Weekly Scoop publisher out?

Word is that Kathryn Swann, the ex-Money Sense publisher who went to Torstar to launch its celebrity mag Weekly Scoop has left the magazine, barely 4 months after its debut (see pic). Swann told the Globe and Mail today that she resigned, as a lifestyle choice, because of the hectic pace of the launch and its aftermath.

Word on the street, however, is that, in the face of competition from the blizzard of celebrity titles on the newsstand, most of them U.S. and British, Scoop was not selling as well as Torstar expected. Unlike most Canadian titles, it wins or loses on the basis of single copy sales...This must raise questions about the viability of the Hello! franchise that Rogers is planning to launch next fall.