Strong loonie is a good news/bad news thing, Masthead reports

Masthead magazine has done some excellent reporting (sub req'd) in the past couple of days, talking to publishers across Canada about the up -- and down -- sides of the higher Canadian dollar.

Part one looked at the downside and found that publishers aren't able to get the clients to adjust as fast as they'd like.

Alex Papanou, vice-president of publishing at the Business Information Group, publisher of over 90 trade magazines, directories and newsletters, says U.S. billing represents 20 per cent of his company’s business. The easiest way to recoup those losses would be to jack up prices for U.S. advertisers, but Papanou admits that isn’t a viable solution.

Part two looks at the upside, such as getting cold calls from hungry U.S. printers.

DogSport publisher Andrew Douglas [says] some American companies have taken notice. “We’re a micromagazine and yet these large U.S. printers are really starting to call us a lot,” says the Guelph, Ontario-based publisher. “It surprises me that the major web companies are starting to cherry pick or at least trying to pick off smaller magazines.”