Author
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Topic: Magazines in Canada (and elsewhere)
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Catchfire
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4019
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posted 13 February 2007 06:59 AM
Canadian Men's Magazine Toro has just crumpled because "advertising revenue available in Canada for a general-interest men's magazine is such that even a quality book like Toro can, at best, manage to sustain itself...The prospect of significant profits wasn't in the foreseeable future."Are there any magazine lovers on babble? Do you read any Canadian magazines that you love? I read The Walrus occasionally, when they have good writers, but I find for "Canada's Harper's" it's rather right-wing. I love Geist, and it almost always has an interesting, provocative theme with great writing and style. I also subscribe to Maisonneuve and mostly love it. Any other magazines, Canadian or otherwise, that babbelrs recommend? Any blanket generalizations about the state of magazine journalism in Canada? [ 13 February 2007: Message edited by: Catchfire ]
From: On the heather | Registered: Apr 2003
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M.Gregus
babble intern
Babbler # 13402
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posted 13 February 2007 11:33 AM
Aw, Toro was/is one of the few men's magazines which I could describe in all sincerity with the hackneyed phrase, "I read it for the articles". Actually, it's the only men's magazine to which I would apply that phrase, and I'm sorry to see it go. The writing was often smart and engaging, something that's a rarity in the subgenre of magazines targeting men, IMO.For general magazine industry news I like to check out the blog Canadian Magazines. Usually its detailing of the minutiae of the industry isn't all that interesting, but I like to get the occasional scoop on editorial changes and plans for magazines of interest to me, like Chatelaine, or in this case, information on Toro.
From: capital region | Registered: Oct 2006
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 06 March 2007 02:54 PM
I did buy Toro, on a very regular basis, and I am beyond upset at it's demise. Just this time last year I was writing a university paper on the problems facing the Canadian Magazine industry after Saturday Night's spiral downward. It's a shame really, because I do believe Canadian magazines are often at par with their American counterparts. THIS is usually an entertaining, eye-opening read (though lately it's seemed a little on the fence to me) and Geist, Maisonneuve, Briarpatch and more recently Blackfly frequent my magazine shelf.What troubles me is Canada has some very, very talented feature writers, and they can't all write for Macleans, nor would they want to. That's why we're lucky to have online outlets to give Canadian writers more oppurtunities. So, so long Toro, you've been a good friend. This will sound incredibly dorky, but I'm going to miss the magazine's layout. I always found it aesthetically pleasing, and loved the covers. They actually took the time to pick some Canadian cover boys and girls who were unique to everything else lining the shelves.
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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Catchfire
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4019
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posted 07 March 2007 10:36 AM
Magazines: where are the women writers?Heather Mallick's latest offering: quote: I also dislike [Harper's new editor Roger D. Hodge] because he is a Tennessee-educated insular boor who has made this well-intentioned American magazine even more boring than it used to be, which is a trick and a half. Read it nowadays and sink into an ennui with knobs on. My other problem with Roger D. Hodge is that he's not an inch as bright as former editor Lewis Lapham. If Hodge had another brain, he'd have just the one. Plus, his magazine radiates misogyny. Only an editor with a mission to fail would be so insulting to the women who are a third of his subscribers.Women writers have for years been vanishing from American magazines (pleasingly, this is less true of Canadian magazines). It's odd to flip through a magazine passing itself off as general interest and see only male bylines. I don't like single-sex publications, especially when they pretend to be otherwise, as Harper's does. Single-sex institutions seem retrograde and creepy in 2007, like Grade 9 gym class, or women's book clubs that end in bickering, or pale sweaty men not eying each other's genitals in the locker room.
From: On the heather | Registered: Apr 2003
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Sineed
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11260
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posted 07 March 2007 04:09 PM
I remember hearing Doris Anderson interviewed when I was a kid, and she pointed out how MacLean's writers (all men back in the day) were paid much more than the all-female Chatelaine writers despite having the same publisher and a much higher circulation.In my twenties, I looked forward to Spy Magazine every month, and sometimes will pick up a Vanity Fair, also edited by Graydon Carter. In the latter, the contrasts are sometimes mind-boggling; ie, there'll be an article on wounded soldiers in Iraq being mistreated by shoddy medical services, and you turn the page, and there's a piece on George Clooney and his taste in women and what he's wearing to the Oscars. And some of Graydon Carter's editorials have been blistering. I used to have a subscription to Harper's when Lewis Lapham was editing. A lot of Canadian magazines are too earnest to interest me. And MacLean's always has been a simple-minded Time magazine rip-off wannabe and always will be.
From: # 668 - neighbour of the beast | Registered: Dec 2005
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 11 March 2007 12:28 PM
Heather Mallick's article brings up a number of great points. quote: Last year, an American website, WomenTK, began tracking the ratio of male to female writers in Harper's, The Atlantic, The NYT Magazine, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. Arguably, the ratio should be more or less one to one because that's what life is like. As it turned out: Vanity Fair 2.7:1.
The New Yorker 4.1:1. The Atlantic 3.6:1. Harper's 6.9:1 (118 male bylines, only 17 female). Fully six of its 12 issues from September '05 to August '06 had one or no female writers. The numbers, as Ruth Davis Konigsberg of WomenTK writes, prove Ursula K. Le Guin's remark that “when women speak more than 30 per cent of the time, men perceive them as dominating the conversation.”
There's too few for sure, but there are some really wonderful female, Canadian, magazine writers. Any favourites? I'd suggest Moira Farr (who sometimes writes for the rabble Book Lounge (See The Food Special) or Anita Lahey (Maisonneuve article on Roller Coasers).
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 19 March 2007 05:01 AM
Are there any web-based magazines out there that are downloadable in .pdf format. Toro put their final issue online, instead of releasing it in paper-form, and it is downloadable in .pdf. I found it such an enjoyable way to read a magazine. It was the convenience of a web-based magazine, with the formatting of a regular magazine. Very different from most online magazines that appear like a regular website. I enjoyed it! I wouldn't be able to completely replace my magazine intake, and go totally paperless, but I thought for subscribers, especially those who aren't close to a big magazine store that releases the more independent, hard to find magazines, a downloadable .pdf might be a good idea. I was just curious if anyone knows of any magazines that go this route?Living in suburban Burlington once again, I'm reminded of how much difficult it is to find a copy of my favourite magazines here, than it is in downtown Ottawa or downtown Toronto.
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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londoner
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 13993
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posted 31 March 2007 02:59 PM
The Walrus offers online subscriptions at a reduced rate.The Save trees. Green Subscription http://www.walrusmagazine.com/ [ 31 March 2007: Message edited by: londoner ]
From: London | Registered: Mar 2007
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
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posted 31 March 2007 06:36 PM
Reeeeeally? Hmm, I just might renew my subscription that way! I wonder if Harper's does. Although after reading Heather Mallick's column, I'm not sure whether I should renew.P.S. Oh. You save three whole bucks? Geez. That reminds me of the joke at Heeb Magazine, that if you subscribe for two years ($43) instead of one ($22), "That's a $1 savings!" Unfortunately, the Walrus isn't anywhere near as interesting or entertaining as Heeb, so I don't find the three dollar savings on the green subscription nearly as tempting! P.P.S. Satya Magazine, on the other hand, actually offers a REAL incentive - their green subscription is half of the regular subscription price. [ 31 March 2007: Message edited by: Michelle ]
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 01 April 2007 06:53 AM
I think green subscriptions are an excellent idea- but saving a dollar or two isn't really enough of an incentive. $1 isn't enough to prompt me to give up on having a colourful print copy of a magazine coming right to my doorstep. It does however prompt readers to sign on to magazines websites, which encourages them to look at some of the exclusively online content, ie. blogs, additional articles etc. Even if they aren't going to reduce the rate too much, magazines should think about offering an alternative incentive to signing up online. Maybe staying with the theme, somthing enviromentally friendly would be a great hook. Ie. a canvas bag of some sort to reduce the consumption of plastic. Then, not only do you have a subscription to the Walrus, you're also saving trees, and now you're saving plastic, PLUS you're walking around with a cute tote that says The Walrus on it, thus you're advertising excellent Canadian journalism, and the magazing itself is getting publicity. Just a thought! [ 01 April 2007: Message edited by: jrose ]
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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Catchfire
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4019
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posted 26 April 2007 08:22 AM
The Walrus dominates at the Canadian Magazine Awards quote: Earning distinction with the most Award nominations is The Walrus with 51 nominations. Toronto Life is next with 23 nominations. Maclean's, Toro, and Report on Business each have 15 nominations, followed by L'actualité with 14.The three finalists for Magazine of the Year are L'actualité, Explore and The Walrus. From an individuals' perspective, Ray Ford is nominated 4 times for 4 different articles in 3 magazines. Also receiving 4 nominations are Trevor Cole and Daniel Wood. For the complete list of finalists and archive of past winners, please visit www.magazine-awards.com. The Foundation's second annual Best Student Writer Award goes to Buffy Cram for her article "Man Hands" that appeared in Prairie Fire. The winner of this year's Alexander Ross Award for Best New Writer is Jeremy Klaszus, for his articles "Big Oil on Trial" and "Trouble in the Fields" in Alberta Views magazine. The NMAF's most coveted prize since its inception in 1990 is The Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement. Kim Pittaway, president of the NMAF, is honoured to name Neville Gilfoy as this year's recipient for his exceptional contributions to the Canadian magazine community.
[ 26 April 2007: Message edited by: Catchfire ]
From: On the heather | Registered: Apr 2003
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M.Gregus
babble intern
Babbler # 13402
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posted 26 April 2007 09:01 AM
Didn't The Walrus win a Magazine of the Year award last year or the year before? I could swear I saw something like that printed on its cover.Nice to see Alberta Views on the list. It's an underrated but consistently well-written magazine. I wish it was available more widely outside Alberta. Thanks for the awards list Catchfire! [ 26 April 2007: Message edited by: M.Gregus ]
From: capital region | Registered: Oct 2006
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Sharon
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4090
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posted 26 April 2007 01:54 PM
I was a judge for the National Magazine Awards this year in the Columns category.What a really really REALLY difficult and time-consuming job it was. I've learned that some people do it year after year. I can't imagine wanting to do it again. Maybe it's like childbirth though. If the opportunity arises again, maybe one would forget how difficult it was!
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia | Registered: May 2003
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Sharon
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4090
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posted 27 April 2007 07:17 AM
quote: Sharon, out of curiosity, what kind of evaluation process do the award submissions go through? It sounds laborous, whatever it is!
When the package full of the material to be judged arrived, I put it on my desk and just let it sit there for a few days. It was so fat and so heavy. When I compelled myself to open it and count the entries, there were more than 50 -- 57, I think. The judging process is much as you'd expect with points awarded for writing style, content, overall impact and how well the article engages the interest of its intended reader -- 25 per cent for each for a total of 100 per cent. That part of it wasn't a problem. The main problem was that -- as my fellow judges and I agreed -- the columns/articles were so different from one another that it was like comparing, not apples and oranges, but apples and oranges and bananas and pears and peaches and mangoes. There were some pieces that didn't seem like a conventional "column" to me but more like a feature story, a profile, a well-researched investigative article etc. And there was a huge variety -- subject matter, writing style, tones of voice. But that's what one had to work with and so one did. There were three judges in the category and we judged separately and chose our top 10 or so. Then we had a conference call and discussed our choices. We weren't required to reach a consensus but we were allowed to try to influence one another by being persuasive about our choices. Our scores had been submitted by this point but we could change them after the call if we wished. It's a pretty complicated process because from there, the scores are added up and then the top ones go off to a bilingual set of judges who judge both French and English entries. Then their scores are added to the unilingual scores. It was an interesting experience and in the end, I wasn't sorry to have done it. There was a lot of good reading. Now, M.Gregus, aren't you glad you asked?
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia | Registered: May 2003
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 07 August 2007 05:51 AM
quote: Canadian Men's Magazine Toro has just crumpled because "advertising revenue available in Canada for a general-interest men's magazine is such that even a quality book like Toro can, at best, manage to sustain itself...The prospect of significant profits wasn't in the foreseeable future."
Another men's magazine bites the dust (this time an American one), but this one I'm not sad to see go. Stuff Magazine to Fold Into Maxim Though it looks like it's still going to exist as a fold in another smutty magazine (sorry to the Maxim readers out there, if there are any.) [ 07 August 2007: Message edited by: jrose ]
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 11 October 2007 12:12 PM
Masthead is looking for the 20 most influential Canadian magazines Masthead magazine (sub req'd) is celebrating its 20th anniversary by assembling a list of the 20 most influential Canadian magazines of all time. An online forum is available* until Dec. 1, at which point an editorial panel "swayed by" the forum discussion will make the final choices. The list will be published in the Jan/Feb 2008 print edition of Masthead. Influence will be measured by impact on the national agenda, literature, society and social issues, design, the industry or region served, popular culture, the international scene, the careers of contributors and so on. From http://canadianmags.blogspot.com/
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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Dana Larsen
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10033
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posted 11 October 2007 03:32 PM
Most Canadian magazines get sizable subsidies.This 2001 article outlines many subsidies. quote: The Rogers winners include flagship Maclean's, ($1,359,603) followed by Chatelaine ($426,087), Canadian Business ($401,491), L'Actualité ($354,757), The Medical Post ($252,059), Flare ($243,150), Today's Parent ($218,073), the French-language Châtelaine ($209,168), Marketing Magazine ($188,780) and the can-do entrepreneurs at Profit ($104,680). Those are just the ones to grab more than $100,000; in all, 36 Rogers titles received federal money, most of them smaller trade magazines like Heavy Construction News, Canadian Grocer and other workhorses of the publishing trade.The Canadian Magazine Fund paid out a total of $5,115,514 to titles owned by Rogers. To put this in perspective, in the year ending Dec. 31, 2000, the publishing division of Rogers Communications recorded an operating profit of $30.6 million. That means taxpayers handed Rogers an amount equivalent to 17 per cent of the publishing division's annual profits.
I always like to mention the magazine I edited for 10 years... CANNABIS CULTURE MAGAZINE. We never received a penny in subsidies, indeed we've had government agents repeatedly pulling our magazines from store shelves. But Cannabis Culture is a Canadian magazine success story. About 80,000 copies printed each issue, and about 65% of the copies sold into the USA. How many other Canadian magazines can say all that?
From: Vancouver | Registered: Jul 2005
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 29 October 2007 06:55 AM
quote: Looks like Chatelaine has lost another editor. There sure has been a lot of staff turnover at that magazine in the last couple of years.
Looks like the french division is having the same problem. quote: The editor of Châtelaine, the French counterpart to Chatelaine magazine, has left the job after only 8 months. France Lefebvre, left Transcontinental's coup de pouce (the French equivalent of Canadian Living) to be appointed editor-in-chief at the Rogers title just last February. She resigned recently, without any fanfare.This means that both the English and French versions of this flagship of the Rogers women's division are without editors. Sara Angel resigned in July from Chatelaine after only 13 months in the editor's chair at what is Rogers most successful consumer magazine.
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 04 January 2008 06:06 AM
quote: I was a judge for the National Magazine Awards this year in the Columns category.
Last Call for Entries The deadline is just days away – January 9, 2008 at 5pm EST. The National Magazine Awards Foundation (NMAF) is searching for Canada’s best in magazine journalism, photography, illustration and design from 2007. The Foundation will present Gold, Silver and Honourable Mention Awards in 39 categories at the 31st annual gala on June 6, 2008 in Toronto. Gold awards carry a prize of $1,000; Silver $500. Login to our Online Submissions Process and post your entries today. Entries received after 5pm on Wednesday, January 9 and before 5pm on Friday, January 11 will be subject to a $25 late fee per entry. No entries will be accepted after 5pm on Friday, January 11.
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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Sharon
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4090
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posted 04 January 2008 07:30 AM
quote: I was a judge for the National Magazine Awards this year in the Columns category.What a really really REALLY difficult and time-consuming job it was. I've learned that some people do it year after year. I can't imagine wanting to do it again.
This year, I'm judging in the Politics & Public Interest category.
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia | Registered: May 2003
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M.Gregus
babble intern
Babbler # 13402
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posted 30 April 2008 09:04 AM
Nominations have been announced for the 2008 National Magazine Awards! quote: The Walrus leads all magazines with 37 nominations. Toronto Life is next with 29 nominations, followed by Maclean’s (18), Report on Business (16), L’actualité (15) and explore (14). The three finalists for the coveted award Magazine of the Year are L’actualité, Maisonneuve and Toronto Life.
The full list of nominees is available here.
From: capital region | Registered: Oct 2006
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jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401
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posted 09 July 2008 09:57 AM
quote: Originally posted by jrose: I always seem to be bumping this thread, so here we go again:Sharp Magazine looking for a piece of the men's market
Has anyone checked out Sharp? I was just flipping through it on my lunchbreak, which means apparently somebody in my office is buying it. Looked like a complete ESQUIRE rip-off, though I didn't have much time to read any of the articles to discuss editorial content.
From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006
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M.Gregus
babble intern
Babbler # 13402
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posted 30 September 2008 08:06 PM
quote: Originally posted by jrose:
I'm very confused. I just did a google search for "Paul Newman" because, well, even my salad dressing (Newman's Own) at lunch got me a little teary-eyed. My search turned up an article on TORO. I feel cheated. Has Toro been posting online content all this time, and I just didn't know about it?
jrose your finding prompted me to do some detective work on the Toro site and this is what I found in their media kit: quote: Toro is BackTORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 21, 2008) - Online media will never be the same as TORO, the award-winning Canadian men's magazine, which attracted a loyal, sophisticated readership, makes the leap from the printed page to the virtual world with the official launch of toromagazine.com. The site goes live at 6:30pm EST (3:30pm PST) tonight. As a Web-only multimedia publication, toromagazine.com, co-founded by Chris Bratty and William Morassutti, stays true to the same playfully provocative wit of its former print incarnation. It will serve as the go-to destination for the discerning male in the digital age.
It's not the satisfaction of a solid magazine in your hand, but it's good to know that they're back out there!
From: capital region | Registered: Oct 2006
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