tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110666572009-11-24T18:11:47.070-05:00News, views and reviews of the Canadian magazine industry.D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.comBlogger3931125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-68267776870330589212009-11-24T13:35:00.002-05:002009-11-24T13:38:54.899-05:00

The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) has hired a former board member and treasurer of the organization as its new executive director. Sandy Crawley begins full-time in the position on January 4, 2010. Crawley has been labour relations and professional development manager at the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres for the past two years and has served as ED for the

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-87008849641048315922009-11-23T13:00:00.002-05:002009-11-23T17:12:34.660-05:00

“As an industry we took a huge wrong turn. It was a new technology and we didn’t quite understand it. We had been told that if we got the eyeballs – in the usual digital dotcom jargon – the money would follow. Well, we got the eyeballs and the money hasn’t followed.” -- Spectator publisher Andrew Neil, speaking to the Independent's Ian Burrell. “The first truth that we have to come to terms with

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-91773088302299123052009-11-23T12:36:00.000-05:002009-11-23T12:36:06.420-05:00

La Presse has reached an agreement in principle with three unions, including editorial and newsroom staff, according to a story posted by CBC News. No details will be announced until the agreement is finalized. The Montreal newspaper threatened that it would close if its 8 unions didn't accept proposed cost cutting. With this latest settlement, only the union representing distribution workers has

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-73370910727594876022009-11-23T12:20:00.000-05:002009-11-23T12:20:45.172-05:00

Ed2010 is hosting a seminar on interview skills in Toronto this Thursday evening. There will be a panel discussion with Bonnie Munday of Best Health, Megan Griffith-Greene of Chatelaine and Jenny Pruegger of Transcontinental Media. Participants will then have an opportunity to try out their interview technique on one of the panelists.  Cost is $25 and the event takes place Thursday, Novembe 26

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-2917776565617945752009-11-20T12:30:00.000-05:002009-11-20T12:30:28.966-05:00

User-generated newsletters are an interesting development of probable interest to both consumer and b2b publishers. In effect, it takes personalization to a whole new level. According to a posting on eMedia Vitals, the tech trade publisher IDG is about to launch TechDispenser, an application that enables users of its magazine websites to build custom newsletters based on the technology topics

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-386614564147696922009-11-20T12:09:00.001-05:002009-11-20T12:42:22.299-05:00

Canadian Geographic managing editor Dan Rubinstein has told us of a video initiative that demonstrates how the web can really augment a print product after its deadline. There’s an article about the re-introduction of the black-footed ferret, which was gone from the Canadian wild for 70 years and once thought to be globally extinct. The story’s final paragraph is about the Oct. 2 release of the

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-51823384766729873912009-11-19T15:06:00.001-05:002009-11-19T15:07:04.547-05:00

After its trial project last year with Canadian Geographic magazine, using paper containing surplus wheat straw, Canopy (formerly Markets Initiative), the organization campaigning for sustainable forestry practices is launching an online survey to find out how much appetite there is for such papers. “This study is the first of its kind in North America. Up until now, information about the market

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-48406275759803576262009-11-19T14:49:00.001-05:002009-11-19T14:50:15.553-05:00

HOLMES: The Magazine to Make it Right is being launched November 23. Published by Dauphin Media Group Limited, the magazine named after the muscular TV contractor, will cover home renovation, green building and new technology as well as highlighting tradespeople who do good work. Holmes will be signing copies of the launch issue on November 23 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., at the Gateway Store

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-31531830354329674902009-11-19T14:33:00.001-05:002009-11-19T14:34:16.082-05:00

Business Week to cut 100 staff (Wall Street Journal)  Media Week to close after nearly 25 years (Guardian)  Sunday Mirror pays model £15,000 damages (Press Gazette)  Lagardere says too early to talk about ad recovery (Reuters)  Job cuts at IPC Media, publisher of Nuts, Loaded and NME (Guardian)  Readers won't pay for online news, says Digg head Jay Adelson (Guardian)  Times editor James Harding

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-56901241555936130812009-11-18T17:45:00.002-05:002009-11-18T17:47:23.673-05:00

A study of store checkouts in the U.S. indicates strongly that magazines are an important part of the retail stores' product mix and sales.Research firm Dechert-Hampe & Company found that magazines, confectionary and beverages make up the "power group" of checkout sales performers, accounting for some 81% of profits and 79% of sales. Retailers should devote at least 24% of their checkout space to

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-8126010896312786252009-11-18T14:56:00.001-05:002009-11-18T16:07:17.037-05:00

Dianne de Fenoyl, managing editor at Maclean's since 2005, has been named editorial director of Chatelaine. de Fenoyl, has filled many roles in Canadian publishing, including Globe and Mail Review editor, executive editor of Saturday Night and life editor of the National Post.

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-79236113313358297892009-11-18T12:40:00.000-05:002009-11-18T12:40:54.770-05:00

Quebecor Media Inc. is combining its TVA Publications magazine sales team in Toronto with its other media sales operations -- Sun Media newspapers, Canoe.ca and TVA broadcast. According to a story in Mastheadonline, it the company says it is not a cost-cutting measure. The new, combined 90-person sales operation will continue to be located in the Sun's building on King Street in Toronto and will

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-54111560671900968082009-11-18T12:22:00.002-05:002009-11-18T12:23:46.378-05:00

About every week, the aging media tycoon Rupert Murdoch makes another pronouncement about the newspaper business. This time, in an interview on his own Fox network (reported in TechCrunch), he proclaimed that electronic tablets will be the salvation of newspapers and, without them, newspapers are doomed. He was speaking about a plan to use Kindle (or similar) tablets and charging readers $15 to

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-40747961416899616002009-11-18T12:08:00.000-05:002009-11-18T12:08:52.660-05:00

St. Joseph Media's Canadian Family magazine is partnering with the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors’ (CCGD) in an advertising program to help promote new food products called the Canadian Family Food Awards, which are to be launched in April 2010.The partnership integrates two national grocery programs – the Canadian Grand Prix New Product Awards and the Canadian Family Food Awards, with

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-45062270570953943672009-11-18T11:52:00.001-05:002009-11-18T11:53:20.047-05:00

Cameron Williamson, the art director of Chatelaine, is to be named editor in chief of Glow magazine effective November 30. This is unusual. Except in instances when they start a magazine themselves, it is quite rare for the career path of an art director to lead to becoming editor-in-chief. Williamson joined Chatelaine in September 2006 as art director; prior to joining Rogers, he was creative

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-26645733059873848582009-11-17T21:38:00.003-05:002009-11-18T01:26:57.998-05:00

The ability of photography to turn a good story into a great one is the subject of the final Canadian Society of Magazines Editors (CSME) luncheon in Toronto on  November 26 at the Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm Street (Yonge and Dundas subway station). Presenter will be veteran photojournalist Peter Bregg (Maclean's, Hello!). $30 for members, $50 for non-members.  RSVP to csmeadmin@

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-8081784352772630562009-11-16T15:47:00.000-05:002009-11-16T15:47:01.582-05:00

Inspired by a magazine that published briefly almost 60 years ago, a first-time editor and publisher has launched a lavish print magazine called Vintage Magazine. According to a story in Folio:, Ivy Baer Sherman is celebrating "classic culture and the pleasures of print" with the privately financed, twice-yearly publication.The premiere issue covers art, music, fashion, food and travel and

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-17471125225577617772009-11-16T15:25:00.001-05:002009-11-16T15:27:30.050-05:00

Homemakers magazine says in a release that its relaunch and repositioning in April has been a great success, even in the face of very difficult recessionary times.As part of a crowded women's service portfolio at Transcontinental Media (Canadian Living, Elle Canada, Homemaker's, More, Elle Canada), Homemakers was striving to distinguish itself by focussing on eating and living healthfully and

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-81360168267365248532009-11-13T17:45:00.001-05:002009-11-13T17:46:27.428-05:00

Michael Prentice, a columnist in the Ottawa Business Journal, draws an analogy with newspaper-carried controlled circulation magazines to illuminate the current confusing battle between TV networks and cable companies over who pays what to whom. (You will probably have seen the battling full-page newspaper ads and TV commercials that shed more heat than light.) Prentice puts it succinctly that "

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-41742574680618680942009-11-13T15:16:00.002-05:002009-11-13T15:18:05.713-05:00

Dependency on advertisers has for a longtime been the Achilles heel of magazine publishing, both consumer and b2b. As Howard Gossage, the iconoclastic commentator on advertising, said the readers lost control of their magazines the minute that publishers stopped raising the subscription price to cover the cost of production. As a result, advertisers inevitably have for a long times subsidized

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-89012955317433435982009-11-13T12:51:00.000-05:002009-11-13T12:51:31.129-05:00

Networking and education are top priorities for a new strategic plan unveiled by American Business Media (ABM), the business-to-business magazine trade association. It is pursuing that, plus government policy and industry standards, research for member publishers and research to provide data for advertisers, according to a report in MediaDailyNews. It will also pursue new partnerships with other

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-50248448518975900982009-11-13T12:40:00.002-05:002009-11-13T12:41:46.071-05:00

Two buyers are contending for Playboy magazine. Playboy Enterprises Inc., publishers of the iconic, but troubled, title is being pursued by Iconix Brand Group and a group of private investors led by Jim Griffiths, Playboy's former entertainment president, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times. The idea is to pay perhaps $300 million and take the company private. From dominance in the

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-72095280384565149512009-11-13T11:54:00.010-05:002009-11-13T15:30:11.508-05:00

[This post has been updated] The announcement by the government of Ontario on Thursday that it would now exempt newspaper subscriptions from the new 13% harmonized sales tax (HST) means that magazines are alone among print publications will face an effective 8% increase in taxation come June 2010. Or, to put it another way, magazine buyers will pay 13% tax (5% GST + 8% PST, combined) while

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-15368366968214654732009-11-12T19:02:00.000-05:002009-11-12T19:02:08.446-05:00

From time to time we look back to see what was happening in the world of Canadian magazines.  A year ago Gardening Life: "there will never be another magazine started to take its place" Canadian firms win big at custom publishing awards Three Canadian mags win big at 28th annual IRMA awards Wish and Gardening Life closed by St. Joseph Maclean's editor Whyte on book tour to resuscitate Hearst's

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11066657.post-67448628443027920632009-11-12T18:35:00.000-05:002009-11-12T18:35:31.410-05:00

A little while ago, we posted here about an 8-year-old grade 4 student from Guelph who published a book called Braids by renowned children's author Robert Munsch, with all proceeds going to a charity on behalf of an orphans' home in Kenya. It was being marketed in partnership with New Internationalist, an independent magazine renowned for its campaigning stance on a range of world issues Well,

D. B. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13959665689155236724noreply@blogger.com0