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