Split between founders of Schizophrenia Digest and BP magazine

The partership between William J. McPhee, the founder and publisher of Fort Erie-based Schizophrenia Digest (SD) and the woman who sold the magazine and launched BP magazine, is at an end.

In a release yesterday, it was announced that McPhee has taken over as President and CEO and will have sole responsibility for SD (both its Canadian and U.S. editions) and Joanne Doan will take over BP, U.S. and Canada editions. Schizophrenia Digest serves the families and sufferers from schizophrenia; BP magazine (which is largely based in Buffalo, New York) does the same for families and sufferers of bipolar disorder.

Ms Doan will continue serving as Sales Director for SD through to the end of 2007.

McPhee and Doan had until now been 50:50 partners in the enterprise, which was actually four separate companies, one for each edition of the two magazines.

Both magazines rely heavily on advertising from the pharmaceutical companies who buy various levels of sponsorship.

After suffering from schizophrenia for several years and designing a magazine that reflected his knowledge of the illness and his compassion for those living with the disorder, MacPhee teamed up with Doan, who brought formidable sales skills to the partnership.

SD was launched in Canada in 1994, it is the first and only publication speaking to people plagued by “youth’s greatest disabler” because it usually strikes in the late teenage and early adult years. The U.S. edition was launched in 2003 and distributes 50,000 issues per quarter nationwide.