Reader's Digest tops Masthead list of top 20 influential magazines
- Reader's Digest
- Chatelaine
- Maclean's
- Saturday Night (defunct)
- L'actualité
- Weekend (defunct)
- Cité Libre (defunct)
- Toronto Life
- Vice
- Canadian Business
- Homemaker's
- Canadian Grocer
- Alberta Report
- Owl/Chickadee
- This (formerly This Magazine)
- The Tamarack Review (defunct)
- The Body Politic (defunct)
- Grip (defunct)
- Flare
- The Walrus
The selection of Reader's Digest is accurate (in terms of its influence on the public) but somewhat ironic given that the Canadian industry used to bristle at the magazine's name, since it and Time Canada were considered carpetbaggers. because they were exempted from controls over foreign magazine publishers. (Reader's Digest changed its corporate structure to align with Canadian law, after successfully lobbying to have digesting done by Montreal editors be considered Canadian content; Time Canada simply closed up its Canadian edition rather than comply.) All has, however, been forgiven and Reader's Digest is now not only a member of Magazines Canada, the editor of its French edition is now the chair of the board.
posted by D. B. Scott at
9:57 am
7 Comments:
This list is messed up. I missed Masthead's explanation. Exactly how are they defining "influential"? WTF is Grip magazine? Who is Owl influencing? How is Vice a Canadian magazine? When does a book have to fold to stop being considered? Embarassing, myopic and weird.
Yes, I agree. This exercise was destined to invite little beyond embarrassment for what passes as influential in this country. In their heydays, most of these publications took their cues from what was going on at magazines south of the border with much bigger budgets. I mean, John Macfarlane was grabbing ideas from New York mag, not Vancouver, and Ken Alexander was following Harper's lead, not Saturday Night's.
I knew this list was going to be a joke when I read Doug Bennett's oh-so-Canadian dismissal of Patrick Walsh's nomination of Douglas Coupland's VISTA (http://www.mastheadonline.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1192535737/0) for the Top 20. Saying that VISTA and Toro weren't influential because, boo hoo, they had too much money and threw the odd kick-ass party, is not only assinine, it reveals a finger that's at least a few country miles from this industry's weak pulse. Stick to your guns, Patrick. Dougie doesn't have a clue.
It's probably a good idea to read the issue before dismissing the list so throughly. The justifications for each choice are laid out there. It was mailed to subscribers Monday and will be available on select newsstands next week.
Marco Ursi
Editor, Masthead magazine
Am I the only one to think that six of the top 20 most influential magazines being defunct is just as telling as the list itself? What's that say about the state of the magazine industry and modern readership?
Glad to see that Walrus made the list.
"Dougie" responds here: http://www.mastheadonline.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1200514500
While I'm sure the debate over why Flare beat out the Walrus is rivetting, I agree with the anonymous posters in that the head-scratching element of this list is the "influential" part. And I look forward to seeing how this is defined because, frankly, given the longstanding state of the industry, the idea comes across as a touch pathetic. For example, there was much controversy recently over a book in which a very large panel of music industry experts came together to list the top 100 Canadian albums of all time. Now, one could see how some musicians (ie Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, or The Band) influenced other bands and the course of music in general far beyond the boundaries of our country. But the result of this exercise, particularly with Reader's Digest in the pole position, is one giant yawn. It's kind of like compiling a list of the top 20 stamp collectors in PEI, many of whom are likely also dead.
Dougie:
A photo essay of the top of office buildings is a more original idea than any ever produced by at least half of the magazines on your list.
Douglas
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