Quote, unquote: Smithsonian editor on print, web and the future of magazines

I think that magazines will survive as print entities, and I think that there will be a kind of Darwinian fallout. I think the fittest will survive. I think other magazines will migrate to the Web, and we’re certainly investing in and looking at the Web. But I do think that the tactile pleasure of carrying a magazine and reading a magazine and turning the pages will continue for as far as the eye

Digital magazine readers like digital magazines. Go figure

Texterity, the digital magazine company, has released the results of a survey of digital magazine readers and found, no surprise, that they are reducing their use of print. Over 44% of the 11,880 respondents to the online survey (it was sent to 99,000 from 110 different publications) said they have decreased their use of print in the past 12 months. The reasons they give include more ease of use,

Venture Publishing of Alberta to launch Unlimited to serve Generation Y

Venture Publishing of Edmonton is to launch a new magazine aimed at the so-called "millenials", the children of boomers. It's called Unlimited and focuses on work and business issues for the highly prized 20- to 35-year-old demographic.The magazine will have a slightly oversized format (9" x 10.75) and publish 6 times a year, with a circulation of 20,000 copies through a combination of paid

It was 40 years ago today, Expo taught us all to play...

It was a shock to some of us to be told this week that the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album was 40 years old, and that was the same year at Expo 67. For younger people it may merely be an amusing aritifact, but it is hard to over-emphasize how important its release seemed then.The Beaver magazine and its staff, particularly art director Michel Groleau, has done its current cover (June/July) as a

You can help pick the best of the best -- 30 years of National Magazine Award covers

As part of its celebration of 30 years, the National Magazine Awards Foundation is having a "reader's choice" vote about the best covers. Go to the voting site and you can vote 3 times for each of 27 covers* that have been finalists. (above, the 1981 gold winner from Quest.) It will be harder than you think...The winners will be announced at the MagAwards gala at the Carlu in Toronto on June 15.(

Osprey Media bought by Quebecor

Quebecor Media has purchased Osprey Media Income Fund for $517 million. Michael Sifton put together the Osprey Media chain of newspapers and magazines out of the smaller dailies and weekly newspapers and magazines that CanWest Media either didn't want or wanted to sell to pay down debt from buying Conrad Black out of his Hollinger empire. In all, Sifton's company bought 54 newspapers, including

Enough with this "labour of love" stuff

Once and for all, says Nicole Cohen, the alternative magazine press and alternative media in general need to dispatch -- or at least confront -- the idea of such activity being a "labour of love".In a long and thoughtful article in Briarpatch's June/July issue, Cohen, who until recently was co-editor of Shameless magazine, says that non-mainstream magazines are often launched on the strength of