PWAC runs online auction fundraiser

The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) has launched an online service auction. It is running now and will do so until winning bids are announced June 5 at PWAC's annual awards dinner in Toronto.

All proceeds from the auction items are going directly to the organization to assist in providing its services and defending the rights and professional interests of Canadian non-fiction writers. The online auction can be found at http://www.32auctions.com/pwac2014. All items can be viewed immediately.

The fundraiser will help PWAC in delivering its services for professional non-fiction writers throughout Canada. Among the auction items are an introduction to tracing your family history, a backpack trip in the Canadian Rockies, dinner with a crime writer, a personalized wedding ceremony and of course a selection of writing services for individuals and organizations in Canada and beyond. They'll even help you write a poem or a business profile on demand.

Tomorrow (May 30) is the Western Magazine Awards deadline, and this time they mean it!

The Western Magazine Awards Foundation deadline is Friday 30th, tomorrow, and it really means it this time. It has only recently recovered from various problems with its website and online entry system, but now it needs to move on to get the entries judged. If you've had your package of entries ready to go, you'll want to get them in pronto to http://westernmagazineawards.ca/ . The WMAF info line is  info@westernmagawards.ca  

Related posts:

• Western Magazine Awards entry deadline extended -- again -- to May 29th
• Western Magazine Awards temporarily suspending online submissions                   

[Update] Newsstand wholesaler Source Interlink to go out of business after Time Inc. dumps it

[This post has been updated] 

[Update: Source Interlink Distribution Company, one of the largest newsstand wholesalers in the U.S., faced with losing some of its biggest customers in a dispute over price and payments, has decided to discontinue operations after 20 years in business. Michael Sullivan, the CEO, sent a letter to distributors and customers saying, in part, that 

While we have made significant progress in finding mutually agreeable solutions with publishers and national distributors alike, one of our largest suppliers has recently decided to cease supply and move in a different direction. As such, it's with a heavy heart that I am writing to advise you that Source Interlink Distribution Company will be discontinuing all operations in the near future... 

While this is truly a sad day for Source and its roughly 6,000 employees, we are hopeful that we will be afforded the opportunity to wind down our operation in a smooth and orderly manner. In the coming days, we will do our best at keeping you informed as things progress.]

Time Inc. has dumped its 2nd largest single copy wholesaler in the U.S. and switched business to a rival. It became known as part of a regulatory filing on Tuesday. The jilted wholesaler, who had been demanding a price hike, was reported to be Source Interlink, the second-largest wholesaler of the company's publications. The filing said that the decision was made because Source Interlink owed $7 million in receivables. 

The company that replaced it was reported to be the News Group, owned by Canada's Jimmy Pattison, who was already Time Inc.'s number 1 wholesaler, according to a story in the New York Post.

Source Interlink was probably betting that Time Inc., only days from being spun off from Time Warner into a new public company, would fold and accept more costly terms, one source said. 

“The feeling on the street is that this is a new Time Inc.,” said the executive. “The old Time Inc. would have folded.” 

Time Inc., headed by CEO Joe Ripp, said the dumped wholesaler was responsible for approximately 2 percent of its revenues — or just about $67 million of its $3.3 billion in 2013 revenue.

The story said that in the mid-1990s, there were 300-plus wholesalers in the U.S. but now there are three major players: News Group, Hudson News and Source Interlink.  (A similar consolidation took place in Canada during the same span.) 

Read more »

Quote, unquote: fashion for everyone

“So many people think they’re not into fashion and clothes, but everybody is. Being even vaguely interested in the esthetic of getting dressed is being into fashion. Some people might use it to shout really loud and some people might use it more as a whisper, but it’s still communicating.”

-- Serah-Marie McMahon, founder and editor of WORN magazine, in an interview with the Montreal Gazette's Ian McGillis. She was in Montreal promoting The Worn Archive, highlights from the magazine's first seven years.

Salt Spring Books named Magazines Canada retailer of the year

Salt Spring Books from the village of Ganges, in the heart of the vibrant BC island community, has been named Magazines Canada retailer of the year.

Adina Hildebrandt and her knowledgeable staff will set you up with what you need. Choose a magazine, listen to the ocean and relax into the land of reading. It's the Salt Spring Books motto: "Eat, sleep, read. Life is simple."

The store regularly participates in various Magazines Canada promotions, including the Newsstand Markeeting Project; they consistently carry over 100 Canadian titles.  

Though announced now, the Magazines Canada Retailer of the Year Award will be presented at the Magazines Canada luncheon on Thursday, June 5, 2014 at MagNet: Canada's Magazine Conference in Toronto.

Outdoor Canada takes pulp mens' mag action-adventure approach for summer issue

Outdoor Canada's veers from its usual man-holding-critter cover shots with a summer issue (on newsstands June 9) that harkens back to when manly pursuits were celebrated in pulpy action/adventure magazines with over-the-top presentation. Hyperbole was the order of the day and blood curdling illustrations the norm. Kinda fun. The illustrator is Dominic Bugatto.  

(Worth noting that the magazine is again shortlisted this year for best magazine in its circulation category in the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors awards which will be announced next week.) 

Transcontinental consolidates hold buying 74 Quebec weeklies from Sun Media

Transcontinental Inc. now has permission from the Competition Bureau to acquire 74 weekly newspapers in Quebec from Sun Media. As a condition, the bureau required that -- of the total 154 Transcon and Sun weeklies -- it must attempt to sell 34 for a period of 60 days. 

Once the sale period has expired, Transcontinental Inc. will review its portfolio in order to ensure the sustainability of the weekly press in Quebec, by continuing to offer relevant local information on a multitude of platforms, in all the regions of the province where it is present, the company said in a release. 

"We are pleased with this decision, which allows us to close the transaction and combine the strengths of both companies," said François Olivier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transcontinental Inc. "We are enthusiastic that we will soon be able to welcome the employees of the Sun Media weekly newspapers in Quebec. Despite having to put some weekly newspapers up for sale, this transaction will add about $20 million to the operating earnings before amortization of Transcontinental Inc. and further advance the local multiplatform offering for businesses and communities."

The intention to buy the Sun papers had been announced in December pending approval by the bureau. 

Transcontinental is the largest printer and the one of the largest consumer magazine publishers in Canada. 

Taddle Creek's summer issue is just kidding

Taddle Creek, the Toronto-based, twice-a-year, award-winning literary magazine is focussing its summer issue on kids. 

Taddle Creek No. 33 features brand-new fiction and poetry by Philippa Dowding, Cary Fagan, JonArno Lawson, and Dennis Lee. Plus: comics by Claudia Dávila and Jay Stephens, fun and games by Matthew Daley, Dave Lapp, and Steven Charles Manale, and music by Friendly Rich. The Kids’ Issue also contains a feature on white squirrels, a profile of the T.T.C.’s biggest little fan, Cole Fleming, the long-awaited return of Fun Science Facts, and more! 

The issue will be launched at a summer party at the Lillian H. Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library on Sunday, June 22 from 2 - 4. 

[Cover by Frank Viva] 

COPA online publishing awards deadline is June 30

The early bird deadline for the Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPA) is June 9 and the final deadline for this year's competition is June 30. The awards, which are produced by Mastheadonline, have four new categories, including top corporate website, web banner ad, video ad and online campaign. 

The entry fee is $115 + HST for each entry in each of the 15 categories in three divisions:  Red for consumer magazines, consumer goods companies and B2C ad campaigns; Blue for trade and association magazines, B2B companies and B2B ad campaigns; and Green for  newspapers, news/business magazines, tv, radio stations and digital and advertising entries the green division is restricted to retailers website and ad campaigns and retailers' websites and ad campaigns. 

The awards are open to media publishers and corporations who serve a Canadian audience with original material and advertising agencies which produce ads on behalf of their clients providing the ads and websites have at least one Canadian on the production team and are submitted by the agency's Canadian office. Full competition rules, categories and FAQs. 

Each company entering gets a corporate profile on the website of Mastheadonline.com. The entry form for the awards is available, naturally, online. The awards are presented in November.

Finalists named for CSME Editors' Choice Awards

The shortlist of finalists for the 2014 Editors’ Choice Awards have been announced by The Canadian Society of Magazine Editors (CSME). The winners will be revealed at the annual CSME Gala, held on Wednesday, June 4*, as part of MagNet, Canada’s magazine conference, at the Courtyard Toronto Downtown (475 Yonge St.). [I will be the keynote speaker at the event.]

Included will be winners for best front-of-book section, the Jim Cormier Award for best display writing and – for the first time ever! – best art integration and CSME’s highest honour, the Editor of the Year Award. Among the finalists are:

Best Magazine, Small Circulation:
• Spacing
• This Magazine
• Canada’s History Magazine

Best Magazine, Medium Circulation:
• Outdoor Canada
• Best Health
• Cottage Life

Best Magazine, Large Circulation:
• Today’s Parent
• Reader’s Digest Canada
• Canadian Living

Best Magazine, Trade:
• Professionally Speaking
• Today’s Trucking
• Precedent

Best Tablet Edition:
• Reader’s Digest Canada
• Best Health
• Canadian Art

Best Website Editorial:
• Canadianliving.com
• Spacing.ca
• Canadianfamily.ca

Tickets are on sale until May 29 at 2 pm EDT. To order, go to: magnet2014.ca/sessions/?sessionInfo=SE4.

Freelancer Bryan Borzykowski wins $5,000 first prize in PMAC Awards for Excellence

Freelancer Bryan Borzykowski has received the $5,000 first prize in the Portfolio Management Association of Canada's PMAC Awards for Excellence in investment journalism. It was for his work in the Canadian Business Investor's Guide 2014. The prize will be presented in Toronto on June 16. 

Winners were selected from 31 French and English entries from 13 unique publications. David Aston won second prize  for columns in MoneySense and the Globe and Mail. Fiona Collie won third for a special section in Investment Executive. 

Launched in 2011, the PMAC Awards promote and reward the best in Canadian newspaper, magazine and online journalism; foster a better understanding of the investment industry, its products and services and, ultimately, aims to improve financial literacy in Canada.

Ontario magazine fund info sessions next week; deadline July 10

Ontario-based magazine publishers are being encouraged to attend either an in-person or webinar information session about the Ontario Media Development Corporation Magazine Fund. 

Advanced registration is required for both. Deadline for both the fund and the tax credit is Thursday, July 10 at 5 p.m.

The in-person session is Tuesday, May 27 at 2:30 (followed at 3:30 by a brief overview of the Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit.) The session will be held in the OMDC Conference Room - Third Floor, 175 Bloor Street East, South Tower.

The webinar is on Wednesday, May 28 at 2:30. Priority is given to people outside of the GTA and those with accessibility challenges. An invitation will be emailed with link and a password.

The Magazine Fund offers successful applicants up to $75,000 to assist in the growth of their businesses through new strategic and marketing initiatives and new digital activities. 

Guidelines and online application information.

Starting small, Time Inc. titles incorporate ads in previously off-limits covers

TIME magazine and Sports Illustrated have opened the door a crack to advertising on covers, with a discreet ad link for Verizon on the address label of this week's issue and next. Newsstand issues will have the ad next to the bar code. A story in Ad Age notes

The ads are tiny, but their arrival puts a big crack in the longstanding tradition that kept ads off magazine covers. 

The industry's major players have until now almost entirely resisted pressure to sell cover ads, despite a strong need for new revenue in recent years. That's partly because ads on covers violate widely-observed guidelines from the American Society of Magazine Editors, but also because most editors believed in those guidelines, which are meant to emphasize and protect editorial independence from marketers.

Advertisers are also being pitched for ads across the bottom of magazine covers (colloquially called "zippers") and possible "native" placement of ads on the contents pages. 

The Canadian Magazine Code of Reader & Advertiser Engagement  says

No advertisement may be promoted on the cover of the magazine or included in the editorial table of contents, unless it involves an editorially directed contest, promotion or sponsored one-off editorial extra (see “Sponsorship”).

Major shakeup at Rogers Publishing: Canadian Business; MoneySense

[This post has been updated] There's been a major shakeup in the news and business division at Rogers Publishing as Duncan Hood moves over from Canadian Business to be editor of MoneySense; he replaces Jonathan Chevreau, who becomes editor-at-large. He is replaced as editor-in-chief of CB by James Cowan, who had been deputy editor. And two of the longest serving staffers  at CB, managing editor Conan Tobias and senior writer Matt McClearn, were let go. Also gone is Trevor Melanson, an editor at Canadianbusiness.com.

[Update  The Globe and Mail reported that Hood will also have a new role as director of personal finance for Rogers Publishing, responsible for expanding personal finance coverage across all of the company's brands, including such magazines as Chatelaine and Today's Parent.

In an interview, Steve Maich, senior vice-president and general manager, told the Globe

“Frankly, it was primarily about cost savings,” noting that both magazines have “been performing quite well.”  

But Mr. Maich also hopes the leadership changes will help the magazines take advantage of new opportunities with readers. The shift at Canadian Business won’t be radical, but after listening to subscribers and market research, the division is betting its “opportunity to win” is in speaking more directly to executives and entrepreneurs. “It’s a matter of what you choose to emphasize.”]

Regional magazine associations name volunteers of the year

Last week the Magazines Canada volunteer of the year was named as Immee Chee Wah, vice-president of business planning for Rogers Publishing. This week, the five regional magazine associations have announced their volunteer of the year award winners; they will be honoured Thursday June 5 at the Magazines Canada annual luncheon during the MagNet conference:

Atlantic Magazines Association Volunteer of the Year: Thom Knowles

Thom Knowles is a freelance graphic designer and a specialist at the Halifax Apple Store. Before beginning a career in communication arts, Thom trained as an English teacher at Mount Saint Vincent University. From there, he studied graphic design at Nova Scotia Community College, graduating with the Highest Achievement award. Thom worked for four years as a designer at the award-winning  Saltscapes magazine, during which time he became a member of the board at the Atlantic Magazines Association. Aside from his design pursuits, Thom is a singer-songwriter in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he lives with his wife and two-year-old daughter.

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Magazines Ontario Volunteer of the Year: Melony Ward

Melony Ward is publisher of Canada's History magazine and Kayak: Canada's History for Kids. She is on the magazine advisory committee for the Ontario Media Development Corporation. She has served on the board of directors of Magazines Canada, and has a long track record of success with niche print and online media. Her current volunteer activities include marketing strategy in the political arena and fundraising for the health-care sector.

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Manitoba Magazine Publishers' Association Volunteer of the Year: Deborah Morrison

Deborah Morrison is CEO of Canada's National History Society. She was appointed to the History Society in 2002 and has introduced several program extensions in addition to Kayak: Canada's History for Kids since her arrival. They include Teaching Canada's History/Innover en Classe, an educator's magazine; a children's illustrated story-writing contest; historical travel tours, as well as several book projects, including 100 Days That Changed Canada, which was Amazon's top-selling history book for the 2011 Christmas season. She has been involved with the Manitoba Magazine Publishers Association since 2004 and currently serves as past president. (It was recently announced that Morrison is leaving the Society at the end of June after 12 years to become executive director of the Society for Educational Visits in Canada (SEVEC) which offers reciprocal exchanges between groups of Canadian youth.)

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Alberta Magazine Publishers Association Volunteer of the Year: Emily Ursuliak

Emily Ursuliak is the fiction editor for filling Station magazine and was previously the coordinator for filling Station's monthly community writing event "Hot Dates with Blank Pages." She is also an executive producer for the literary radio show Writer's Block where she interviews local and visiting writers. Emily recently graduated from the University of Calgary with her Master of Arts in English where she worked on both her first novel and collection of poetry.

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Magazine Association of BC Volunteer of the Year: Darren Bernaerdt

Darren Bernaerdt is Coordinator for the Publishing Program at Langara College and Publisher of Pacific Rim Magazine. He is a strong believer in ongoing education as a key element in achieving one’s career goals and actively supports his students in their educational journey. In the latter half of 2012 and through 2013 he was the Treasurer for the Magazine Association of BC.

Zinio expands reach in digital media market with 1,000 new mag titles available to library patrons

Zinio, the digital magazine newsstand, has announced an aggressive move to expand by offering an additional 1,000 magazine titles to library patrons, more than doubling the number of titles available to users to 1,800 -- including international titles with non-English language content. 

The digital Zinio for Libraries service has experienced a 300% growth in registered users in the past year, according to Beth Murphy, the executive vice-president of product and chief marketing officer for Zinio. Zinio specializes in replica editions of popular magazines, readable on browsers or mobile devices using one of its apps.

While Zinio is offered in Canadian libraries, many of the best known and largest titles from Rogers Media were withdrawn from the service when Rogers launched Next Issue Canada in collaboration with the five biggest U.S. magazine publishers. Also, Magazines Canada allowed a partnership with Zinio to lapse and launched its own digital newsstand, featuring member magazines.

"Library patrons are demonstrating rapid adoption of digital magazines by accessing magazine content through Zinio for Libraries, with new checkouts of online magazines averaging over 1,000,000 per month," said Rich Freese, Recorded Books President and CEO. RBdigital, partners with Zinio. "The digital media market for libraries is showing exponential growth. Every minute a new library patron is added, 13 magazines are checked out on Zinio for Libraries. We expect that the addition of international digital magazines with new language content will appeal to an even broader selection of patrons with multinational interests and diverse cultural backgrounds."

Take that, you annoying insert card!

I agree with the publisher of This Magazine, Lisa Whittington-Hill, who says on her Facebook post how troubling it is that someone went to the bother of having a rubber stamp made to register their displeasure with her magazine's insert cards. (Annoying they may be, but publishers wouldn't use them if they didn't work.) 

Editors' Association of Canada allies with American Copy Editors Society

The Editors' Association of Canada (EAC) has formed an international alliance with The American Copy Editors Society (ACES) to provide each other's training and professional development programs at a discounted rate, including the forthcoming EAC annual conference in Toronto June 6 - 8.

"EAC is excited to expand our members' networking and professional development opportunities in partnering with ACES," said Carolyn L Burke, executive director of EAC. EAC promotes professional editing as key in producing effective communication and helps maintain high editing and publishing standards in Canada, with 1,500 members working in the corporate, technical, government, non-profit and publishing sectors. "Learning side-by-side with ACES members online and in person will advance career opportunities for members of both organizations."

EAC was founded in 1979 and has about 1,500 members; ACES was founded in 1997 and has a membership of approximately 1,000. ACES is offering one of its editing bootcamps in Montreal on August 5. Like EAC, it has regional chapters and an annual national conference -- the next one being in March 2015 in Pittsburgh. Similar to the arrangement with EAC, ACES has made alliances with the Society for News Design and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

FASHION launches enhanced, interactive tablet version with summer issue

FASHION magazine from St. Joseph Media is launching a new, enhanced, interactive tablet version. The summer issue, featuring Elle Fanning, is an expansion of the previous digital version of the magazine.

 “We want to give our readers the best user experience possible and, for us, that means offering them an all-access pass to FASHION,” said Bernadette Morra, editor-in-chief “The new digital edition will engage users by making them feel like they’re side-by-side with our editors – whether that be shooting in Bora Bora or here in Toronto.”

The new tablet version features four behind-the-scenes videos.  According to a release, the new cover layout with fading effects as well as hyperlinks that will allow users to jump from the cover directly to featured content. In addition, photo galleries have been converted from a static product page to full screen product imagery; with a tap of the finger, readers can pull up captions, information on merchandise or bookmark their favourite page.

Craft brewing scene gets covered by BCBusiness event

BCBusiness magazine is kicking off Vancouver Craft Beer Week May 29 with a June cover showing a dewy bottle of artisanal brew and an event that includes the premier of "Brew Love", a documentary about the rising local beer scene. 

The event is from 2-6 p.m. at the Imperial, 319 Main Street and the cost is $75, which includes the film premier, a keynote speech by Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi Brewing, plus panels of local craft brewing experts and "lots and lots of tasting breaks". And to top it all, everyone who attends gets to take home one of the growlers that was the cover model! To find out more, go to BCBusiness.ca/Beer. 

Quote, unquote: Those unlovable banner ads

"If we are going to fund and build the Internet of the future we all dream of, we are going to need to build a new model of advertising that actually works and that users don’t hate. So, rather than hide behind the lame excuses, the made-up lift studies, the same old bullshit hand-waving and the general complaining, let’s all agree that the time has come to think outside the little box."

-- Zach Coelius co-founder and CEO of Triggit, in a post on ReCode about the 20th anniversary of the banner ad. "Those of us in the ad industry ought to be ashamed of ourselves."

Mag world view: Glamour puts on Lipstick.com; Time goes public June 6; TV Guide gets CEO; 9 best (and worst) things about journalists

• Glamour Magazine Launches Beauty-Focused Digital Site, Lipstick.com (10,000 Words)
• Time Inc. Will Go Public June 6 (Folio:)
• Glenn Greenwald: 'I don't trust the UK not to arrest me. Their behaviour has been extreme' (Guardian)
• No Thrillah in Manilla: Paperless 2013 Founder Going Down for the Count (Dead Tree Edition)
• TV Guide Magazine Gets a New CEO (Folio:)
• Le Monde editor quits after power struggle with top staff (Guardian)
• A list of the nine best and worst things about journalists by hackademic Tony Harcup (Jon Slattery) 
• A Love Affair with Magazines: Crowded, But Loved, South Africa’s Women’s Interest Magazines… (Mr. Magazine)

Next Issue Canada adds People magazine to menu

Next Issue Canada, the digital magazine subscription service, has added People magazine, Travel + Leisure and Food & Wine to the more than 100 titles it offers tablet subscribers for a single monthly fee. 

"At Next Issue, we want to give readers unparalleled access to the magazines they love, and adding People, Travel + Leisure, and Food & Wine to our newsstand offers Canadians an opportunity to experience these brands in an engaging new way," said Ken Whyte, President, Next Issue Canada in a release. "In addition to what's offered in the print edition, readers can now explore the extra content, such as exclusive videos and photo galleries, that will enhance their enjoyment of these renowned magazines on Next Issue."

Related posts:

• Next Issue Canada mag sub service has 45,000 paying, 20,000 tryout customers
• Next Issue Canada rolls out free 30-day trial for non-Rogers subscribers
• Rogers Media withdraws magazine titles from library service offering free downloads
• Rogers partners with big 5 U.S. publishers on digital newsstand service Next Issue Canada

Baring and moving: Dance Current chronicles naked dancing

The Dance Current's May/June 2014 issue chronicles the history of naked dance performance in the 20th and, so far, 21st century. Writer Lucy M. May ranges from Isadora Duncan to Vancouver’s Kokoro Dance to Montréal’s enfant terrible, Dave St-Pierre – in her detailed feature essay “Radiant, Ashen, Burning, Blistered, Flushed: A Century of Naked Performance”. 

Immee Chee Wah named Magazines Canada volunteer of the year

Immee Chee Wah, vice president of business planning for Rogers Publishing, has been named Magazines Canada's volunteer of the year for 2013. She will receive her award at the Magazines Canada Luncheon on Thursday, June 5, 2014 at MagNet: Canada's Magazine Conference at the Courtyard Toronto Downtown at 475 Yonge St. in Toronto.The award is given annually to one individual whose outstanding volunteer contributions have had a national impact on the Canadian magazine industry.

Her voluntary service include serving as magazine media representative on the board of directors of Access Copyright, and is a volunteer member of the Blue Box committee of Magazines Canada. In her current role, Chee Wah oversees production and logistics for all Rogers magazines and is also responsible for regulatory matters. She has held various roles in publishing, including group circulation director and vice president of business development. 

Magazines Canada shortlisted for international research award

Magazines Canada, the Canadian magazine industry association, has been shortlisted for the FIPP 2014 Research Awards, being presented June 16 in Hamburg, Germany. The winners will be announce during the FIPP Research Forum for researchers, publishers and marketing executives. 

The awards are meant to recognize the  best research studies published in 2013 that promote the use of magazine media as an advertising medium, anywhere in the world. ‘Magazine media’ includes print, digital platforms and/or any other relevant publisher channel. Magazines Canada was included in the list because of  the "Media Connections Study" released last year.

It is in impressive company, covering a wide geography and range of subjects, research done by other associations such as American Business Media and the Magazine Publishers of Australia and major publishing companies such as IPC Media, UK, Meredith Corporation and Bauer Media, all selected for a particular piece of industry research. 

FIPP is the worldwide magazine media association representing companies and individuals involved in the creation, publishing, or distribution of quality content, in whatever form, by whatever channel, and in the most appropriate frequency, to defined audiences of interest.

[Overview of the study.]

Scott Feschuk to host National Magazine Awards

Author, columnist and two-time National Magazine Award humor writing winner Scott Feschuk is to host this year's Magawards gala in Toronto on June 6. It is the fourth time he has been the host.

“Magazines are so essential to people in our society, especially those who are waiting patiently for their colonoscopy,” Feschuk said.“In the end, I just couldn’t say no to hosting a celebration for which most expense will be spared.”

Scott Feschuk is a partner in the speechwriting and communications firm Feschuk.Reid. He was chief speechwriter to the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin during his time as prime minister. Scott has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post and CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes. His third book, The Future and Why We Should Avoid It, will be published this fall. He currently writes a column for Maclean’s and Sportsnet magazines.

[Photo: Blair Gable]

Herald Magazine multiple winner in Atlantic Journalism Awards

The winners of the Atlantic Journalism Awards have been announced and honoured at last night's gala in Halifax. Herald Magazine, published by the Halifax daily, was a multiple award-winner. The magazine-related awards (the AJAs cover all journalism, print, radio and TV) are as follows:
Atlantic Magazine Article

Gold:

John DeMont /Russell Jackson – Herald Magazine – Halifax, NS – The Long Goodbye.

Silver:
Deborah Wiles/Jayson Taylor – Herald Magazine – Halifax, NS – Fogo Island Unfolds.

Hugh W. McKervill – Atlantic Salmon Journal – Chamcook, NB – Not Fishing With My Father.

Atlantic Magazine: Best Cover

Gold:
Herald Magazine – Halifax, NS – Hearts Divided.

Silver:
East Coast Living – Halifax, NS – Fall 2013 Cover.

Herald Magazine – Halifax, NS – The Long Goodbye.

Atlantic Magazine: Best Profile Article

Gold:
John DeMont/Christian Laforce – Herald Magazine – Halifax, NS – Hearts Divided.

Silver:
Beverley Ware/Christian Laforce – Herald Magazine – Halifax, NS – High-Flying Priest.

Quentin Casey – Progress Magazine – Halifax, NS – There for the Hard Part.

Feature Writing: Print

Gold:
Stephen Kimber – Atlantic Business Magazine – St. John's, NL – No love from Lunenburg.

Silver:
Dean Jobb – Saltscapes Magazine – Bedford, NS – Flight of Fancy.

Hilary Beaumont – Herald Magazine – Halifax, NS –The Person He Wants To Be.

Full list of winners in all categories

Angie Gardos marks 25 years with Toronto Life

Though she apparently didn't want a fuss made about it, Angie Gardos is marking her 25th anniversary with Toronto Life. An invitation-only event was held at the chi-chi restaurant Jump last night and praise heaped by the likes of current editor Sarah Fulford and former editor John Macfarlane. An amazing number of talented people have worked with and learned from Angie over the years. She calls being managing editor of Toronto Life the best job in the world. 

Jacqueline Loch moves from Rogers to run TC Media's English magazines

Jacqueline Loch

TC Media has hired Jacqueline Loch away from Rogers Media to run its English-language magazine brands: Canadian Living, ELLE Canada, Style at Home, Canadian Gardening, The Hockey News, Western Living, Vancouver Magazine and TV Guide. 

She will be assuming the title of vice-president and group publisher May 20. She replaces Caroline Andrews who suddenly left TC Media in January. 

Loch had previously been vice-president content solutions for Rogers Media and before that had held other senior management roles  including vice president strategic creative, Rogers Publishing; promotions executive, Integrated business solutions at CanWest Media Sales, and creative director roles at both National Post and The Financial Post. 

Mag world view: Jet gives up print; app killers; buxom fashion

• Jet Shutters Print, Goes Digital-Only (Media Daily News)
• Who Killed the Magazine App?: 9 Suspects (Dead Tree Edition)
• NYLON Sold to Diversis Capital, Merges with FashionIndie.com (Folio:)
• Magazine fulfillment associations merge (Folio:)
• Kate Upton: How fashion magazines fell for her big-breasted look (Guardian)
• BBC Worldwide proposes restructure to Good Food brands (Guardian)
• A State of New Magazines Report: A Healthy First Trimester of 2014. (Mr. Magazine)
• What is the "news" associated with journal publication? (The Scholarly Kitchen)

What's the lure of autographed magazine covers?

A collector from Appleton, Wisconsin sent copies of Time magazine covers for a decade in the '60s and early '70s to the people featured in them and asked for them to be autographed. According to an AP story, more than 250 people responded to Jerry Gottleib's request and his family have shared them with the Trout Museum of Art in Appleton for an exhibit called "Moments in TIME", which will be on display until June 29. 

According to the museum, Gottleib’s greatest challenges were securing signatures for covers featuring more than one person. Some of his successes included all four of the Beatles as well as the Apollo 11 astronauts. 

The exhibit also features the Robert Kennedy cover designed by Roy Lichtenstein and dated two weeks before Kennedy’s assassination.

Gottleib was not the only person who had this peculiar hobby. A man called Roger Brink from El Dorado Hills, California , collected covers for some 39 years -- 2,000 or them in five huge binders.

He has received signatures from the likes of Henry Kissinger and Jay Leno. The holdouts? The Vatican and the British royal family. Brink hopes that Will and Kate, the modern royals that they are, will break that tradition. After all, Ronald Reagan signed covers five times. He once got Katharine Hepburn on the phone while trying to get her signature. Muammar Gaddafi signed a cover for him, though not in English.

 A man from New Jersey, Scott Smith, decided to make it his quest to get every Sports Illustrated cover autographed. He told the LA Times that he had multiple autographs from much-covered subjects such as Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and Mickey Mantle. There are 4,413 sports stars on 2,913 covers of SI, but an unnamed woman on the cover of the October 17, 1960 issue, holding a kite, eluded him. She died at the age of 81 on the same day as he talked to the LA Times. A cosmic joke. 

Quote, unquote: On enticing readers

"Try to remember that people have better things to do than read your work. So for heaven's sake, try to entice them with some beauty and fun."

-- Cartoonist Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) from a post on Fast Company about tips for creativity.

Maybe it's time to take another look at alternative delivery

The largest printing company in the U.S., R. R. Donnelly, is looking at ways to provide alternative delivery of magazines in most major urban centres in the country. In an article in Publishing Executive, Thomas J. Quinlan, the CEO, says Donnelly is interested in a recent proposal in Congress that would allows periodicals, newspaper and unstamped mail to be placed in mailboxes on days when the US Postal Service (USPS) does not deliver. Right now, the USPS has a  monopoly on the nation's mailboxes. But it doesn't deliver Sundays and, pretty soon, it may not be doing Saturday deliveries either.

Now it makes a certain amount of sense for someone who depends in part on the mailing industry to look at gaining some advantage over other printers. The increases in the price of postage and the reductions in service open an opportunity.

“Look what USPS is doing to the mailing industry. It's just not sustainable. There's significant cost increases that they've put through. They're shifting cost to the players in the mailing industry, Quinlan said. “All these things, these are costs for the mailing industry that, quite frankly, we and other people like us have to go ahead and mitigate to our customers because our customers can't go ahead and aren't going to take the additional cost and look for people like us to, again, go ahead and mitigate those.” 

“You look at Ladies' Home Journal that was announced by Meredith earlier this week [would be shutting down]. I mean, 40 to 47 percent of their cost was related to postage. It was nothing to do with electronic content.”

Read more »

Finalists named for Kenneth R. Wilson Awards for business media

The finalists for the Kenneth R. Wilson Awards, representing the best of the business media for 2013, have been announced. 

Magazine of the Year (professional division):

• BCBusiness
• Marketing
• Professionally Speaking

Magazine of the Year (trade division):

• Oilsands Review
• Renovation Contractor
• Retail News

Best issue:

BCBusiness, Canadian Interiors, CMA Magazine (2 nominations), Design Edge Canada, Professionally Speaking (2 nominations) and University Affairs.

Best Cover: 

Canadian Grocer, Canadian Lawyer, Precedent, Professionally Speaking, Renovation Contractor and Up Here Business.

Website of the year:

• ACQconstruire.com (ACQ Construire)
• Advisor.ca(Advisor to Client)
• Jobposting.ca (Jobpostings Magazine)
• Salonmagazine.ca (Salon Magazine)

Top multiple-nomination magazines are:

• CAmagazine (19)
• Professionally Speaking (12)
• University Affairs (9)
• CMA Magazine (9)
• Marketing (7)
• Up Here Business (6)
• Canadian Grocer (4)
• Canadian Lawyer (4)
• L’actualité médicale (4)
• OHS (4)
• Precedent (4)
• Statements (4)
• The Medical Post (4)
• Foodservice & Hospitality (4)

Full list of finalists

The 60th anniversary Kenneth R. Wilson Awards gala is June 3 in Toronto. 

Some Walrus interns are back working in a pilot project funded by Chawkers Foundation

Given that this blog reported fairly extensively on the fallout from the Ontario Ministry of Labour crackdown on unpaid internships, it seems only reasonable to report that some interns are back, and paid, at The Walrus. The story, reported by the Toronto Star, is that the Chawkers Foundation, a private family foundation that was primarily responsible for the launch of The Walrus in the first place, will pay three of its interns for six month "editorial fellowships".

“The new Chawkers Fellows will be solely funded by The Chawkers Foundation who will provide a stipend to the three of them (in an amount acceptable to the Ministry of Labour) for the six month period, which begins now and ends at the end of September,” wrote co-publisher Shelley Ambrose in an email to the Star.
“We, of course, offered the opportunity to those who were affected by the Ministry of Labour’s shut down,” she wrote.

Ambrose maintains the magazine is not "hiring" the fellows.

“The Walrus Foundation does not pay them. This is a project by The Chawkers Foundation that we are creating for Chawkers,” Ambrose wrote. “We did not ‘rehire.’ The three individuals who are here now were interns before. We offered the former interns who were affected by the Ministry’s order FIRST chance at becoming Fellows (which we were thrilled to be able to do) and taking part in this pilot project and they agreed.”

Of the seven interns found on the premises by the ministry of labour, two were kept on because they were paying tuition at vocational schools and three are now working again courtesy of Chawkers. Which, we suppose, means that two interns are essentially out of luck. 

Now, a bit of background. The Chawkers Foundation paid $5 million to help get The Walrus off the ground a decade ago -- pledging $1 million a year for five years. The scion of the family, Ken Alexander, became the editor and quit in 2008 after a tumultuous reign. For a time, early on in the magazine's life, the Metcalfe Foundation had funded Walrus internships -- one of the most lucrative programs in Canada -- but several years ago pulled its support. Thereafter, interns were unpaid. It's not known what the three interns are now to be paid, but if it is at the Ontario minimum wage, the nut for the Chawkers is probably in the range of $65,000. 

Vice launching a sports channel

Vice, the Montreal-based magazine and international media empire, is launching a sports channel -- Vice Sports, natch -- in June, in time for the World Cup of soccer. 

Vice describes it as “a deep dive into the drama that surrounds sports before and after the great moments on the field.”

According to a post on Streamingmedia.com, Vice is also adding new content to its new food channel, Munchies. The enterprise's YouTube channel has close to 7 million subscribers and its HBO series had just been renewed for a third season.

Vice co-founder and CEO Shane Smith, who had clearly started his NewFront celebration early, declared that “upfronts are weird,” because one-third of the people in the room were simply curious what Vice was doing, one-third were journalists looking to pick the company apart, and one-third would give them money. 

“I believe we’re the first platform-agnostic company out there,” Smith said. “All we care about is that we make good content.” 

“We don’t have a f*cking algorithm. We have 5,000 contributors around the world,” Smith declared. 

Positive diversity in body image wins award for ELLE Québec magazine

TC Media's ELLE Québec magazine has won the 2014 Prix/Image award which recognizes Quebec companies who contribute to healthy and diversified representations of the human body in fashion, media and advertising. 

The prize is given by the site derrierlemiroir.ca based on an online poll. This year, 7,600 young Quebecers voted to give the award to ELLE Québec for its sensitivity and efforts to showcase diversity in its models and in questioning the standard definition of beauty. It is the second time the magazine has won. 

Ontario's Bill 91 Waste Reduction Act likely to die on order paper

[This post has been updated] Who says there is no good news? With the near certainty that there will be a June election called in Ontario now that the NDP has said it won't support the Wynne government's budget, the legislature would be prorogued and, with it, will go Bill 91, The Waste Reduction Act. The draft legislation about waste diversion would have been bad news for the magazine publishing sector -- too expensive, lacking in accountability, worse in several aspects from the Blue Box system that is in place now. The draft bill would have required producers (publishers) to pay 100% of the costs without having 100% control over those costs. 

A new government, no matter what party gets in power (highly likely to be short-lived minority government) would have the opportunity to rethink the waste diversion regime and, working with all the stakeholders -- including publishers -- could come up with something that looks after the environment and the taxpayer. 

[Update: It should be noted that dozens of other pieces of very worthwhile legislation are also off the order paper with the election.]

Magazine ads retain their power to stick with and motivate readers

Recent data from Starch Syndicated Research shows that readers remain consistently engaged with ads in magazines. In the first four months of 2014, according to a release from GfK, the owners of the Starch , just over half of magazine readers (52%) said they could recall seeing or "noting" (a particular Starch trope) a specific print ad in a magazine, about the same proportion as in 2010. And 62% of those who recall seeing an ad took some action as the result of a print ad. Starch Advertising Research executive vice president Dr. Michal Galin stated: 

“The Starch data show that magazine ads have lost little or none of their power to motivate consumers. Each of the actions we measure represents a high level of engagement; and, when it comes to joining a social network or the use of a QR code, print magazine ads are moving consumers into a digital universe where longer term relationships can be developed and tracked. The result is deeper connections with brands, and a greater likelihood to buy."

The Walrus and L’actualité lead the list of National Magazine Awards nominees

The National Magazine Awards nominations  announced today are dominated by 10 well-known titles, large and small, with 177 written, integrated, visual and special award nominations. The Walrus magazine has 35 nominations (24 written, 8 visual, 3 integrated) and L’actualité 23 (20 written, 1 visual, 2 integrated). Here are the entrants who had 10 or more:

Magazine	Written	Integrated	Visual	Special	Total
The Walrus	24	3	8	0	35
L’actualité	20	2	1	0	23
Report on Business	10	4	7	0	21
Maclean’s Toronto Life	11 9	6 6	0 3	1 0	18 18
Maisonneuve The Grid	8 3	0 8	5 3	1 0	14 14
Cottage Life	7	2	3	1	13
Eighteen Bridges	11	0	0	0	11
Sportsnet	7	2	0	1	10

As reported here earlier, Kim Jernigan, the former editor of The New Quarterly, is to receive the Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement -- the industry's highest honour. Among other nomination highlights:

• Magazine of the year nominees: Azure, Cottage Life, Nouveau Projet
• Tablet magazine of the year nominees: Canadian Business, Sportsnet,The Hockey News
• Magazine website of the year: Hazlitt, Maclean’s,Torontoist
• Best new magazine writer: Suzannah Showler, Liz Windhorst Harmer, Catherine McIntyre

The complete list of nominations can be downloaded here. 

Winners will be announced and honoured at the 37th awards gala that will be on Friday June 6 at the Carlu in Toronto at the conclusion of the MagNet industry conference and Magazines Week.