Lush magazine acquired by digital signage company

Bassett Publishing, a newly formed division of a company whose principal business is in digital signage, has acquired Lush magazine (and says it plans to launch a second title this spring called Argyle aimed at "elite corporate executives.")The parent company, the Bassett Media Group specializes in out-of-home digital advertising and its group includes Impulse Media (40 screens in Rexall Pharama

CBP prez says trade publishing association should stay independent

[This post has been updated.]Canadian Business Press president Phil Boyd has told Masthead magazine (sub req'd) that he is firmly in favour of maintaining an independent trade publishing organization. This comes on the heels of Rogers Media Publishing withdrawing its membership in CBP and announcing that it was in talks with Magazines Canada about a possible alliance.Boyd said that the two

Best of B.C. newsstand promotion increased sales seven times

Single copy sales of participating British Columbia magazines increased by 13.9% during a special 6-month promotion organized by the Periodical Marketers of Canada in cooperation with the British Association of Magazine Publishers (BCAMP). (During the same period, magazine newsstand sales in BC generally went up 2.1%). About 30 magazines and 2,600 retailers participated.The pilot project was

Quebecor's TVA joins Magazines Canada

By signing up to membership 21 of the 45 French and English language titles from Quebecor Inc.'s consumer magazine division, TVA Publications Inc., Magazines Canada has consolidated its position as the dominant voice of the Canadian magazine industry.For too long, Quebecor's magazine division, the largest in Quebec, has not been at the table with the other players, big and small. And now, after

West coast magazine and TV cook James Barber dies

James Barber, the cook and raconteur who was a regular contributor to Western Living magazine and Vancouver magazine in the '80s and '90s, has died of natural causes at his home on Vancouver Island at the age of 84, according to CBC.ca.Although he was a magazine writer and author of a dozen cookbooks, he was perhaps best known as a chef on television and his program The Urban Peasant appeared on

Hard-won settlement for freelancers in U.S. thrown out by appeals court

The wheels of the courts grind exceeding slow and fine for freelancers; a decision by the U.S. federal appeals court late last week threw out an agreement reached in a class-action suit between publishers and freelance writers over payment for electronic reproduction of their work. This, according to a story in the New York Times.The agreement had been a way for publishers and writers to deal

Dine magazine thumps in with all advertorial flags flying

Last July we posted an item about plans for Dine, an annual restaurant guide that was being backed by Jay Mandarino of Toronto's CJ Graphics, and fronted by perennial foodie Sara Waxman who is publisher and editor-in-chief. At the time, we nervously quoted Mandarino extolling Dine's unabashedly advertorial mission. Well, little did we know.Dine dropped out of the Globe and Mail in Toronto last