The year in Canadian magazines

Canadian Magazines is taking a brief holiday from posting, as it does this time of year. We'll be back on January 2. In the meantime, and as a wrapup of the year just past (towards the end, there, 2008 was getting a bit grisly, wasn't it?) we present our annual, completely arbitrary, listing of some of those posts (just click on the heading for the link to the whole story -- remember search our archives for any other story.)

Best wishes for the season to all our readers; we've grown more than 70% in visits and page views since last year at this time; thanks to you.

And, as always, we'll appreciate even more tips in 2009 with information about what's going on in your magazine, your publishing company or the Canadian magazine industry.

January

It's big, but I don't like what you've done with it...
Toronto Star architecture critic Christoper Hume, writing about Toronto Life's purchase of naming rights on the corner of Yonge and Dundas Streets in Toronto, called the branded building "not just an offence against good taste, but a crime against urbanity."

They're not old people, they're consumers
Moses Znaimer is going to launch Zoomer, conjuring it out of CARP, the magazine for the 50-plus. Former Flare editor Suzanne Boyd to be editor.

Going out in style
John Macfarlane, the editor of Toronto Life for 15 years, helms his last issue. What was he going to miss? "The talented people".

February

What took you so long?
Maryam Sanati is promoted from deputy editor to editor-in-chief of Chatelaine, after a months-long international search to replace Kim Pittaway, who resigned.

It's not us, Ken, it's you...
Both senior editors at The Walrus -- Marni Jackson and Nora Underwood -- go on leave, simultaneously, ostensibly because heavy editing responsibilities interfered with books they wanted to write.

All in the family
François Olivier became president and chief executive officer (replacing Luc Desjardins) of Transcontinental Inc. so it is once again more or less a family-run business (except for those pesky shareholders). Olivier was Chief Operating Officer and is son-in-law of founder and chairman Rémi Marcoux.

March

Sunday funnies
Bob Hambly of the Toronto design firm of Hambly & Woolley turns out to have completed his 500th illustration (!) for the "Lives" back page of the New York Times Sunday magazine.

Glowing achievement or glaring mistake?
Vice magazine sells a glow-in-the-dark front cover campaign to auto company BMW.

We don't know her and we don't like her already
Jessica Rose was named Toronto Life art director and the choice of someone without magazine experience for this marquee job drew a lot of criticism; it was one of the blog's most-read, most commented-upon items of the year.

But who's counting?
Masthead reports a 15% decline in magazine launches.

April

Happy birthday to us
Chatelaine launches redesigned, biggest issue to mark its 8oth anniversary.

Almost as long as it takes to get an invoice paid around here
The Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers listserv notes that it's, more or less, 10 years old.

B2B to be eligible for MC
Magazines Canada's board announces it is recommending that trade magazines be eligible for membership in the association. Phil Boyd of Canadian Business Press is not well pleased.

Racks going to ruin
Vancouver's Magpie Magazine Gallery announces it is to close; blames iPods and distributors.

A man outstanding
It is announced that Charles Oberdorf, writer, editor, teacher, is to be honoured for outstanding achievement by the National Magazine Awards Foundation gala in June.

May

All revved up
Motorcycle Mojo magazine scoops the world with a cover story about the " Uno", a funky electric unicycle.

What ever happened to...?
Michael Ignatieff was one of four Canadians named by Foreign Policy magazine in the U.S. and Prospect magazine in Britain to their list of 100 leading world intellectuals.

What a flap!
Better Farming magazine wins a Canadian Association of Journalists award for its investigation of a pigeon-breeding pyramid scheme.

Mr. and Mrs. Magazine
Linda and Jim Gourlay of Saltscapes in Halifax named to jointly receive the volunteer of the year award from Magazines Canada.

Alert for Amber
A well-respected Calgary freelancer, Amber Bowerman, was one of five people killed in a multiple murder-suicide in a Calgary home where she rented a room.

June

You can subscribe, but it'll cost ya...
Canada Post pushes ahead with intention to implement distance-based pricing.

We imagine they leapt for joy
Dance Current magazine celebrates 10 years

The first day of the rest of her life...
Cobi Ladner resigns as editor of Canadian House & Home. It meant a lot to people, because this item was viewed more than any other on Canadian Magazines.

My work is done...
Ken Alexander resigns as editor of The Walrus.

Good doggie
Time Inc. unveils Newshound, a "mix 'n' match" consumer subscription site.

July

The father of us all
Clay Felker, the founder and visionary of New York magazine, dies at 82

That was a short retirement
John Macfarlane named to be interim editor of The Walrus magazine.

Go with God
Bayard Presse Canada, the publishers of Owl, Chickadee and Chirp, buys out its religious partner, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Last call
Front Page, a much-loved Edmonton newsstand, announces it is closing up.

Twice as nice
PMB announces that it will move to bi-annual release of data in 2009.

That happened at This
Graham Scott named editor of This Magazine.

Biting the hand that fed you
Douglas Bell, until recently a daily blogger at Toronto Life (now blogs for the Globe and Mail) takes his former employers to task for misleading its readers about gun violence in the city: "[it] fails in even one instance to place this 'trend' in any sort of context. The issue is violence, not guns."

August

Editorial. Retail. We do it all
A former editor of Flare magazine, Bonnie Brookes, is named chief executive officer of The Bay.

Electrons, not atoms, geddit?
Kat Tancock of Best Health magazine launches an online magazine blog.

We're dancing as fast as we can
The Department of Canadian Heritage says that the implementation of the Canada Periodical Fund (the merger of the Publications Assistance Program and the Canada Magazine Fund) won't come into force until fiscal 2010. Seems it was harder to do than they expected.

Robber barons we know and admire
Ken Whyte, the publisher and editor of Maclean's magazine, publishes a biography of William Randolph Hearst and says he's going to set the record straight. Yes, Hearst fomented the Spanish-American War. But who's perfect?

Re Cycling
The first issue of Dandyhorse, a magazine for city cyclists, is launched in Toronto

September

Freelancers of the world, unite!
Former editor of Toro magazine, Derek Finkle, announces that he is going to start a literary agency to represent independent writers of all kinds, including magazine freelancers. Today, $1 a word. Tomorrow?

Rack 'em up!
Coast to Coast Newsstand services publishes a 2007 box score for the newsstand sales of Canadian and U.S. titles on Canadian newsstands; the number one spot among Canadian magazines is Hello! Canada. None of the top 10 and only three of the top 20 newsstand sellers are Canadian.

My store, my racks, my rules
Indigo Books & Music tells publishers that, within 5 years it will only sell magazines that have at least 50% recycled paper; this comes on top of its edict that magazines that sell in its stores must sell 50% of their draw or be dropped.

One side, I'm a lawyer
Maclean's magazine's rankings of the country's law schools is criticized for its methodology and its intentions.

One side, I'm a water bottler
The industry association for the people who put water in plastic bottles criticizes an article in Canadian Water Treatment magazine which says that bisphenol A is leaching out of plastic bottles and cans, with possible very serious side effects.

One side, I'm a copyright cop
A new, web-based product called iCopyright helps publishers fingerprint their content and track when someone uses it without permission or payment.

Happy anniversary I
Cottage Life staff celebrates Penny Caldwell's 50th issue by hijacking her editor's blog.

Happy anniversary II
The Walrus celebrates its 5th anniversary.

Go figure...
Jewish Living magazine, started in New York by former Toronto Life art director Carol Moskot and her husband, Dan Zimerman, folds after only five issues.

October

I thought you told them...
Books in Canada magazine turns out to be out of business, but forgot to tell the funders.

Wearing two hats; one of them for gardening
Erin McLaughlin the editor of Transcon's Canadian Home & Country magazine, assumes the additional duties of editor-in-chief of Canadian Gardening. Aldona Satterthwaite, the editor since January 2001, moves on.

We're outta here...well, we're half outta here
North Island Publishing announces it is folding Masthead magazine and its companion website, mastheadonline. (Postscript: it later changes its mind and says it will keep publishing the website.)

We're also outta here...
Frank magazine folds. Founder Michael Bate says it is "time to move on". Fans of Remedial Media suffer in silence.

November

Reaching the end of their leash
DogSport magazine of Guelph is sold to one of its major advertisers, a U.S. manufacturer of dog agility products.

Where do we sign?
A study done for the Ontario Media Development Corporation recommends that Ontario create a refundable tax credit for magazines, the only cultural industry in the province that doesn't have one.

Shocked and appalled
A Toronto Life cover story on an "honour killing" draws harsh criticism from critics who say it should be ashamed to foster sterotypes; editor Sarah Fulford says, far from being ashamed, she's proud of it.

The medium gets a message
Magazines Canada hires the ad firm Zulu to promote magazine to agencies and advertisers.

When the going gets tough, the tough close magazines
St. Joseph Media announces the closure of Gardening Life and Wish magazines, in anticipation of plummeting advertising sales.

Will they give out diplomas?
Canadian Business Press, the trade association for b2b magazines, buys Magazines University from North Island Publishing and intends to continue with a June conference under that name, in direct competition with Magazines Canada and its partners in MagNet.

Well, it's a start...
Zoomer magazine reports a $402k loss on $1.7 million of income in its first quarter.

December

Gentlemen, start your negotiations...
The Canadian Writers Group, the literary agency started by former Toro editor Derek Finkle, says it has signed 200 people to its list, even before making a swing through the west.

R.I.P. Ted Rogers
Ted Rogers dies at 75. He ran Canada's largest magazine publisher (consumer and trade). He had no sooner expired than...

No offence, you're fired
...Rogers Media lets 100 people go across all its properties, including magazines and the Blue Jays baseball front office. It described it delicately as "right sizing" and said that those chosen for the chop shouldn't think it had anything to do with the quality of their work.

It's not the principle, it's the money
Maisonneuve magazine said it could no longer afford to run its daily MediaScout online briefing about the journalism of the big players in publishing and television.

We thought you'd already gone...
Time Canada is folded and its ad sales staff let go. The editorial staff went some time ago. Canadians will now get the U.S. edition, says the company, which is what they've essentially given Canadians for years.