a new bi-monthly magazine in mid-January called Town Square, which will circulate in the United States and Canada to celebrate life in small towns. It will be almost entirely reader-written.Who, you may well ask, is DRG? It is a well established, family publishing and printing company that operates somewhat below the radar of

Cottage Life and British Columbia clean up at IRMA Awards

Canadian titles did very well at this month's 46th annual International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA) conference on Sept.12, 2006 in Duluth, Minnesota. Cottage Life won 10 awards, including three golds. British Columbia Magazine won six awards, including two golds. The IRMA awards recognize international standards of editorial excellence among more than 40 regional -- largely tourism and

Quote, unquote

It's easy to sniff at purveyors of puffery like Hello!, lamenting our obsession on the rich, famous, pampered and beautiful. But interested we are, and Hello! does it better than most. You like the idea of Canadians appearing in the big blender, which we try to do in newspapers every day. This isn't for everyone -- not me, for one, or most of my friends of all ages. But good wishes are due just

The Science of Sleep Video Q&A Part 1

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews writer/director Michel Gondry about The Science of Sleep part 1

Not Currently Available

The Science of Sleep Video Q&A Part 2

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews writer/director Michel Gondry about The Science of Sleep part 2

Not Currently Available

The Science of Sleep Audio Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews writer/director Michel Gondry about The Science of Sleep

Not Currently Available

Come on in, the water's fine

Folio: the magazine for magazine management, has launched a blog called Folio: Forum, which looks remarkably like what Canadian Magazines has been for the past year. Good idea. Glad we thought of it first!

We're OK, it's OK, say Walrus principals

Mastheadonline has published a longish item on The Walrus, which may, or may not, allay people's angst about what's going on. Ken Alexander expands on his view that the departure of the Publisher and several directors and the deputy editor is a good and necessary thing. Publisher Bernard Schiff says he left because of too many disagreements on fundraising and other fundamentals. Departed Deputy

Time Inc. special interest titles may fetch US$400 million

Word on the street in New York is that the Time4Media properties (18 special interest magazines that Time Inc. has put up for sale) could fetch between US$300 million and US$400 million. It's also expected that frontrunners to pick them up are Europeans who have the leverage of the strong euro. This according to a column in the New York Post. The titles in play include Field & Stream, Outdoor

Quote, unquote

"Magazines are growing in stature in Canada, demanding an ever-increasing readership and media market share, despite heavy competition from south of the border-and regional titles have been demonstrating the strongest growth curve."Canadians are magazine readers. "Maybe it's the climate. Consumer magazines, in particular, and regional business magazines,engage audiences emotionally and

When in doubt, Helvetica

A mature magazine designer of my acquaintance said once: "When in doubt, Helvetica." (This has echoes of someone else who told me: "When in doubt, Mozart.")Helvetica is a feature length documentary by Gary Hustwit about one of the most ubiquitous and popular typefaces in the world and its impact on global, visual culture. Here is a story about it in Aiga: Journal of Art & Design. The film

Cameron Williamson to be art director of Chatelaine

Chatelaine, which seems to take its sweet time filling key editorial positions, has finally named an art director, according to a story in mastheadonline (sub requ'd). It is Cameron Wiliamson, who was creative director at Toro. Chatelaine editor Sara Angel met Williamson when the two worked at Saturday Night (she as features editor, he as an intern).

Flare creates one-off Canada Style book to celebrate trend-setters

Flare magazine is to publish a special issue that celebrates Canadian fashion trend- and style-setters. It's called Canada Style and will be polybagged with Flare's November issue, available starting October 16. The special 84-page bonus magazine is sponsored exclusively by advertiser P&G Beauty.In a news release, Lisa Tant, the editor-in-chief, says: "We've packed even more news and great finds

Postal subsidy and mag fund in serious jeopardy

Magazines Canada has asked its member publications to send letters to their Members of Parliament concerning worry about the very real possibility that the longtime Publications Assistance Program (the postal subsdidy that is now administered by the Department of Canadian Heritage)and funding to the Canada Magazine Fund may be terminated.In a members' bulletin, CEO Mark Jamison said:All

Well-heeled also well-read

Among affluent Americans (and this usually goes for Canadians, too), consumer magazine readership is as healthy as it has ever been, according to the Mendelsohn Affluent Survey, an annual study investigating the habits of Americans with income exceeding $85,000 a year. This, from a story in MediaDaily News. There were major increases for publications that specifically target the well-to-do, with

Rogers buys Canadian Parents Online

Rogers Publishing has taken over the website CanadianParents.com for an undisclosed price. Rogers owns Canada's largest parenting group including the magazine Today's Parent and its associated website, Todaysparent.com. Tracy Keleher, the founder and business development manager for Canadian Parents Online will continue to manage the standalone site with its existing staff (there is no suggestion

Are the wheels coming off The Walrus?

Serious doings apparently afoot at The Walrus magazine. Last week, Tom Fennell, the deputy editor, quit. This was followed by the resignation of Bernard Schiff, the publisher and also chair of the Walrus Foundation; he was followed out the door by most of the rest of the board (it's not clear how many or if the board quit en bloc) including Sandy Houston, who represents the Metcalfe Foundation

A whole new meaning for sell-through

Thanks to the Professional Writers Association of Canada blog for making us aware of an intriguing initiative being taken by Boing Boing, a blog that has, er, a much larger audience than does this one. The Boing Boing Digital Emporium is a pilot project to post certain texts in pdf form that can be downloaded for a small fee [similar to Apple's i-Tunes -- see the comment below].This would seem to

Spacing gets serious about election

We don't know whether other, local or city, magazines have done something similar, but it's impressive that Spacing magazine has launched an election blog and deployed a clutch of reporters to cover the issues across the city of Toronto. Well-known freelancer (Globe, Toronto Life) John Lorinc is writing a column for the blog, which will be up until the November 13 municipal vote.

Gloves off, Maclean's's request for university info has turned into a demand

Maclean's magazine, facing the danger of seeing one of its premier cash cows, the universities issue, downed because the recalcitrance of many of the country's largest universities, has issued freedom of information requests to get the data it needs to compile the rankings. (Some earlier posts here and here and here; scroll back for others.)This is yet another escalation in a continuing story

Libin leaves Western Standard editorship

Days after unveiling the total redesign of the Western Standard, Kevin Libin, the editor of the Western Standard, announced he was leaving, to join the National Post as its Alberta correspondent. This, according to a story in mastheadonline (sub req'd)."Succeeding Libin is Joe Woodard, a well-known religion reporter and faith editor at the Calgary Herald. Woodard is also a founding member of the

Like the telephone, it works

Charlotte Gray's biography of Alexander Graham Bell (Reluctant Genius:The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, HarperCollins), received reviews this weekend both in the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. Michael Smith in the Star noted in his review that Bell may have been the inventor of something besides the telephone:Now I think of Bell as the inventor of one of the

MUM says it's not dead; it was resting

Masthead online reports (sub req'd) that the Montreal-based men's magazine MUM (Men's Ultimate Magazine), which folded after seven issues back in 2003, is being revived, this time as a quarterly. Founder Hung Le says he's older and wiser (he's now 25!). We are left to wonder if MUM stands for Make Up (Your) Mind. It's hard to see how it is distinguished from or will distinguish itself from UMM (

Strong $ nibbles Transcon's 3rd Q profit

Third quarter results for Transcontinental Inc. have been released; the printer, magazine and media company (TSX:TCL.B) saw third-quarter profit fall from $27.5 million last year at this time to $24.7 million, mostly blamed by management on the impact of a strong Canadian dollar. According to the company, revenue totalled $511.8 million, down $18 million or three per cent from $529.8 million in

A new title on mastheads?

Prevention magazine, the long-established health and fitness digest book from Rodale Inc. has established a wholly new job and job description at its shop -- brand editor. According to a story in MediaDaily News, Leah McLaughlin, formerly executive editor of Natural Health has been hired to the lead as the magazine develops brand extensions across all media--print, Internet, broadcast, DVDs and

Dialing for dollars

Sometimes new magazines come about by the most roundabout ways. Sometimes you wonder whether they are really magazines at all.This particular publication, just announced, is called Dialed In, and it started with a cell phone ringtone. The music magazine is to be distributed to some 1,600 high schools across the country. According to an article in Hour.ca, Dialed In aims to become the first truly

Time Inc. to divest 18 special interest titles

Time Inc. is going to put 18 of its consumer magazine up for sale, including some of its older special interest titles such as Popular Science, Field & Stream and Outdoor Life, as well as its Parenting Group, including the very big title, Parenting, according to a story in Media Daily News. According to the latest FAS-FAX from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), Popular Science experienced

Cheap at twice the price

Apparently some publishers no longer care quite so much about maintaining a subscription price of at least a dollar a copy.13 issues of Chatelaine and 10 issues of LouLou ... all for one low price of $14.95 -- that's just $0.65/copy.Perhaps PAP funding just doesn't have the cachet it used to have. Or perhaps Rogers is rolling in mountains of moolah, so they can afford to charge readers less ...

Veteran magazine writer and author Edna Staebler dies at 100

Edna Staebler a woman who started her career as a freelance magazine writer in the heyday of Maclean's, Chatelaine and Saturday Night in the '40s, '50s and early '60s and went on to write 20 books, including two of Canada's bestselling cookbooks, has died at the age of 100.For many years she lived in a cottage beside Sunfish Lake, near Waterloo and held court for visitors from all over the world.

New title for parents enters a crowded field

The parent/family category will be somewhat more crowded, and competitive, with the launch this March of ParentsCanada magazine, from Family Communications. It will be going up against (among others) national titles like Rogers's Today's Parent and St. Joseph's recently relaunched Canadian Family.Family Communications claims in a story in Media in Canada, that 70% of Canada's eight million

A supportive word

Maclean's magazine, somewhat beset by a mob of university presidents falling over themselves to say how they will no longer cooperate with its university rankings, has heard at least one, somewhat unlikely, friendly word. In an editorial, the London Free Press chides the universities (including London-based Western). While it agrees there may be flaws in the methodology, it says "reasonable

Big print distributor cuts deal with digital distributor

Interesting item from Media Daily News concerning a partnership between traditional newsstand disributor Kable Distribution Services and the digital publication distributor Newsstand Inc. It seems to involve Kable providing access to its print clients and selling digital subs as one of several alternatives, while Newsstand does all the digital fulfillment. The two companies will share any of the

Western Standard get design makeover

The Western Standard of Calgary has gone to one of Canada's most reliable and steady art direction hands, Jim Ireland & Associates, to help it redesign the newsmagazine from front to back. The whole new look will hit the newsstands with the September 25 issue. Here is a sneak peek.Gone is the blocky red logo box up in the corner, replaced with a bold upper and lower logo emphasizing the word "

Corporate Knights editor and founder profiled

Toby Heaps, the editor of Corporate Knights magazine, was profiled this weekend by the Toronto Star's Judy Steed. Whether you classify his publication a noble pursuit of positive corporate values or as a tool of the corporatist agenda, there is no question that the magazine has grown, prospered and is worth watching. Now published six times a year with a controlled circulation of roughly 100,000

But Wait! There's More!

It's off topic, but interesting nonetheless. The man who claimed to have invented the advertising catch phrase: "But Wait! There's More!" and who wrote the copy for the ginsu knife, has died.

Rogers merges trade publishing divisions

The recent retirement of Harvey Botting from leading Rogers's trade publishing arm, the Business Information Group, left a big management hole. That has now been filled by merging the division with the Health & Financial Group, to create the Business & Professional Publishing Group. John Milne (who ran the health and financial group) has been promoted to senior vice-president of Rogers Media

Try them, you'll like them -- MPA gives free magazines to college students

A story in Folio: says the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) is working with Zinio Systems, the digital distribution company, to get U.S. college students to read magazines. Its method? To give away free digital subs to select students at various universities. The MPA's Digital College Initiative. "The magazines will reflect the curriculum being studied in specific departments...and involve

Spacing mixes it up for municipal election

Spacing, the prize-winning little Toronto magazine, run part-time by Matthew Blackett and a bunch of dedicated urbanophiles, certainly punches well above its weight when it comes to participating in the forthcoming municipal election in Canada's largest city.We like the illustration they used by artist Mark Ngui (see above). Spacing's new issue, due out September 18, will concentrate on the

Canadian writer for harness racing trade magazines to be inducted into Hall of Fame

Marie Hill, originally from Black's Harbour, N.B., is to be inducted into Communicators Hall of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, according to Standardbred Canada. Hill, who had her first writing byline at age 11, has covered harness racing for major trade magazines, but she is best known in the sport as a prolific author, writing about racehorse-stallion star Adios, fellow native Canadian Joe

Stefano & Pileggi Video Podcast

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith Interviews Joseph Stefano and Nicholas Pileggi at the WGA 101 Best Screenplays Event

Not Currently Available

Stefano & Pileggi Audio Podcast

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith Interviews Joseph Stefano and Nicholas Pileggi at the WGA 101 Best Screenplays Event

Not Currently Available

A world of troubles at Canadian Geographic

People in the business have always looked up to Canadian Geographic, as a robust mid-sized title in a country with few of them, as an excellent and prize-winning magazine and as a real publishing success story.Hence the dismay and puzzlement when, last Friday (September 1), seven people, including a couple of senior and longtime employees, were abruptly terminated Among them were Ian McKelvie,

So close, it could be In Touch with first place

In Touch magazine's goal in life is to become the number one newsstand title, and it looks like it is within casting distance, according to a story in Women's Wear Daily (WWD). The two celebrity titles that went toe-to-toe used to be People and US Weekly, but Bauer's In Touch has moved into second place and is breathing down People's neck, says the story."For example, the Aug. 21 issue saw In

Caroline Connell promoted to be Editor in Chief of Today's Parent

Caroline Connell has been promoted to Editor-in-Chief of the Today’s Parent Group effective September 18, 2006. The Today’s Parent Group includes Today’s Parent magazine, Todaysparent.com and the special editions—Today’s Parent Pregnancy & Birth, Today’s Parent Newborn and Today’s Parent Baby & Toddler magazines. (She replaces Linda Lewis, who moved to Transcontinental to edit More, its

Ryerson piles on to Maclean's

Ryerson University is the latest to refuse to cooperate with the Maclean's magazine university rankings. That brings the total schools to 23 (we're beginning to lose count), including most of the biggest universities in the country. Maclean's insists it will carry on, but it must be asked whether this is whistling in the dark and whether the study will have any credibility with the public when it

Murray Lewis to be editor of Good Times, relocated in Montreal

According to a post in mastheadonline (reg. requ'd) Murray Lewis, until recently the editor of Our Canada, the largely reader-written offshoot of Reader's Digest, is to be the editor of Good Times, the English language version of Le Bel Age which has been relocated to Montreal by its parent company, Transcontinental Media. The Toronto team which has been producing Good Times has been let go.

The lure of the golden west

CanWest Mediaworks has published an advertorial magazine that extols the virtues of the job-rich (or is that worker-poor?) western Canada, trying to lure Atlantic Canadians to move on out. A story on CBC.ca says that Move West, a 52-page insert in CanWest newspapers, contains ads for jobs ranging from oil patch engineer to coffee pourer, and stories about easterners who have moved west.Atlantic

Cool (and worthwhile) new subscription marketing ploy?

Whether it's primarily a circulation ploy or A Good Thing (they say it's both), I like the idea of US-based GOOD Magazine's fundraising drive / subscription offer: You gotta pay $20 for a subscription, but all of that money will go to the worthy cause you select.On the "Why are we doing this?" page, they point out that most magazines don't make money off paid circulation anyway, so why bother

Guardian plans monthly magazine

Guardian Newspapers Limited, which publishes the daily Guardian newspaper, the Guardian Weekly and the Sunday Observer, is now to launch an international monthly magazine from the end of the year called Guardian Monthly. It was reported in the U.K. Press Gazette, although there have been broad hints for months.It is to be edited by former Independent journalist Jessica Moore (pictured) and will

Broadcaster Kevin Shea named OMDC chair

For those in the magazine industry who feel that the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) is too focussed on film, television, or any cultural industry other than magazines, then it won't be welcome news that Kevin Shea, a broadcaster to the bone, has been appointed as the new chair.Shea is owner and president of SheaChez Inc., a consulting firm whose clients include the CBC, Telus

Education exemption to copyright law a terrible idea says Geist

Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, has some stern words about the so-called "education exemption" for copyright. It appeared in the Law Bytes column that he write for a number of outlets, including the Toronto Star and later posts on his website. Geist is a frequent commentator on internet law and copyright issues.He points out

Xerox announces paper that's 25% lighter

For those very short-run magazines that can economically use high-grade photocopying rather than offset printing, there comes news through Folio: that Xerox has announced it has created a coated paper that is 25% lighter than any previously available.Xerox said it is the industry's lightest and delivers 20 per cent more pages per inch of paper than the next lightest digital paper on the

Chocolat preview

Chocolat, the joint venture between Rogers Media and Canada Post, is previewed tonight (Wednesday) at a press bash at the tony, uptown furniture store Art Shoppe. The invited VIPs and press will see the first issue, which appears on newsstands September 12.In a release, publisher Kerry Mitchell, vice-president of Rogers Consumer Publishing, says: "We're very excited about introducing Chocolat to

Ambitious young editors find a place to network at Ed2010

One of the things that makes working in this business such a pleasure is being around friendly, funny, ambitious young people who believe in what they're doing. There may be some awful sourpusses in the business, but it's generally a pretty vibrant place. Case in point is an intriguing and enjoyable website called Ed2010 (that's Ed twenty-10). It's overwhelmingly U.S.-focussed, but it has a

Will these become known as the "foodies"?

The winners of the inaugural Cuisine Canada Food Media Awards will be announced on Sept. 18 in Winnipeg, from more than 50 entries in the various classes of visual and writing. The one sure thing is that well-known Canadian magazines will win.The awards are part of the Cuisine Canada national conference Sept. 16 to 19. (For a number of years, this conference had been called Northern Bounty but

The college of allergic knowledge

Allergic Living magazine's fall issue features the travails and surprises in store for students going off to college and taking their allergies with them.

Star PM debuts

The Toronto Star's mini-paper Star PM debuted this afternoon, with few surprises. It comes as an 8-page 8.5 x 11 printable pdf and free subscribers can opt for additional sports, people, lifestyle and "youth culture" pages, for a total of 12. No one knows yet how popular it will be, or whether it is one more marker on the road to the end of paid newspapers. But one question that has been raised:

Is the ratebase doomed?

“The rate base is really just an anachronism,” said Rebecca McPheters, who is president of McPheters & Co., a consulting and research firm. “The value to the advertiser is not the number of copies or how they are paid for or distributed, but rather who reads it and who buys the advertiser’s product. It would be a very brave thing for Time to do and would be an exciting development for the

"Sock puppet" incident embarrasses The New Republic, loses blogger his job

Lee Siegel, a senior editor at The New Republic (partly owned by the Aspers) and creator of the Lee Siegel on Culture blog for TNR.com, was suspended indefinitely from the magazine and his blog was shut down after revelations that he was involved in anonymously attacking readers who criticized his posts. This, according to a story in the New York Times."...a reader accused him of using a “sock

Esprit de Corps editor says defence minister was way off base

Scott Taylor, the editor-in-chief of the iconoclastic military magazine Esprit de Corps, has taken a strip off the Canadian defence minister, Gordon O'Connor for remarks he made last week to Canadian troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan. O'Connor justified the mission to Afghanistan and lit into the media for emphasizing casulaties and combat rather than reconstruction activities. Taylor, who wrote

Macleans slaps back

Well, Maclean's came out swinging this week in reaction to news that more than 20 Canadian universities (about one-fifth) have made statements saying they would no longer cooperate with the long-time universities issue. (Earlier posts can be found here and here.)The "letter from the editors" (which may be taken as the views of the Editor & Publisher, Ken Whyte) published in this week's magazine,

Onward and upward into the new year

One year ago, this little blog had fewer than 1,000 unique visitors a month. Now, it has more than 6,000. (OK, so it's no YouTube, but our subject is relatively narrow; country- and trade- specific.) Some visitors are tire-kickers, just passing through, but many of you come here regularly, for which we're very grateful. The visits, the passalongs to friends and colleagues, the click-throughs to