Saturday, October 31, 2015

Mag world view: Tyrangiel leaves Bloomberg; bolstering FOI; civil comments (really?); Food & Wine delivers hooch; Butternut menu

Flare is being pulled from the newsstands

Come January, Flare magazine will no longer be available on newsstands. According to a story in the Globe and Mail, Rogers Media has decided the plummeting sell-through on the magazine no longer justifies the cost. The fashion magazine's single-copy sales have fallen from 12,000 a month in 2012 (where they represented 9.6% of total circulation) to an average 2,600 in the first six months of 2015 (or 2.8 per cent.) By comparison, Flare's digital circulation has grown to average 29% of its total circulation. 

Publisher Melissa Ahlstrand said newsstand sales -- once a bellwether of readership -- is no longer thought so. 
“Whether it be through Texture or Snapchat or Periscope or print, we want to have people connect with our content and the work we’re doing with advertisers, on any platform where they want to be,” she said. 
Ms. Ahlstrand said Flare’s editor Cameron Williamson recently met with a group of university students who told him that they read the magazine. “Ten minutes into the conversation, he realized they were following us on Instagram and Twitter, they didn’t actually read the magazine. But they called themselves readers,” said Ms. Ahlstrand. “We love that, and we want to engage with that demographic on whatever platform they’re going to come to us on.”

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Friday, October 30, 2015

Applied Arts founder Georges Haroutiun honoured by scholarships

To mark its 30th anniversary of publication and in honour of its founder, Applied Arts magazine has launched the Georges Haroutiun Scholarship. Three $3,000 scholarships will be awarded in April 2016 in the areas of Advertising, Design and Image. Students must complete an assignment and submit it digitally. 
"Georges has always been a champion of young talent, stressing the important role youth play in energizing the creative community," said an announcement. "Thus Applied Arts has consistently recognized, supported and celebrated the work of students, particularly through the Applied Arts Student Awards program. 
"In recognition of Georges Haroutiun’s contributions to the design industry, his legacy and his mentorship of students, — whether as art director of Applied Arts, in his days teaching at OCAD University, or now, in his “retirement” consulting on the magazine’s initiatives — we are thrilled to present these new scholarships in his honour."
Further info

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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Canadian titles do well at annual IRMA awards

[This post has been updated]Several Canadian magazines won recognition in the annual International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA) awards, presented at association's annual conference, held this year in San Diego, California.
  • Cottage Life won a gold award, 5 silver and 3 bronze awards plus one award of merit. 
  • Saltscapes won a gold, a silver and 2 bronze awards.
  • Avenue Calgary won a silver award.
  • Yukon, North of Ordinary won two bronze awards.
Magazine of the year 29,999 circulation or less was Missouri Life; 30,000 or more was Down East: The Magazine of Maine.
Here are details of the Canadian winners by category:
Historic Feature 30,000 or more
Bronze – Saltscapes 
Chinese Canadians on the East Coast by Albert Lee, September 2014

Nature and Environment Feature
Bronze – Cottage Life
Up, Up, and Away by Jim Moodie, May 2014 
Art and Culture Feature
Gold – Saltscapes
The Magic of Realism by Suzanne Robicheau, September 2014 
Profiles
Silver – Cottage Life
John Gray Goes to the Cottage by Jim Sutherland, July 2014 
Head & Deck 
Silver – Cottage Life
Confessions of a Detailed Mind by Vanessa Farquharson, Fall 2014 
Essay
Bronze – Saltscapes
At the Bideau by Sara Jewell, March 2014 
Column
Silver – Cottage Life
In Like Zim by David Zimmer, 2014 
Photo Series 29,999 or less 
Bronze – Yukon, North of Ordinary
In the Land of Ice & Snow by Manu Keggenhoff, Winter 2014 
Portrait Series
Silver – Avenue Calgary
Cultural Movement by Jared Sych, June 2014 
Graphic
Silver – Cottage Life
Prepare to Meet Your Match by Victor Wong, Fall 2014
Illustration
Award of Merit – Cottage Life
Lake Awake by Byron Eggenschwiler, Spring 2014
Overall art direction, 30,000 or more
Silver – Cottage Life
Kim Zagar, 2014
Department 30,00 or more
Gold – Cottage Life
Cottage Feast by Martin Zibauer and Vicki Hornsby, 2014
Special focus
Bronze – Cottage Life
Entertaining Guests by Penny Caldwell and Kim Zagar, Summer 2014
Annual publication
Silver – Saltscapes
Food & Travel by Jim Gourlay, Joanie Veitch, and Graham Whiteman, March 2014
Cover 30,000 or more
Bronze – Cottage Life
Summer 2014 by Kim Zagar and Penny Caldwell
[Update]Cover 29,999 or less
Bronze Yukon, North of Ordinary
Summer 2014 by Manu Keggenhoff, Tara McCarthy, and Peter Mather

Founded in 1960, IRMA exists to promote and support regional publishing generally and to encourage the free flow of information among its more than 30 member magazines. Canadian publishers have played a prominent role. 

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Thursday, October 22, 2015

Mag world view: Come and get it,says Google; Blacked-out VICE; sharesies via text; chasing German millennials

Data allows TVA Group to claim the title of Canada's leading magazine provider

TVA Group has announced that, according to a readership metric from Vividata*, TVA Publications are now the leading Canadian magazine provider. In a release, it said that French language titles attracted 3.2 million readers across multiple platforms and English titles more than 8.1 million. 
"These results confirm that our brands and content are lengthening their lead as Canada's favourites," said Lucie Dumas, vice president and publisher, Magazines Group."The readership figures offer compelling testimony to the creativity and dedication of all our teams."
Among standout titles the company says are 
  • 7 Jours, the number one weekly in Quebec, with over 1.1 million readers;
  • Coup de pouce with the largest print readership in Québec with over 1.1 million readers. It has nearly 1.4 million readers across all platforms;
  • ELLE Québec and Les idées de ma maison are Québec's top fashion magazine and home decor magazine respectively, with 643,000 and 762,000 multiplatform readers;
  • Cool!, which draws nearly 300,000 teen Québec readers.
  • Canadian Living, Canada's most widely read English-language women's magazine at close to 3.2 million readers;
  • ELLE Canada has 1.7 million readers;
  • The Hockey News which has nearly 2.1 million multiplatform readers;
  • Canadian Gardening and Style at Home which have more than 1.8 million multiplatform readers per month.
*Vividata is the new name for the merger of NADbank and the Print Measurement Bureau and it researches reader data across social media, mobile, news on their tablet, a magazine, or a newspaper. It surveys about 36,000 Canadians age 12+ annually and every quarter does an omnibus consumer survey covering media usage and hundreds of products and services and media usage. A list of measured magazines.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Mag world view: Fewer issues at Bloomberg & CJR; No more "monstering"; HOW design events sold off; what's working in digital ads?

Newcom and Annex execs elected to board of Canadian Business Media

Canadian Business Media (formerly Canadian Business Press) has elected two new members to its board: 
They join re-elected directors:
  • John Kerr, CEO, Kerrwil Publications Limited (chair);
  • James O. Hall, President & COO, Keith Communications, Inc. (treasurer); 
  • Kevin Brown, President of MediaEdge Communications; and 
  • Michael Swan, President of Swan Erickson Publishing Inc.
The appointments to CBM come not long after the company also joined the b2b division of Magazines Canada, where Annex magazines are have been members for some time and where b2b membership has been steadily growing, resulting in sometimes diminishing CBM membership. 
Related posts:

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Sunday, October 18, 2015

Four fine evening opportunities to hone your magazine skills


The opportunity to enroll in some of the late term, popular half-courses in the Chang School's Magazine and Web Publishing program at Ryerson University in Toronto is approaching fast. (Don't leave sign-up to the last moment; those who do may find the course cancelled because your intentions weren't known.)
[Disclosure: I am the academic coordinator for this program.]

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Canzine Toronto being held at the
Art Gallery of Ontario

It's come a long, long way. Canzine Toronto, the festival of zine culture produced in partnership with Broken Pencil magazine, is being held this year on Saturday, October 17 at the Art Gallery of Ontario, from 1 - 7 pm.. A major benefit of the venue is that the AGO is accessible, unlike many of the more downscale places the festival has been held in other years (the old Spadina Hotel, for example.)

The all-day festival features more than 400 zines, art books and "works of printed weirdness, plus various panels and workshops.

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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Mag world view: Cover-up story at Playboy; Condé Nast buys Pitchfork; 92% Twitter; Fader in full; GQ guy; TV Guide sold

Monday, October 12, 2015

Fresh Juice online site closed down by TC Media

[click to enlarge]
TC Media, has more or less dispensed with consumer magazines by the sale of its properties to Quebecor's TVA Group. Before that, however, when the print version of the partnership with Loblaw, launched in 2012, was shut down in February 2014, an official statement said that the enterprise would continue online. Apparently not forever. The site has now been closed and visitors are redirected to the website CanadianLiving.com (one of the magazines now owned by Quebecor.) 

[h/t Denise Macharechek]

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Thursday, October 08, 2015

Geist magazine publishes winners of 11th annual postcard story contest

Geist magazine has published the first prize winner in its 11th annual Postcard Story Contest, an intriguing, compact item titled "No Time to Write", by Barbara Baydala. 

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Alberta Oil editor Max Fawcett to take over as editor of Vancouver magazine

[This post has been updated] Max Fawcett will soon be transitioning over the mountains to take over as editor-in-chief of Vancouver magazine. Fawcett is a native of Vancouver who has been editor of Alberta Oil of Calgary and, before that, managing editor and Calgary bureau chief of Alberta Venture. His first day at Vancouver will be November 16.

As a writer, he has been published in The Walrus, Hazlitt, Eighteen Bridges, BCBusiness, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Toronto Star, Avenue Magazine, THIS Magazine, and Corporate Knights Magazine. He was also a past editor of Dooneyscafe.com. His personal website self-describes him as 
"a recovering political hack who likes brussel sprouts and interesting facial hair, drinks his coffee black and his whiskey straight, and still believes in the virtues of the serial comma, CP style notwithstanding."
Fawcett replaces John Burns, who left the position July 24. One of the big challenges for the new editor will be to helm the planned redesign of Vancouver, effective with its March 2016 issue. 

[Update: Trevor Melanson, the associate editor of Canada Wide's BCBusiness and formerly the online editor of Canadian Business, has tweeted that he is joining Vancouver as senior editor.]

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Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Digital quarterly Figure Skater Fitness launched

A new digital quarterly magazine called Figure Skater Fitness has been launched. It's aimed at figures skaters, coaches, parents and the followers of the sport. The publisher and editor-in-chief is Signe Ronka, a former international level competitor and national competitive coach. Single issues are $7.99. A year (4 issues) is $27.99. 
"We are very excited to share this new medium with our readers," says Dawn Drummond-Hill, creative director. "Our magazine will motivate, educate, and be the leading source of figure skating specific training information."

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NōD literary journal comes back to life at
U of Calgary

Editor-in-chief Katie O'Brien
[Photo: Jason Herring]
NōD, the undergraduate creative writing magazine at the University of Calgary, suspended for the past year because of funding issues, has been resurrected, according to a story in the student newspaper The Gauntlet

The literary journal will not only publish again this year, but possibly produce three rather than the usual two issues (to acknowledge its hiatus) -- the first of which will be themed about "Gender". The issue launch is Friday 9th at LOFT 112 in the East Village of Calgary.

Associated with the Department of English, but operated independently, the magazine is financed by donations and grants, but all publishing decisions are made by its undergraduate student board. 

The origin of the magazine's name is shrouded in mystery.
“The truth is that none of our current execs actually know what NōD means,” O’Brien says. “One of our volunteers suggested that nodes are like beacons. NōD as a magazine has that function too, to draw artists together. We’re not sure if that’s the original meaning, but that’s what we’re going with for now until we figure it out.”

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Eleven Newcom b2b mags join Magazines Canada

Magazines Canada has welcomed 13 new business media titles into its membership, including notably 11 titles from Toronto-based Newcom Business Media. This brings to 85 the number of business media titles in the association, about one-quarter of the association's membership.

Newcom Business Media is a privately-owned company that has been one of the mainstays of the Canadian Business Press (now Canadian Business Media). Its movement to join Magazines Canada and recent other moves (Annex Business Media, for instance) has significantly strengthened its B2B division. The 11 Newcom titles joining are:
  • Canadian Shipper
  • Canadian Underwriter
  • CARS (Canadian Auto Repair and Service)
  • Jobber News Magazine
  • L'automobile
  • Meetings + Incentive Travel
  • MM&D
  • Oral Health
  • Today's Trucking
  • Transport Routier
  • Truck News
In addition, two other magazines were welcomed by the board at its September meeting: Landscape Trades and Rural Delivery (the latter, based in Liverpool, Nova Scotia,  could be said to have re-joined, since it was a member a number of years ago.)

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Feds say the TPP "reflect and protects" Canadian cultural content

One of the areas of the Trans Pacific Partnership  (TPP) negotiations about which Magazines Canada and other agencies were lobbying was culture. You may remember the sometimes contentious issue of protecting Canadian cultural property and policies in the run up to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Ultimately, that legislation left the matter largely untouched, to the relief of publishers and media producers. But, understandably, cultural and literary magazines in particular and magazine publishers generally were warily watching the TPP talks.

Of course, how it all sorts out depends on the details when the full agreement is published and debated in Parliament but, according to a statement published on its website by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, nothing in the TPP prevents governments from regulating in the public interest, including measures to protect or promote culture
"Preserving the flexibility of all levels of government to adopt and maintain policies and programs that support the creation, production and development of Canadian content was a core objective for Canada in the TPP, and we have fully achieved this objective. The TPP reflects and protects Canada’s existing policies for supporting Canadian cultural content."

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Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Magzter magazine newsstand service cuts all-you-can-read fee by 20%

One of the players in the "all you can read" digital newsstand world is Magzter which, since January 2015 has made access to downloads of more than 3,000 magazine titles from 212 countries available for a single, monthly fee of $9.99. 

Now, the New York-based service is cutting its monthly fee for Magzter Gold by 20% to $7.99 a month. (The company continues to offer Magzter Gold Lite which allows reading of any five magazines for a monthly price of $4.99.) 

(It may be coincidental -- or not -- that the price cut is happening just as Next Issue Media and Next Issue Canada have rebranded as Texture.)

In addition to the all-you-can-read option, Magzter offers readers a portal to subscribe to individual magazines. It offers publishers a revenue share model and apps for most mobile platforms, both for iPad/IPhone and for Android. However its magazines are all PDF-based, so limited in their interactivity. It does offer a family sharing plan whereby subscribers can share the sub for free with any four designated family members. 

[H/T Talking New Media]

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Monday, October 05, 2015

Emap magazine brand name in Britain to be retired as company goes digital-only

The Emap brand name, which has been prominent in the British and wider European magazine industry and particularly in b2b publishing, is going to disappear over the next 18 months as the company moves completely out of print. The Emap name had been retained to cover such b2b titles as Drapers, Retail Week, Construction News, Architects' Journal, Nursing Journal and Health Service JournalThe company publishes a total of 17 magazines. Emap had changed its name to Top Right Group after being acquired by the Guardian Media Group and Apax eight years ago. (GMG owns less than 33%.)

According to a story in Press Gazette, 2/3 of the company's revenue currently comes from digital and events and one-third from print; it had profit of £85.3m on turnover of £312.7m in 2014. Emap began as a regional newspaper group in 1947 and moved into magazines in 1953 with the launch of Angling Times.  Emap sold its TV, radio and consumer magazine business to Bauer in 2008.

The company said in a statement:
"As part of this watershed event for the group, the 4C and EMAP company brands are being retired as the company enters the final stages of its migration to a pure digital subscription and large scale events company. 
"The new business will help accelerate the conversion of former Emap products into pure play digital and event businesses. Glenigan, Groundsure, De Havilland and Planet Retail/RNG are already 100 per cent digital and events businesses." 
Top Right Group chief executive Duncan Painter said: "Customers are sending a clear message: digital subscriptions and live events are the formats they want to engage with. This change finalises our group’s migration to a digital and large scale events company.”

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