The future of magazines considered in Canadian Journalism Foundation J-Talk

We tend to think the event might have been dubbed "Whither magazines?" in good old Canadian hand-wringing fashion. The Canadian Journalism Foundation chose to call its forthcoming J-Talk "Digital or Bust? The future of magazines".  Should be an interesting discussion, no matter the branding.

It's on Wednesday, November 30 at the TMX Broadcast Centre, The Exchange Tower, 130 King St. W.  in Toronto. Registration 6:00 p.m., Discussion 6:30, reception at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $25. 

"Whether Canadian or American, magazines face a turbulent time negotiating the digital shift. In Canada, Toronto Life celebrates 50 years, The Walrus looks to build on its foundation funding model and Rogers Media is moving towards online-only editions. South of the border, the president of the venerable thinking person's monthly, the 166-year-old Harper’s Magazine, remains firmly committed to the virtues of words on paper. Is all of this cause for celebration or despair?"

Special guest is John R. (Rick) MacArthur, president and publisher of Harper’s Magazine, joined by: Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief of Toronto Life; Jonathan Kay, editor-in-chief of The Walrus; Steve Maich, senior vice-president of digital content and publishing for Rogers Media; and moderator Laas Turnbull, chief audience officer for ZoomerMedia.

Atlantic startup The Deep close to its crowdsourcing goal

The Deep, the magazine startup for Atlantic stories by Atlantic writers, is about 25% away from its initial fundraising goal, with 25% of their $15,000 goal remaining to be contributed and about the same amount of time remaining in the campaign. So far, some 183 backers have contributed to the Kickstarter campaign. 

The intent is to publish one big, longform story every month starting in the new year.The Deep is a partnership between Halifax's The Coast magazine and writer/editors Chelsea Murray and Matthew Halliday, whose CVs as editors and writers include The Grid, Canadian Business, Quill & Quire, Toronto Life, the Toronto Star, This Magazine, The Walrus, and many more.

St. Joseph Media group wins two Pearl awards for content marketing

St. Joseph Communications' media group received two Pearl awards last week in New York City. The Content Council awards are given to recognize excellence in content marketing among agencies and brand marketers. 

• A gold award in the education category (shown) was for St. Joseph’s work for the Food Institute of the University of Guelph. "Collaborating with the university to create and build a content strategy across digital and social platforms to raise awareness for the school’s Food Institute, we designed a bold new website design," the company said in a release. "Our team also created a broad array of new content including stories, graphics, videos and podcasts."
• A silver award for the "Colourful Wisdom" campaign on behalf of Sephora in Toronto Life. "We invited several of the year’s Best Dressed Women to share their “colourful wisdom” on style, aging and “the power of lipstick.” The campaign appeared in 35,000 print editions Toronto Life’s annual Stylebook, in a series of custom videos on Torontolife.com, and as part of the #colourfulwisdom social media campaign.

[click image to enlarge]

Publishers getting educated about their responsibilities under anti-spam legislation

As the New Year approaches, so does awareness of the expanding impact of the Canadian anti-spam legislation (CASL). Until now, the emphasis has been on direct marketers (in our case, publishers) that may contravene the legislation's prohibitions about using reader data without explicit permission. Come July 1, 2017, however, the law's reach will include the ability of individuals to sue people who send them messages without permission, the so-called "private right of action". 

In an effort to educate the industry about CASL, a seminar called “The Publishers’ Guide to CASL Compliance” is being offered on Wednesday, Nov 23 from 3:00 to 5 p.m. at the Toronto offices of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, 333 Bay Street, Suite 2400. The seminar is presented by The Direct Marketing Association of Canada (and sponsored by Equisoft, Magazines Canada, CMC, CCAB, Alliance for Audited Media and Newspapers Canada.) The general admission fee is $75 ($50 sponsor/member rates.)                                                             

The presenting panel will be comprised of Derek Lackey, president of the Direct Marketing Association of Canada; Andrew Nunes of the privacy practice with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin; Adrienne Rutherford, media lawyer; and Vesna Moore, director of circulation & CASL compliance officer at Annex Business Media.

Circ eligibility under Canada Periodical Fund reduces from 5,000 paid a year to 3,500

The Department of Canadian Heritage has  reduced the required number of paid copies a magazine has to circulate in a given year in order to be eligible for application to the Canada Periodical Fund. Previously, the floor was 5,000 copies, which often made it very difficult for small literary and cultural quarterlies, for instance, to meet the threshold. Now, they must have sold at least 3,500 paid copies through subscription copies and single-copy/newsstand copies during the financial year. So, a 30% decrease. And aboriginal, official language minority, ethnocultural and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) magazines must have sold at least 2,000 paid copies. 

(Some may recall that in June 2010, director of periodical publishing and programs from the Department of Canadian Heritage told a session at the MagNet conference said that magazines falling under a 5,000 copy-a-year threshold were "micro magazines"  and that the costs of servicing very small arts and cultural publications (roughly 50 of which became ineligible under the threshold) outstripped the benefit to Canadians of their tiny circulations. The CPF was basically an “industry support program” and that his department made the decision that the programming was intended effectively to support magazines as viable businesses.)

Controversy takes flight over Canadian Geographic choice of the grey jay as national bird

Controversy stalks every decision these days, it seems, including the recommended choice of the grey jay as Canada's national bird. Canadian Geographic magazine announced the choice after a two-year process which, in the end, threw out the top two contenders from a national online poll of 50,000 (the loon and the snowy owl) in favour of the grey jay, also known as the "whiskey jack". 

Principally it was favoured because it is found in every province and territory and is not already a provincial symbol. (The choice was also caught up in a usage question over the use of "gray" rather than the Canadian "grey" and using the American spelling "whiskey" rather than the Canadian "whisky".)

Critics seem to be most miffed because they have never heard of a grey jay nor could identify one in the wild. 

"We didn't want to have a national symbol selected by popularity contest alone," Aaron Kylie, Canadian Geographic's national editor, told CTV's Your Morning on Thursday. He said the magazine did not want to choose a bird that was already a provincial symbol, which ruled out the loon, the snowy owl and the fifth-place choice, New Brunswick's black-capped chickadee. 

[Kylie appeared on the show alongside David Bird, head of McGill University's Avian Science and Conservation Centre, and an avid proponent of the gray jay.]"If you had to pick 3 characteristics of Canadians, they would be I think hardy, friendly and smart, and the gray jay epitomizes all of those things," Bird said of the bird. 

Related post:

• Canadian Geographic wants readers to select a national bird 

Independent freelancers may submit to Magawards with reduced fees

The National Magazine Awards Foundation has announced its new Freelancer Support Fund. This allows writers and visual contributors to submit their own work to the magazine awards with the first 2 entries costing $50 each (the regular entry fee is $95). As before, as a registered charity all submissions to the Magawards are tax deductible. Submissions open December 1.

This warms up the rivalry with the inaugural Magazine Grands Prix, being piloted by Magazines Canada for 2017; fees for small magazines is $50 per submission (regular $100). Submissions open December 12.  No provision is apparently made to subsidize independent freelancers. 

Many freelancers rely on the magazines which publish them to pay their entry fees but some find it onerous to enter on their own, particularly in multiple categories.                                                                              

Alberta Views magazine gets ahead of a good story about day care in the province

Good timing is always to be wished and the editors at Alberta Views magazine must be pleased for having published the case for universal day care in its October issue. Because Alberta's government today announced it is introducing a $25-a-day daycare pilot program in 18 centres in the province, creating up to 1,000 new child care spaces. 

The prescient magazine article was written by Tom Langford, a sociology professor at the University of Calgary and the author of Alberta's Day Care Controversy. Premier Rachel Notley said the $10 million pilot project will be a step towards a province-wide system. 

Canadian Art magazine joins in questioning of Van Gogh sketchbook's authenticity

Canadian Art magazine has published an article on its website that joins in questioning the authenticity of  a sketchbook attributed to Vincent Van Gogh and now published worldwide by Dr. Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov, a professor emeritus of the department of fine art at Erindale College, University of Toronto. The controversy has been sparked by a press release from Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum stating the sketchbook in not by Van Gogh. It described them as "imitations". 

The story has also been reported by the Guardian and NRC Handelsblad and other international media outlets.

"Earlier this morning, before the controversy struck, Welsh-Ovcharov was receiving accolades in Canadian media, with the CBC and the Globe and Mail hailing her as the recoverer of a lost Van Gogh sketchbook—a sketchbook which is the basis of a new, $100-priced book on the artist officially being launched today by US-based publisher Abrams Books, " says the Canadian Art post.

No comment necessary

Digital Publishing Awards broadens, adds categories for Yr 2 and includes $500 for gold

The National Magazine Awards Foundation has announced the new category lineup for its 2nd annual Digital Publishing Awards. There will be awards in 22 categories focussing on the work of Canadian digital creators, while reflecting new trends and attitudes toward digital publishing and content, said a release. In addition to changes and broadening of the category lineup, gold winners will now receive a $500 prize.

Entries will be accepted starting January 2. The deadline for submissions will be January 31. 

• The top overall prize—General Excellence in Digital Publishing—will be presented in two divisions, for large and small publications.

Other new categories:

• Best Social Storytelling
• Best Online Video in 3 divisions:
• Short (under 2 minutes)
• Feature (2-5 minutes)
• Mini-Doc (more than 5 minutes)
• Best News Coverage in 2 divisions:
• Provincial & Local
• National & International
• Best Personal Essay
• Best Arts & Entertainment Story
• Best Service Feature: Lifestyle
• Best Service Feature: Family, Health & Careers
• Best Fashion & Beauty
• Emerging Excellence Award
• Digital Publishing Leadership Award

The changes were made with the advice of an advisory committee including:

• Craig Silverman, Editor-in-Chief, BuzzFeed Canada
• Kenny Yum, Managing Editor, Huffington Post Canada
• Kathy Vey, Executive Producer, Digital, TVO.org
• Haley Cullingham, Senior Editor, Digital, Hazlitt and Penguin Random House Canada
• Laura de Carufel, Editor-in-Chief, The Kit

"After a successful inaugural year, the industry feedback clearly indicated there was a need to broaden the Digital Publishing Awards to be more inclusive of areas of excellence in the digital landscape," said NMAF president Nino Di Cara. "We surveyed our judges, sought feedback from our participants, and convened an Advisory Committee of industry experts to help shape the program for the future. Based on these learnings, the program has substantively evolved to recognize excellence in digital content and journalism, and in particular to call attention to the best practices and innovations in the craft. We believe the program this year reflects that enthusiasm."

Magazine Grands Prix announces diversity as central tenet of judging process in new awards

One of the just-announced principles guiding the Magazine Grands Prix, the new awards program being piloted by Magazines Canada for 2017, is celebrating diversity. This includes having indigenous judges on the majority (eventually all) juries and to announce the entire roster of judges during the submission period (that is, in advance of their judging.) These are among principles included in the just-released  Guiding Principles for Adjudicating and Celebrating Excellence in Canada’s Magazine Media,

Stanley Péan
[photo: Laurence Labat]

There will be two judging co-chairs: author, commentator and critic Stanley Péan and award-winning writer Soraya Peerbaye. [see below]

Magazines Canada announced the awards and fellowship program [for up to 3 individuals] in September. The MGP awards will feature 26 categories: 13 awards for individuals and creators, and 13 for magazines that honour creative and editorial vision and execution.

“Stanley Péan and I are honoured and immensely pleased to be co-chairing the adjudication process of the Magazine Grands Prix,” said Peerbaye [in a release.] “The team at Magazines Canada has developed a far-seeing vision for the awards; energetic and generous, they are broadening the circle of inclusion, and invigorating the conversation on both popular and critical culture in the magazine sector.”

Soraya Peerbaye

Among the principles announced are:

• To build and execute an awards program that showcases the sector’s full range and excellence: seamlessly bilingual in English and French, reflective of Canada’s diversity, and open to all;
• To represent a diversity of artistic and cultural practices, perspectives and expertise on all juries, valuing the magazine sector’s creators and the public equally. Juries will be composed to reflect the diversity of Canada with regard to Indigenous peoples, race, regions, official languages, and gender;
• To have Indigenous jurists on the majority of the panels. This is just the beginning. The goal is to have Indigenous jurists on every single panel;
• To compose juries with care for plurality: no jury in which there is only one non-white jurist, and many in which there is a variety of diverse representatives. All jurists must feel able to speak freely and judge the submissions on their merits, without any obligation to represent minority or identity-based views;
• To reveal our entire roster of jurists during the submissions period [in this case between December 12 and January 30]: underrepresented communities must see themselves reflected and welcomed in order to participate fully;
• To aspire to do better than simply meeting the principles outlined and, in instances where we fall short of these goals, to recognize it and take action to improve.

“We are building a robust, transparent awards program that we can be proud of: right from the ground up,” said Matthew Holmes, Magazines Canada’s president and CEO. “With Canada’s 150th being celebrated next year, we wanted to look forward and make a very intentional shift to include the full diversity of Canada’s creators and—just as important—our community of readers, right into our judging process.”

The announcement of the guidelines and management of the judging process apparently intends to contrast directly with the way the National Magazine Awards Foundation has run its awards for the past 40 years. For instance, NMA judges  have generally not been announced before judging is completed and there is no provision for a particular makeup of judging panels other than requiring people from the industry, people with expertise in the subject area and people without a conflict of interest. The NMAs announced in September some major changes to its board and process for the magawards and also for its Digital Publishing Awards including the recruitment of a roster of international judges. . 

Read more »

CSME seminar helps editors ready themselves for media and live appearances

The Canadian Society of Magazine Editors (CSME) is presenting a breakfast seminar on media training for editors, briefing them on how to deal with media appearances when the camera is running or they're up before a live audience. 

The event is November 24 8:30 to 10 a.m. for coffee and breakfast at Nespresso Boutique Bar, 159 Cumberland St. (in Yorkville), Toronto. $15 for members, $20 for non-members in advance (or $20 and $25 at the door)

Panellists are: 

• Annabelle Waugh, food consultant, recipe developer and food stylist
• Marci Ien, television host and Canadian media personality
• Erin McLaughlin, editor-in-chief of Style at Home magazine
• Michelle Kelly, editor at Cottage Life magazine

Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPAs) presented in Toronto

Last night the 8th annual Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPAs) were presented in Toronto. The competition and  gala events were produced by Masthead. The complete lineup of 2016 winners is available here. Among magazine-related winners were:

• Best digital solution -- Gold: Chez Soi
• Best independent publisher -- Silver: Planete F Magazine
• Best editorial packaging (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: FLARE; Silver: Sharp magazine
• Best editorial packaging (24/7 News) -- Silver: Maclean's
• Best blog or column (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: Planet F; Silver: Coup de pouce
• Best article or series (B2B/Academic) -- Gold: The Thunderbird.ca; Silver: McGill News Alumni magazine
• Best article or series (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: Planete F; Silver Hakai magazine
• Best video content (B2B/Academic) -- Gold: ITWC; Silver: The Thunderbird.ca
• Best video content (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: Love Nature; Silver: Les idees de ma maison
• Best email newsletter (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: Canadian Art; Silver: Cottage Life
• Best news coverage (24/7 News) -- Silver: Maclean's
• Best interactive story (24/7 News) -- Silver: Legion magazine
• Best use of social media (B2B/Academic) -- Silver: Salon magazine
• Best use of social media (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: Today's Parent
• Best branded content (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: Clin d'oeil; Silver: ELLE Canada
• Best online campaign (Consumer B2C) -- Silver: Canada's History
• Best trade media website (B2B/Academic) -- Gold: University Affairs magazine
• Best small niche website (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: Western Living; Silver: Planete F
• Best digital publication (Consumer B2C) -- Gold: Chez soi; Silver: Planete F

Magawards unveils 40th anniversary logo

The National Magazine Awards Foundation has unveiled a new logo that will grace all of the creative, including event materials and the gala program, marking the organization's 40th anniversary. It was done by Studio Wyse and art director Vanessa Wyse, herself a frequent nominee for the Magawards with 5 gold and 2 silver medals since 2004; in 2012, she won triple gold hat trick for art direction of an entire issue, art direction of a single article and best magazine cover. 

Wyse said this of the new logo:

"For this years visual direction we went back through the archives and took design cues from when the NMAs were established in 1977. We couldn’t resist the fun, colourful and quirky nature of magazines in this era. We built the design around Philip Kelly’s font, Pump, drawn for Letraset around this time, which had the perfect amount of character and sophistication for this special anniversary.”

Crown drops contempt of court charges agains ME of Frank magazine

Andrew Douglas photo: Canadian Press

The managing editor of the Nova Scotia  based version of Frank magazine has seen contempt of court charges dropped by the Crown in provincial court. After looking at case law provided by the defence, the chief Crown attorney for Halifax region, Paul Carver, said that court rulings in other jurisdictions indicated that a reporter can report on information banned at a preliminary hearing provided the information doesn't come from the court proceedings itself. The Crown would therefore not be presenting any evidence.  

Andrew Douglas was charged with breaching a court-ordered ban after the launch of a preliminary inquiry into the homicide of Truro police officer Catherine Campbell last year. The online story appeared on the same day as the publication ban, but Douglas maintained he had researched, written and published it ahead of the ban and was based on a document not obtained through the court process.

Brunico, which publishes strategy, has purchased rival Marketing from Rogers Media

Brunico Communications Ltd., the privately held publishers of strategy, has announced that it has acquired Marketing magazine, CARDonline (CARD) and the National List of Advertisers in a deal with Rogers Media. The sale is part of the divestiture of business-to-business publications that was recently announced by Rogers. 

Strategy, which was founded in the mid-80s. has until now been a competitor and rival of the 110-year-old Marketing in targetting the advertising and marketing sector; it  also publishes Strategy Daily, the email newsletter Media in Canada and Stimulant, as well as running conferences and award programs like Agency of the Year, Creative Report Card and Shopper Marketing Forum, and partner events like the CASSIES. 

It's not known yet whether there will be a straight ahead merger of titles though editorial director Mary Maddever said the intention was bringing the marketing community "the best of both".  

“We have long enjoyed a friendly rivalry between strategy and Marketing that has benefited the industry through a competitive focus on evolving content and programs to better serve the audience,” said Russell Goldstein, president and CEO, Brunico in a release on their website “Now we are excited to welcome the Marketing and CARD/NLA team to Brunico and look forward to combining forces and working with all our partners and industry stakeholders to collaborate on even greater offerings in the years to come.”

Marketing magazine was launched in 1908. It produces the Media Innovation Awards and Marketing Awards. CARD and NLA are databases designed to help media agencies and advertisers make informed media buying decisions. Marketing's key audience is made up primarily of advertisers and marketers. The print magazine says it distributes 6,000 copies per issue and says its online site has about 438,000 page views. 

Magazines Canada releases latest wacky video in its national marketing campaign

Magazines Canada has released a new element called Canadian Magazine Mashup, part of its ongoing national magazine marketing campaign . It's the latest in a series of absurdist videos that started in July. (This one is about what you get when you cross a fashionista with fall foliage.)

"This campaign draws attention to homegrown stories; it speaks directly to the relationship between Canadian magazines and their audience," says Barbara Bates, executive director of circulation marketing for Magazines Canada in a release. "Each new campaign video and ad highlights the endless possibilities of imagination and engagement when you open a magazine."

The theme is storytelling: The message is "When you dive into your favourite magazine, you might get lost," with two worlds colliding. Readers at a magazine stand each lose themselves in the pages of different Canadian magazines with hilarious results. The intention is to say that with hundreds of Canadian magazines to choose from, there is a title to match anyone's interest in stores now.

TVA Group to close two titles as part of Quebecor Media's 220 job cuts

The Quebecor Media Group has announced that it will be cutting 220 jobs, or nearly 8 per cent of its workforce. Some 125 of those jobs will be at the TVA Group Inc. and the magazine division will cease publication of two magazines: CHEZ Soi and Tellement bon. TVA Group is one of the largest broadcasters and publishers of French content in North America.

“In Quebec as elsewhere in the world, our industry is facing ongoing disruption,” Julie Tremblay, chief executive of Quebecor Media Group and TVA Group Inc, said in a statement. "We have therefore taken a number of initiatives over the past two years to adapt to the changes, including the creation of Quebecor Media Group, an integrated media company, and the acquisition and sale of various properties. Today it is clear that we must continue our transformation in order to further adjust structural costs and become more agile."  

Tremblay did not say what the likely cost of restructuring would be or what savings would result.

The cutbacks parallel the announcement in September that Rogers Communications Inc. will stop publishing four of its magazines in the new year and sell all of its French language and business-to-business publications. 

The TVA Group reported a $32.5 million net loss in the third quarter.