Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Why publishers could become tree huggers
Markets Initiative is a joint project of Greenpeace, the Friends of Clayquot Sound and the B.C. Chapter of the Sierra Club. If publishers were considering what New Year's resolutions they were going to make (as I'm sure all of them are), they could do much worse than at least considering the battery of arguments that Markets Initiative makes. It's not just warm and fuzzy tree-hugging but a cogent case for the economics and the business ethics of choosing an ecologically friendlier alternative. In many cases, publishers will find that alternative papers are relatively widely available and comparable in cost and Markets Inititative can be persuasive in overcoming publishers objections, such as that going green will drive up paper costs or lose readers because of reduced quality of reproduction.
The project's website offers a useful dowloadable kit of information.
If you want to know more, you can also go here or here (all these sites link up). Or you could call Markets Initiative in Vancouver at (604) 253-7701 ext. 24 or (250) 725-8050. Ask for Neva Murtha.
Monday, December 19, 2005
The greenbuilding of America
If you think that a) there are no new niches and b) no more smart people to spot and take advantage of them, perhaps you'll take heart from the U.S. launch of Green Builder. Working out of Montpelier, Vermont, and having accessed the list of the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) partners John Wagner and a New Mexico builder called Ron Jones, are creating a printed, national trade magazine from scratch.
The trick is that the controlled list saved them an estimated $2.5 million in costs of acquiring paid subcribers. Wagner was a publishing consultant, and Jones called him for some advice on a traditional, paid subscription book. Wagner told Jones that the idea would never fly the way he was going about it. "You're the first person to say no, so we want to do business with you, " said Jones. From an idea for a paid circ book, it evolved to a controlled model. On the basis of the list they were able to negotiate with the NAHB, they were able to finance the venture.
"Green is the conservative way to build houses," said Wagner, who will be Editor-in-Chief. "We're not demanding that people go green just to assuage their conscience. There are financial incentives to go green."According to Wagner, building green means that the materials and techniques used in the construction are not only more energy-efficient, saving heating and cooling costs, but they also incorporate products that are manufactured using less "embodied energy" (resources like electricity and water), and products that are non-toxic.
The magazine debuts in January with 110,000 circulation. For more about the venture, go here.
Quote, unquote
I still believe in the magazine industry. What we do, our core competency, is trusted editing skills. Whether we do it on paper or not remains to be seen, but in an age of too much information, isn’t our core competency worth more, not less?
Is blood thicker than culture?
“It’s a question that we are asked a lot as publishers of a ‘Native’ magazine and we know it’s a touchy subject but we believe it is time to explore the subject that our people have been talking about for a long time.”
“The discussion that happens among Aboriginal circles about mistaken identity is exhausting,” says Rice. “I’m tired of explaining my bloodline and tired of listening to others explain how they get confused for being Spanish or Japanese. Why do we get off on that? 1/8, 1/4 or half. Does it matter? It does to some.”
How very Canadian
Friday, December 16, 2005
Ooo, look, everybody's out of step except our Paul
[Paul Wells] says with Mr Martin fighting for re-election after his government was brought down in a vote of no-confidence, he is behaving like a politician with his back to the wall.
"He's allowed his worst instincts to come to the fore and he's basically pandered to anti-American sentiment more energetically than any politician I can remember," he adds.
Mr Wells says the US is still the country's most influential role model and that Mr Martin's anti-US rhetoric could damage Canada's relations with the White House.
My honest opinion is that this is one of the stupidest things he could possibly do. We do have to get along with these people - $1bn of goods and services are traded across the border every day," he says.
"It's really dumb to lecture them at a global forum on global warming, when Canada has been notoriously far more profligate in its greenhouse gas emissions than the United States. That's simple hypocrisy and the Americans are smart enough to know that."
Nevertheless, Mr Wells says that the anti-American card is always popular with Canadian voters. He notes that tracking polls seem to suggest that Mr Martin's popularity has risen since the US ambassador made his comments.
The question is, can Wells have it both ways? Is it good politics? Or bad policy? Or both? When a hard line to the U.S. is so popular with the public, is the public, or are commentators like Paul Wells, out of step?
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Two times unlucky
Free but not a free ride
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Standard and Poor's outlook for U.S. mags
Standard and Poor, the rating agency, forecasts that magazine ad pages in the U.S. will post minimal growth in 2006, in the low single-digits, according to an article on the UK-Ireland edition of Yahoo Finance.
"Ad pages increased an anemic 0.3% in the first 10 months of 2005, according to the Publishers Information Bureau, as declines in pages for home furnishings, technology, and automotive -- the largest category -- offset improving advertising demand," said the article, which looked at all media, advertising and the music and entertainment businesses.
"The (magazine) industry has been struggling to reestablish a growth trend since 2001. The sector's share of total ad spending has steadily declined, to about 4.5% of total advertising expenditures in 2005 from 5% in 2000, losing to cable TV and the Internet. Complicating a bleak growth outlook, the industry is still embroiled in a scandal over the use of subscription agents that have overstated paid circulation, impairing affected magazines' credibility with advertisers.
"New magazine launches are likely to continue at a robust pace in 2006, as publishers seek to gain revenue share through better niche targeting -- increasing already stiff competition for circulation and advertising dollars for established titles.
"Circulation-related costs are expected to remain high. Paper, printing, and postage costs account for approximately 40% of magazine publishers' operating expenses. The industry will face a modest postage-rate increase, which will likely be implemented in January, 2006, the first hike since June, 2002. The independent Postal Rate Commission has approved a 5.7% increase in the postage rate for weekly newsmagazines, to 18.5 cents, and a 5.5% hike for household magazines, to 28.9 cents. Paper cost increases have eased in late 2005 and could be on a flattish trend going into 2006."
Looming deadline for 2005 mag award entries
*Curiously, the MagAwards said that entries "without exception" would have to be postmarked by January 10. Then they say that, if they receive them up to the 18th, postmarked anytime between the 11th and the 18th, they'll take 'em, but charge you $25 more. Sounds like an exception to me.
The big dogs howl
There has been serious erosion of ad pages in some, but not all, Time Inc. titles. Down are Time (14.2 %) through the first 11 months of 2005 versus the same period in 2004, Sports Illustrated (-18.5%), Fortune (-10.3%), Entertainment Weekly (-6.4%), and Money (-2.1%). People, In Style and Real Simple had healthy gains.
Read more in the story in Media Daily News.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Sounds like fun, huh?
Scheduled to entertain the cruisers were speakers including Publisher Ezra Levant, Western Standard Chairman Lyle Dunkley and a number of other starboard-side commentators:
- John O'Sullivan, the Editor-at-Large of the National Review
- Lorne Gunter, columnist for the Edmonton Journal and the National Post
- Andrew Coyne, a National Post and Western Standard columnist
- Colby Cosh (ditto)
- David Warren, a columnist for the Standard and the Ottawa Citizen
- Rounding out the entertainment was John Williamson, the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation and Ted Byfield, founder of the late Alberta Report, described as the "great granddaddy of Canadian conservatism".
If you visit the Western Standard's website, check out the Shotgun Blog. But bring your asbestos gloves, since the blog is apparently unmediated and the most outrageous postings are commonplaces.
Move east, think small
[UPDATE: It has been pointed out that Report on Small Business is more than an online magazine, but is circulated largely outside of Ontario sponsored by the Federal Business Development Bank.]
Monday, December 12, 2005
Awards hatched from Penguin Eggs
Congratulations are in order for the Edmonton-based folk music magazine Penguin Eggs and its editor Roddy Campbell who, with Arthur McGregor from the Ottawa Folklore Centre, launched the Canadian Folk Music Awards. The inaugural awards were made in Ottawa on Saturday (the Winnipeg group Nathan won for best contemporary folk offering and best vocal group for its album Jimson Weed. For other winners go here.)
The eccentrically named Penguin Eggs (you never forget the name, do you, once you've heard it?) is a quarterly that specializes in coverage of folk, roots and world music. It can be found on newsstands, by subscription and online here.
Murdoch Davis guns for Martin
By the way, the current issue of The Beaver shows that the new design is no flash-in-the-pan. It's full of good stuff and some very handsome visuals.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Ontario mags in the money
- Alternatives Journal (Alternatives Inc.)
- C.E.BIZ (C.E.BIZ Corp.)
- Canadian Art (Canadian Art Foundation)
- Canadian Geographic (Canadian Geographic Enterprises
- Take One (Canadian Independent Film and Television)
- Canadian Newcomer (Canadian Newcomer Magazine Inc.)
- Books in Canada (Canadian Review of Books Ltd.)
- Corporate Knights (Corporate Knights Inc.)
- Explore (Explore Media Ltd.)
- Gripped (Gripped Inc.)
- SpaLife (Haworth Publishing)
- DIY Boat Owner (JM Publishing)
- Visitor Guide (Jon R Group)
- Collision Repair (Media Matters Inc.)
- Fab (No Fear Publishing)
- Masthead (North Island Publishing)
- Outpost (Outpost Inc.)
- Biotechnology Focus (Promotive Communications Inc.)
- Sky News (Sky News Inc.)
- Ski Canada (Solstice Publishing)
- Verge (Verge Magazine Inc.)
- Vervegirl (Youth Culture Inc.)
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Towell snaps up a French prize
Naughty and not so nice
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Paper pause
The Miramichi mill in New Brunswick would close for three months from February 1, 2006 -- the slowest period of the year -- but two sawmills and its woodlands division would not be affected, UPM said in a statement on Wednesday.
It did not say how many employees would be affected by the temporary closure.
"The Miramichi mill has high operating costs, and the strong Canadian dollar makes the mill's exports to the U.S. unprofitable," said Jyrki Ovaska, president of UPM's magazine paper division.
Yes means Know
Know magazine editor Adrienne Mason, a biologist and author of 20 books for kids and adults, says children want to know about the science involved in chewing gum and other things sciency. "Young children are innately interested in everything around them," says Mason. She edits the 6-times-a-year magazine from her home in Tofino, on Vancouver Island.
The magazine is published out of an office in Victoria by the same company that produces Yes magazine, a science book for older children. Publisher David Garrison says there has been a clamour among grandparents and parents for something for younger kids and grandkids.
Yes, which is 10 years old, has 23,000 subscribers, but started out with 300. Know, which hasn't even yet published, has 4,000 advance subscribers. A subscription is $22 a year.
The challenge for Know magazine isn't finding interesting topics, but in being able to communicate with the young readers, says Mason. Reading ability between six and nine varies widely.
"We're definitely trying to present material in a lot of different ways," says Mason. The approach ranges from a comic strip with little text to articles that are a bit harder to read. "We don't want to dumb things down."
Each issue will have a theme -- the inaugural January issue is about ice and snow with forthcoming issues about the solar system, beach life, light and colour, dogs and balloons.
Read more about it here.
Bloggin', but no funny business, you hear?
And while the blog gives SW&R (if I may take the liberty of calling it that) the opportunity to keep in touch with readers in the spaces between its 6 issues a year, clearly the Editor didn't want to get off on the wrong foot and so, in his second post, he laid down the law:
Let's keep the discussions focused on the business of waste management, recycling, composting, product stewardship and all that good stuff. I'll have to delete anything that is offensive or inappropriate.Why, Mr. Crittenden, whatever can you mean?
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Bells are broadcasting
The channel, when it reaches the air (it needs to negotiate slots on cable and direct television and digital services),would offer a service "devoted to marriage, weddings, wedding themes and wedding-related programming," said the decision. "The service would offer feature films, documentaries, shorts, series and other programs that focus on providing unique insights to viewers concerning marriage and wedding themes."
So get ready for reruns of "Father of the Bride", "Muriel's Wedding", "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and the like as well as programming linked to the pages of the magazine.
The display blizzard
Larry Dobrow, who occasionally does commentaries on magazines for Media Post, took off after Seventeen recently:
Seventeen seems to think we're, like, not smart. There's this story about overcoming fatigue, which says that we should get nine hours of sleep per night--hello, duh!--and this other one which says that we'll look great in tight T-shirts if we, like, lift our arms more often. Everything in here is "cute" and "cool" and "glam" and "hot," plus they use more exclamation points than you do! OMG!!!
Robertson vs Globe gets to high court
But was the breakfast any good?
Eyes east for Rogers trade books?
Rogers has more than 50 trade titles aimed at specific industries. Segal said he saw potential for foreign editions of such titles as Plant magazine, which covers manufacturing, or Medical Post.
“Medical Post goes to 48,000 physicians now,” Mr. Segal said. “Presumably, it could go to 450,000 physicians [in China]. That's what we would be looking at if we were to move ahead.”
His caution is well-placed because it takes time and significant investment to enter the Chinese market. Rogers would have to seek joint venture partners inside the country or license its brands and content for publication by a local company.Segal apparently sees business-to-business publications as less likely to have controversial content that would upset their host countries.“On the business-to-business side, you're not so worried about content,” he said.
Monday, December 05, 2005
A world of magazines
Worth noting and quoting
Amidst the thicket of question marks surrounding last week's Bell Globemedia (BGM) deal, not least of which is what exactly the Toronto Star hopes to get out of its 20% share, comes this curious comment. Geoff Beattie, president of the Thomson family holding company, Woodbridge, which now dominates with 40% of the company was reacting to suggestions that newspapers are being eclipsed by the internet, particularly in critical areas such as job and car advertising:"You have to redefine the space. The newspaper industry as you know it today is going to be different in five to 10 years. I'm a big believer that people don't buy newspapers, they read newspapers. They're making a reading decision and we need to make sure we are creating a product that is people's first choice as a reading decision." Globe, Saturday Dec. 3, p B5
Friday, December 02, 2005
Them's fightin' words, mister
"It's hard to imagine a less romantic milieu for a romantic comedy than the Canadian magazine industry."
Let's top Mr. Anderson. A less romantic milieu? The Globe's newsroom, for a start.
And, by the way, can an entire industry be a 'milieu'? Just asking.
View of point
Great minds think alike....hmmm
The kicker is that Time Inc. has passed on the idea and MarthaStewart (despite her mention of it on Larry King Live last week) is still considering it. So after all this, the idea may not see the light of day. Read the story here, as published by Women's Wear Daily.
50 Plus reports latest financials
Net income for the quarter was $56,919 compared to net income of $36,233 for the comparable quarter last year.
Revenues were up $13,986 for the quarter to $210,786 including increased advertising revenues of $23,044. Expenses were down about 4% for the quarter, to $153,867 compared to $160,567 last year.
The Company had cash on hand of $43,750 and a working capital deficiency of $239,769. Recently it was announced that senior management and the directors agreed to forgo more than $200,000 in deferred liabilities owed to them by the company, once $200,000 of a $400,000 line of credit, guaranteed by an unnamed source, had been advanced
The complete financial statements are available at the company's website under "Investor relations". Fifty-Plus.net International Inc. is a publicly owned company listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange under the symbol FPN, making it one of only a few Canadian magazines traded on the stock exchange as themselves (rather than as part of a much larger printing or communications company).
Thursday, December 01, 2005
New mag for Toronto black community
Here's a story about the new magazine, as published in the Toronto Star. The publisher, Chioma (who goes by only one name) says she chose the name Sway because it was a synonym for power and the name she wanted (Prestige) was already taken.
(There is another magazine called Sway, but it is based in New York and serves the aspirational interests of an upscale Middle Eastern and Arab-American audience.)
Media Digest download available
The 2005-06 Media Digest from the Canadian Media Directors Council is now available for download in pdf format and for browsing online. It's a useful reference work for current and historical information on magazines and competing media as well as providing some summary data on markets across the country.
Rogers says you had me at Hello!
The whole celebrity publishing thing has exploded in Canada. OK, another big seller, has launched in North America. Torstar Corp started the Weekly Scoop a few months ago. They join a field crowded by such titles as In Touch Weekly and the more traditional tabloids and "women's" magazines (like Woman's World). All of these titles rely on similar things: celebrity reporting, aggressively tacky and kinetic design, whacks of colour and newsstand sales.
Publishing enthusiasms such as this, with a proliferation of titles, are sometimes similar to the stock market; once the mainstream starts buying in, the opportunities are probably already gone. How long this passion for vapid, and repetitive, celebrity reporting will last is anyone's guess. All that can be said for certain is that not all the new celebrity titles will be around two years from now.
Quill & Quire and WHERE
WHERE Canada's various regional arms (Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary) plus Quill & Quire will also now be reporting directly to Sharon McAuley, Vice-President and Group Publisher (Toronto Life and the late Saturday Night) of St. Joseph.