tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110666572013-05-25T07:34:08.375-04:00News, views and reviews of the Canadian magazine industry.D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.comBlogger6232125This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-16497222164186124002013-05-25T00:55:00.000-04:002013-05-25T00:55:26.838-04:002013-05-25T00:55:26.838-04:00

The national edition of Frank magazine, the satirical and muckraking publication which closed in October 2008, is apparently being revived as an online publication starting in the fall, according to a post on Canada.com by Postmedia News. Michael Bate, who ran the magazine from 1989 is bringing the national Frank back in a blog format -- similar to Andrew Sullivan's The Dish -- with a paywall

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-12428074637896606452013-05-23T09:50:00.000-04:002013-05-23T09:53:15.967-04:002013-05-23T09:53:15.967-04:00

A BC investor is backing the launch of Modern Farmer magazine, a glossy, high-end U.S.-based publication, focussed on sustainable architecture, diet and lifestyle, according to a story in BCBusiness magazine. Frank Giustra, best known for involvement in mining and for building Lion's Gate Entertainment, became involved with the project because he had in recent years begun to invest heavily in

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-31094090028618393702013-05-22T18:41:00.003-04:002013-05-22T18:41:42.957-04:002013-05-22T18:41:42.957-04:00

There has to be a better word for "crowdsourcing" when an online publication is actually passing the hat to its own readers to get enough money to publish a print special interest pub. Covet Garden, the online home and garden title, is asking its readers to pony up $18,000 between now and July 6 in order to produce Covet Garden Home, a 100+-page magabook. The hope is to use the money it

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-3628573110253753182013-05-21T18:26:00.000-04:002013-05-21T18:26:29.325-04:002013-05-21T18:26:29.325-04:00

Open door: The readers' editor on ... why chocolate and peanuts left a sour taste (Guardian) Bonnier, Source Interlink exchange titles; 16 change hands (Folio:) Publishers propose own draft Royal Charter for the independent self-regulation of the press (Jon Slattery) USPS Loses Another $1.9B in Q2 (Audience Development) Time Inc.’s All You Launches M-Commerce Pilot Program (Folio:) Digital Circ

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-4937697462638203442013-05-21T12:25:00.000-04:002013-05-21T12:25:15.810-04:002013-05-21T12:25:15.810-04:00

Negotiations towards an agreement to protect Canada's boreal forest have broken down, according to a Canadian Press story carried by Maclean's. Three years of effort have come to nothing as two of the seven environmental organizations involved -- Greenpeace and Canopy -- pulled out, saying they had nothing to show for their efforts in preserving forestlands and wildlife.  Canopy, in particular,

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-73293944061736870572013-05-21T11:56:00.000-04:002013-05-21T11:57:48.272-04:002013-05-21T11:57:48.272-04:00

Read's Newsstand and Cafe in Fredericton, New Brunswick, has been named Magazines Canada's retailer of the year for 2012. The downtown Fredericton store is the flagship of the Read’s/United chain of stores, with other stores in Moncton, Riverview, St. John and Halifax and in addition to the best selection of magazines for miles around (including most Magazines Canada-distributed titles),  also

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-83940727695135179392013-05-20T19:15:00.000-04:002013-05-20T19:15:01.633-04:002013-05-20T19:15:01.633-04:00

Esquire magazine has been notably forward-looking in recognizing opportunities in the online world. This is demonstrated again by its decision to launch a new weekly tablet edition, which will feature original content, columns, essays and excerpts. In an interview with Folio:, editor-in-chief David Granger and senior editor of digital Joe Keohane said the new tablet edition is their way of of

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-38840143784921154502013-05-20T13:07:00.001-04:002013-05-25T07:34:08.388-04:002013-05-25T07:34:08.388-04:00

Good story from the Toronto Star consumer columnist Ellen Roseman, exposing the chicanery of the Mike Holmes organization when it came to living up to its contracts with subscribers. It cannot be good for our business when Roseman advises her readers not to buy long-term subscriptions to new magazines. We have written here before about the disgraceful behaviour of publishers who leave their

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-88214366544208814162013-05-15T15:27:00.000-04:002013-05-16T13:50:51.156-04:002013-05-16T13:50:51.156-04:00

Roger Black is one of the best known, bigtime art directors. His name has been associated with the best known brands in the magazine business; their design and redesign. Apparently, while opportunity continues to knock for his ambitious style, it doesn't knock so much anymore in North America.  According to a story in Adweek, Black has announced he is moving to Hong Kong to work for a Swiss

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-41555964027560529582013-05-14T20:52:00.005-04:002013-05-14T20:54:26.712-04:002013-05-14T20:54:26.712-04:00

BPA Worldwide, the media audience auditing organization, says that more than one-third of the print titles it audits now report having digital circulation  It is based on an analysis of data from the six month period ended December 31. Digital now accounts for about 22% of all total qualified circulation. Most of the BPA's top 25 titles (see below) are b2b, trade or technical. Among the

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-55004238987558748782013-05-14T17:09:00.002-04:002013-05-14T17:10:31.211-04:002013-05-14T17:10:31.211-04:00

Women's fashion and beauty monthly iLove to launch next month with 700,000 free circulation (Press Gazette) Amid women's mag closures, journalist launches new title [Libertine] with 'depth and intelligence' (Press Gazette) New survey on legal claims made against media (Jon Slattery) The Customer Service Implications of Tablet Editions (Audience Development) The Great Gatsby: UK press break

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-62514424700826262972013-05-14T16:17:00.000-04:002013-05-14T16:17:07.070-04:002013-05-14T16:17:07.070-04:00

Routes magazine, a culture and lifestyle magazine serving southern Alberta, is ceasing publication with its current (May/June) issue. According to a post on the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association website, the Routes Media company will continue, doing branding, design and marketing work, and will continue to post local stories and events online. Publisher Sandra Wiebe, reflecting on the five

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-82790279246728108062013-05-14T15:43:00.000-04:002013-05-14T15:47:04.527-04:002013-05-14T15:47:04.527-04:00

"Auto Trader succeeded by remembering that it wasn't in the magazine business, it was in the motors business."-- from a story in Press Gazette about the Auto Trader which recently announced it is discontinuing its print edition and going digital only. 

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-63886987114915292702013-05-14T13:52:00.000-04:002013-05-14T13:52:59.203-04:002013-05-14T13:52:59.203-04:00

Darlene Storey, vice-president of consumer marketing and production for St. Joseph Media, has been named Magazines Canada volunteer of the year for 2012. She will be presented with her award at the Magazines Canada luncheon on Thursday, June 6 during the MagNet magazines conference.  “Darlene was an easy choice for her colleagues,” said Mark Jamison, CEO of Magazines Canada. “She is both a

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-25531571387890303202013-05-14T12:08:00.003-04:002013-05-14T12:09:22.688-04:002013-05-14T12:09:22.688-04:00

Chatelaine magazines' June issue, on newsstands today, marks the occasion of its 85th anniversary (not Canada's oldest, but close) by publishing eight different covers in a special bonus double issue.  The magazine, which is #1 in Canada in terms of paid circulation, now has 800,000 unique monthly visitors to its redesigned chatelaine.com website. According to a company release, the magazine 

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-41571602584986705282013-05-14T11:59:00.000-04:002013-05-14T11:59:05.127-04:002013-05-14T11:59:05.127-04:00

(photo: Tom Sandler) Producer, director and actor Zaib Shaikh, is to be the host of this year's National Magazine Awards. The awards are being held Friday, June 7 at the Carlu in Toronto. An announcement on the NMA website said Known best as the star of the international hit comedy series, Little Mosque on The Prairie, Zaib Shaikh has worked across Canada as an actor, director and producer. He

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-88146723816773657442013-05-12T13:41:00.001-04:002013-05-12T13:41:38.092-04:002013-05-12T13:41:38.092-04:00

Best cover The Atlantic Journalism Awards were presented Saturday night in Halifax and among the magazine-related awards won were: Atlantic Magazine Article: Marjorie Simmins – Progress Magazine – Halifax, NS - To the Manor Born. Atlantic Magazine: Best Cover: Saltscapes Magazine – Bedford – Million Dollar Legs – January/February 2012. Atlantic Magazine: Best Profile Article: John DeMont –

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-65867411259658551812013-05-12T13:03:00.001-04:002013-05-12T13:04:14.116-04:002013-05-12T13:04:14.116-04:00

Occasionally, I find myself saying "what the heck does that mean?" and one of those times just occurred when reading an interview in Ad Age with Troy Young, the president at Hearst Magazines Digital Media* saying this about so-called 'native advertising': There's a lot to come on the native side, and I'm glad the market is rallying around the idea, but really it's a natural evolution of doing a

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-18235141568680819902013-05-09T17:35:00.002-04:002013-05-09T17:37:28.908-04:002013-05-09T17:37:28.908-04:00

Condé Nast scraps Easy Living magazine after eight years (MediaWeek) USPS Backs Off From Price-Hike Gambit (Dead Tree Edition) The New, New Database (Audience Development) Goodbye, American Business Media (Folio:) Grazia editor: magazines are still streets ahead of the internet (Guardian) Time Inc. Forms Strategic Alliance With Sprint Nextel Corp. (Folio:) Guardian Student Media Awards

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-78368442498836319962013-05-08T17:57:00.000-04:002013-05-08T17:57:33.786-04:002013-05-08T17:57:33.786-04:00

A nascent B.C. magazine publisher, Michael Chesney has been ordered to remove two tobacco plants that he is defiantly growing in the front window of his office. Chesney has just launched Comment Canada magazine in Nelson and, despite being a non-smoker, is apparently deliberately flouting the Tobacco Control Act.  According to a story from the Province newspaper, he has been ordered by the

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-88063086536868299212013-05-07T12:27:00.001-04:002013-05-08T11:55:25.006-04:002013-05-08T11:55:25.006-04:00

Rosebud was the sleigh. There. I am in good company with writers who give away the endings of their favourite books (and say why) in the summer blockbuster issue of Brick, which is available in bookstores and on newsstands at the end of May.  Inspired by a rousing conversation about endings at The New Quarterly’s 2012 Wild Writers Festival, editor Michael Redhill introduced the idea of

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-39175765765868880432013-05-06T16:16:00.000-04:002013-05-06T16:18:13.040-04:002013-05-06T16:18:13.040-04:00

There's a certain "inside baseball" feel to many reflections by magazines as they reach significant marquee anniversaries. However, the feisty, lefty, scrappy Briarpatch has put together an interesting package of recollection in its May/June issue to mark the occasion.  It recalls its struggles for funding -- its endless struggles for funding -- and how it has wrestled with whether it should be

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-73941722333777151212013-05-05T13:27:00.001-04:002013-05-05T13:27:44.126-04:002013-05-05T13:27:44.126-04:00

"There’s something about investing your humanity, your eccentricity, your exuberance in the things you do. Why do people watch tightrope walkers? Not to see them get to the other side. It’s because they might fall. Not everything you do is going to be successful, but that’s part of the allure. It’s also what makes the work valuable: that you’re really present and invested in what you’re doing.

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-63378673437123231962013-05-03T16:36:00.001-04:002013-05-03T16:36:21.428-04:002013-05-03T16:36:21.428-04:00

“I foresee a future where there are no newspapers, unfortunately.I think digital technologies are going to ensure that that happens.” -- Laas Turnbull, the publisher and editor in chief of The Grid, the Toronto weekly magazine owned by the Toronto Star, quoted in the Spring issue of Spacing magazine in an article about the gradual disappearance of newspaper boxes from the streets of Toronto.

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-17797246804460650352013-05-03T14:25:00.000-04:002013-05-03T14:25:27.964-04:002013-05-03T14:25:27.964-04:00

New York magazine won the top prize for both its print and digital coverage at last night's presentation of the [U.S.] National Magazine Awards. It also won for best cover for its November 12 "The City and the Storm" front. For details, here is the New York Times story on the results and the American Society of Magazine Editors page about the cover competition (ASME manages the awards.)

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