Johnston quits Maclean's

The departure of Ann Dowsett Johnston as editor-at-large of Maclean's is not a surprise. She is one of the last of the holdovers from the old regime (Executive Editor Peeter Kopvillem, mind your back).

We assume that reasons for her departure after 28 years were complex. However, Martin Knelman in the Toronto Star says that one of those reasons was a provocative advertising decision in her beloved University Issue by Publisher and Editor in Chief Ken Whyte:

For Ken Whyte, editor of Maclean's magazine, the trouble may not be temporary. Almost everyone agrees a shakeup was needed to save Canada's national magazine from slow suicide, but a number of editors and writers -- not to mention defecting subscribers -- are less than enchanted with the ways Whyte has chosen to be provocative.Take the ad for Axe -- a company that specializes in marketing scents as sex potions for guys. A controversial three-page colour ad ran in the middle of the text in the magazine's annual university rankings issue in mid-November. Moreover, the ad mocked the notion of university rankings, claiming that Axe U was "number one across the board." Sample smirky line from the ad: "Whether you're looking to upgrade your skills in chemistry or anatomy, Axe U maintains a faculty capable of broadening your knowledge of the `student body.'" Among those decidedly not amused was editor-at-large Ann Dowsett Johnston, who created the prestigious university-ranking franchise for Maclean's magazine and has carefully orchestrated it for years. She was not informed in advance of publication that the ad was running.The upshot: last week McGill University announced Johnston's appointment as its new vice-principal focusing on alumni relations and communications. She leaves Maclean's early in the new year after 28 years on staff. And because her old job calls for someone with credibility in both journalism and the academic world, she won't be easy to replace.