Atlantic Journalism Awards -- magazines win 5 gold and 10 silver

The winners of the the Atlantic Journalism Awards (AJAs) were presented Saturday in Halifax, including the magazine-related categories below (the AJAs cover a variety of media, including newspapers, television, photojouralism, radio, editorial cartooning.) 

Atlantic Magazine Article 

Gold: Tom Cheney/Nick Hawkins - Atlantic Salmon Journal - Chamcook, NB - "Sons of the river"

Silver finalists: 

• Deborah Carr - Saltscapes - Bedford, NS -"Lighthouse Keeper's daughters"
• Sarah Sawler - Halifax Magazine - Halifax, NS -"Choose your own Halifax disaster"
• Stephen Kimber - Atlantic Business Magazine - St. John's, NL - "Growth op"

Atlantic Magazine Best Cover

 Gold: At Home on the North Shore - Pictou -Spring 2017: "Strait Up"

Silver finalists: 

• Atlantic Books Today - Halifax, NS - Spring 2017: "150? Canada's sticky, messy history"
• Atlantic Salmon Journal - Chamcook, NB - Winter 2017: "River life - Falls Brook Falls"
• Saltscapes - Bedford, NS - "Spring 2017: Travel issue cover"

Atlantic Magazine: Best Profile Article 

Gold:  Janet Wallace - Saltscapes - Bedford, NS - Free Range.

Silver finalists:

• Jennifer Hatt - At Home on the North Shore - Pictou, NS - "At home with…"Thomas Steinhart.
• Stephen Kimber - Atlantic Business Magazine - St. John's, NL - "Confessions of a real life ad man"

Feature Writing: Print

Gold: Chelsea Murray - The Deep - Halifax, NS - "How not to die"

Business Reporting Any Medium

Gold: Karen Pinchin - The Deep - Halifax, NS - "Catch and release"

Commentary: Any Medium

Silver finalist: Stephen Kimber - Atlantic Business Magazine - St. John's, NL - "Pushing for a human economy"

Photojournalism Portrait/Feature 

Silver finalist: Scott Munn - The Deep - Halifax, NS - "They call it Syria town" 

Digital Publishing Awards nominees named

The nominees have been announced for the 3rd annual Digital Publishing Awards, recognizing excellence in the content and creation of Canadian digital publications. This year, 79 Canadian digital publications entered the DPAs, submitting entries for consideration in 23 awards categories. The top overall prize—General Excellence in Digital Publishing—will be presented in three divisions, for small, medium and large publications.

"We are extremely proud to present the third annual Digital Publishing Awards. The work of the creators and publishers nominated this year speaks to the astounding quality of digital journalism produced here in Canada. To celebrate these innovative, hard working individuals on a national stage and beyond is a true privilege," said NMAF President Nino Di Cara.

Gold, silver and honourable mention awards will be presented at the Digital Publishing Awards soirée on May 29th at One King West in Toronto, hosted by Adrian Lee, the opinions editor for Maclean's. Gold winners in most categories include a $500 cash prize. Tickets are on sale at digitalpublishingawards.ca.

• The top nominees this year are: The Globe and Mail, CBC, Hakai Magazine,Today's Parent, Chatelaine, Hazlitt, TVO.org, VICE Québec, and Winnipeg Free Press.
• Earning two nominations each are Air Canada enRoute, Canadian Art, Global News (globalnews.ca), L'actualité, Le Devoir, National Observer,Passport 2017, Sportsnet, The Deep, Toronto Life, and URBANIA.
• The 2018 Digital Publishing Leadership Award will be presented to Brodie Fenlon, senior director of daily news and bureaus for the CBC. Described by his peers as a "transformative leader" and an "incredibly positive and galvanizing force", Brodie is lauded for his remarkable achievements and generous personality. Click here to read Brodie's full biography.
• The three standout nominees for the coveted emerging excellence award, which honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing shows the highest degree of craft and promise, are: Elizabeth Melito of CBC News, Graeme Bruce of the Winnipeg Free Press, and Ishani Nath of the entertainment pillar of Rogers Media (FLARE and Hello! Canada).

The nominees for general exellence are:

Small publication

• Fjordreview.com, Fjord Review
• Nationalobserver.com, National Observer
• Thedeepmag.ca, The Deep

Medium publication

• Hakaimagazine.com, Hakai Magazine
• Passport2017.ca, Passport
• Todaysparent.com, Today's Parent

Large publication

• Theglobeandmail.com, The Globe and Mail
• Ledevoir.com, Le Devoir
• winnipegfreepress.com, Winnipeg Free Press

A complete list of nominees and finalists in all categories.

Rogers and Henry's to launch new magazine for photo enthusiasts

Rogers Media and its NEXT Content Studio has partnered with Henry's Camera Store, theCanadian camera chain, to launch The Lens, a new national photo and video magazine for photography enthusiasts. It is aimed at photographers, videographers, cinematographers and other content creators, from hopeful beginners to seasoned pros. 

The magazine which is to be released May 15, will be available free in all Henry's locations and distributed via Canada Post to select communities across Canada, with a total controlled circulation of 120,000.

"The Lens is a way for Henry's to share our passion for photography, video and content creation with our customers in an exciting new way," said Jeff Tate, vice president marketing and eCommerce at Henry's. "For more than 100 years, we've prided ourselves on delivering an exceptional customer experience and being part of the creative community. Now, with the help of Rogers Media, The Lens will bring our customers even more information and inspiration, shining a spotlight on Canada's finest content creators." 

 Each issue will have a themed contest for readers and Henry's staff with the theme "Reflection," The Lens Contest challenges readers – as well as Henry's staffers – to submit their creative/unique images for the chance to be published in the next issue. The overall winner from all eligible submissions will also be awarded a Henry's gift card.

The debut issue features award-winning Canadian photographer Chris Gordaneer, Toronto photographer and social influencer “Soteeoh,” as well as well as a variety of other industry experts.

MagNet conference is on Wednesday and Thursday

MagNet, North America's largest gathering by and about magazines,is on Wednesday and Thursday in Toronto at the Courtyard Toronto Downtown, topped off with a full-day summit for arts and literary magazine publishing on Thursday. There's still time to register.

Keynote speakers include 

• David Leonard, the director of events at The Walrus 
• Sheila Sampath, editorial and art director at Shameless magazine
• James Hewes, president and CEO, FIPP
• Plus several dozen sessions, panels and speakers on advertising, circulation, design and production, digital publishing, editorial, managemement, public policy and various global intensives

• Plus various presentations including volunteer of the year awards which are presented Wednesday during a reception 4:30 - 6:30 (this year's national award is to Lisa Whittington-Hill, publisher of This Magazine. Regional awards are presented to Joanne Rajotte, MagsBC volunteer of the year; Allan Lacey, Alberta Magazine Publishers Association volunteer of the year; Craig Sweetman, Magazines Ontario volunteer of the year; Michel Nivischiuk, Magazines du Quebec volunteer of the year.)

Selling magazine articles one-by-one is the goal of startup

A recent startup based in Toronto called Cover Story has been created to sell magazine articles on a per-article basis. 

Launched last summer, the online micropayment platform now has about 150 articles available from four Canadian magazines, including Inroads Journal, A/J Alternatives Journal, Ecoparent  and Green Teacher. Registration is free, there are no subscriptions and there are many free articles. Paid ones start at 49 cents apiece. There are no set up costs to the magazine and revenues are shared as articles are sold. 

The founders of the platform are Aditya Chityala and Aswani Pulipakal, each finance professionals with MBA degrees from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto. 

Mag world view:Giggles; Saving the struggling; Men's Journal doubles; Pulitzer prizers

• Meredith Launches Print Edition of HelloGiggles (Folio:)
• Wait! Don't Kill That Magazine: 4 Ways To Rescue A Struggling Publication (Dead Tree Edition)
• GQ, New York Mag, and The New Yorker Win Pulitzer Prizes (Folio:)
• Lagardère in Talks to Sell French Elle to Czech Media Invest (WWD)
• Men’s Journal More Than Doubles Its Audience Under New Ownership (Folio:)
• Editorial roles at risk as Time Inc UK moves 'homes' magazines to central hubbing system (Press Gazette)
• Fresh Off a Print Renovation, Architectural Digest Is Booming Online, Too (Folio:)
• What Is the Value of a Master’s In Publishing? (Scholarly Kitchen)
• Google Chrome now mutes annoying videos that autoplay with sound (TechCrunch)

MAD magazine goes back 60 years to tweak its logo

Mad magazine has unveiled a new logo and cheekily (for Mad there is no other way) labelled the issue No. 1. In fact, the decision loops back to the original 1952  logo by Harvey 

Kurtzman. Print magazine reproduced the chronology and evolution  of the much-loved satire magazine's logo (see below: click to enlarge)

Executive editor Bill Morrison said:

"We believe there are six things that are essential to MAD: the movie and TV parodies, “Spy vs Spy,” “A MAD Look At…(topic of the issue),” the Marginal Drawings, the Fold-In and, of course, Alfred E. Neuman. These are important to MADfans and will remain in the magazine. We felt that with these pillars of the magazine intact, MAD fans would be willing to accept a different look for the magazine. So far, we’ve been proven right."

National Geographic launches redesign

National Geographic, the 130-year-old  U.S.-based magazine that everyone seems to think they know, has unveiled a wholly new design, according to a story in Media Post. 

It retains the well-known yellow-margined cover but also several new sections, anchored in the front of the magazine:“Proof,” a section dedicated to short photo essays that bring new perspectives to the magazine’s audience; “Embark,” an investigative section filled with ideas and opinions meant to challenge reader expectations; and “Explore,” which will include a segment called "Atlas," a story told through maps, and an essay about a single, significant photograph called "Through the Lens."

Features are  treated differently, too (this month, the cover feature is about Picasso).

Rather than running four or five stories of the same length and depth of reporting, issues now feature two stories of traditional length and several shorter stories with a focus on illustrations and photos for storytelling effect. A “marquee” package will also continue to be published in each issue. 

The redesign also highlights two new paper stocks, meant to allow the magazine’s photography to appear richer giving the magazine a more substantial feel to its pages, and two new fonts, Earle and Marden, named after National Geographicexplorer-in-residence Sylvia Earle and Luis Marden, a pioneer in the field of color photography.

Ken Whyte buys Porcupine's Quill to add to his new non-fiction book publishing imprint

Ken Whyte, the former publisher of Maclean's and the National Post is launching his own book publishing firm The Sutherland House and has purchased the publishing assets of the Erin,Ontario-based The Porcupine's Quill. 

According to a story in the Toronto Star, the deal for The Porcupine's Quill is to close at the end of May and it will remain as an imprint of The Sutherland House, which  Whyte intends to focus on non-fiction (biography, memoir and history). 

The founders of The Porcupine's Quill, Tim and Elke Inkster, retain its main street premises and its printing equipment as well as the journal The Devil's Artisan.

Whyte said he didn’t get into digital media because “I want to make things and to me it’s a lot more appealing to make a tangible product, a physical product like a book or a magazine than it is to make a virtual one. I also have more confidence in the future of books than I do in the future of traditional magazine and newspaper models.”

Whyte's interest in non-fiction and biography is demonstrated by The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst, which was published in Canada in 2008 and the following year in the U.S. It was a finalist for the 2009 National Business Book Award, the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Award for biography. It was also a Washington Post book of the year. His second book, a biography of Herbert Hoover, was published last year by Random House/Knopf.

Lisa Whittington-Hill named national volunteer of the year by Magazines Canada

Magazines Canada has announced that Lisa Whittington-Hill, the publisher of This Magazine, has been named Volunteer of the Year for 2017. It is awarded annually to an individual whose outstanding volunteer contributions have had a national impact on the Canadian magazine industry.

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this recognition,” said Matthew Holmes, CEO of Magazines Canada. “In addition to her day- (and night-) job at This Magazine, Lisa for years has contributed her time as an advisor and mentor to others. She does a lot of work behind the scenes to mobilize our community and respond to industry needs and challenges. She is a constant champion of our small-but-mighty Canadian magazines.”

This and several other volunteer honours from across the country and the industry will be presented at the Magazines Canada reception on Wednesday, April 25: 

• Joanne Rajotte, MagsBC volunteer of the year
• Allan Lacey, Alberta Magazine Publishers Association volunterr of the year
• Craig Sweetman, Magazines Ontario volunteer of the year
• Michel Nivischiuk, Magazines du Quebec volunteer of the year

The presentation will be made at MagNet: Canada’s Magazine Conference at the Courtyard Toronto Downtown at 475 Yonge St. in Toronto.