Thursday, May 31, 2018

Could selected magazines be "vended" to travellers?

Photo: (RICHARD LAUTENS / TORONTO STAR)
Since there now is a book vending machine at Billy Bishop airport on Toronto Islands, could we be too far away from a vending machine for some of Canada's best magazines? For instance, winners at the National Magazine Awards. 

According to a story in the Toronto Star, there are 20 independent titles available in the machine put in place by Literary Press Group, a collective of about 60 independent Canadian publishers. Carry On Books is a summer-long experiment running from June 1 to Aug. 31. The project was funded by the Canada Book Fund, which is part of the federal Department of Heritage.
Inspiration for the machine came in part from the Biblio-Mat at The Monkey’s Paw bookshop on Bloor St. W., which provides used books, as well as short story machines in Edmonton and Paris airports that dispense a story for those in need of a quick read.
 “We thought Billy Bishop was the best place to launch a book vending machine because there’s no real entertainment options on the flight,” noted Thomas. “We often see passengers reading the literature on the plane,” [said Christen Thomas, the organization’s executive director.]

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Tuesday, May 29, 2018

The Deep, Hakai and The Globe win general excellence in 2018 Digital Publishing Awards

The awards for general excellence in digital publishing at the Digital Publishing Awards have been made to The Deep (small circulation), Hakai Magazine (medium) and The Globe and Mail (large). The awards were presented Tuesday night by the National Media Awards Foundation, which also presents the National Magazine Awards (this Friday).

A total of 79 Canadian digital publications participated in the DPAs, in 23 awards categories. 78 individuals served as judges for this year's awards. They nominated 106 entries from 37 different digital publications. 

Of The Deep, the judges said:
"They’re doing remarkable work with a very small staff, using their resources intelligently so that each story has the greatest impact. Their mandate—to tell in depth stories based on the East Coast—feels not only necessary, especially with the erosion of local news, but like one that they are well-positioned to carry out, considering their balance of a considered design with engaging stories,” remarked the digital publishing awards jury. “As traditional publishers grapple with diminished capacity, it will take efforts like those of The Deep, to ensure deeper, longer stories are still told and more importantly, heard!”
Of Hakai, the judges remarks were:
Hakai is the realization of what a great digital magazine can be. With beautiful imagery, clean design, crisp writing, and well-integrated digital features, Hakai sets the standard for a high-quality digital publication,” said the Digital Publishing Awards jury. “Everything about the site is in support of its content and the reader, as it should be.” Hakai Magazine received six other awards in various categories, including a second gold in Best Online Video - Feature. 
Of The Globe and Mail, it was said:
The Globe and Mail team produced an extremely innovative body of work. Their editorial mandate was not only fulfilled, it was surpassed and truly represented the highest of journalistic standards.”  The Globe won gold for best digital design.
Elizabeth Melito of CBC News was recognized as this year’s recipient of the Emerging Excellence Award. The award honours an individual whose early work in Canadian digital publishing shows the highest degree of craft and promise. The jury said they were 
“exceptionally impressed by Elizabeth's clear demonstration of leadership and initiative in a large and respected organization like CBC News. She joined CBC News, her first media job, in 2015. In a short time she has earned a high level of respect and responsibility and has developed two custom long-form development tools that have been rolled out nationally at CBC.”
Brodie Fenlon, the Senior Director of Daily News and Bureaus for the CBC, was the recipient of the 2018 Digital Publishing Leadership Award. The award honours an individual whose career contributions to Canadian digital publishing deserve recognition and celebration.

Highlights of other winners:
  • Gold winning publications: HuffPost Québec, ICI Radio-Canada Première, The Deep and The Sprawl all captured their first Digital Publishing Awards this year. 
  • The leading publication in this year's Digital Publishing Awards is The Globe and Mail. The “Unfounded” investigation—led by Dennis Choquett, Robyn Doolittle, Laura Blenkinsop, Jeremy Agius, and Michael Pereira—won Gold in both Best Digital Editorial Package and Best News Coverage.
  • Hakai Magazine was also a top-winning publication, receiving two Gold medals, two Silver medals, and three Honourable Mentions. Jude Isabella, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, contributed to three of those winning pieces. 
  • “Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2017,” published in Air Canada enRoute, won two silver medals, in the categories of Best Online Video: Short and Best Digital Editorial Package. 
  • Global News (globalnews.ca) was a two-time winner: “Canada’s #ToxicSecret” was the Gold winner in the Best Social Storytelling category, while “Fire Watch: B.C. Wildfire Coverage” was the Silver winner in the Best News Coverage category. 
  • In addition, Gold winning publications include Canadian Art, CBC News, Global News (globalnews.ca), Hakai Magazine, HuffPost Quebec, ICI Radio-Canada Première, The Globe and Mail, The Sprawl, The Walrus, and TVO.org. 
  • Taking home Silver medals are Air Canada enRoute, BuzzFeed Canada, CBC News, CBC Original Podcasts, Discourse Media, Global News (globalnews.ca), Hakai Magazine, Hazlitt, National Observer, Options politiques, The Globe and Mail, Today’s Parent, Toronto Life, and VICE. 
To view the winners in all 23 categories live.digitalpublishingawards.ca. Follow the Digital Publishing Awards on Twitter @DPAwards and #DPA18. [Also, a complete list of the results are after the break below]

Read more »

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Thursday, May 24, 2018

Prairies North magazine changes hands

After 20 years, the regional magazine Prairies North magazine is under new ownership. Michelle and Lionel Hughes started the magazine on their kitchen table in Norquay, Saskatchewan as Saskatchewan Naturally in 1994. It became Prairies North in 2007. 

Now, Rob and Amanda Soulodre are the owners and publishers and have moved the quarterly magazine down the road (but not that far) to their farm in Alvena, Saskatchewan. The couple are also the publishers of Saskatoon HOME magazine.
"Lionel & Michelle have spent 20 years cultivating, curating and covering the pulse of Saskatchewan’s natural beauty and the stories of its people. I’m sure we speak for you all when we say “Thank You!” to Lionel and Michelle for sharing their love of Saskatchewan with us over these many years," said a post about the ownership change. 
"We take the continuation of this legacy very seriously, and look forward to the next 20 years of sharing our love for Saskatchewan with you. The natural beauty and spirit of our people is something we feel in our soul. Thank you for inviting us into your lives, we know we are going to get along splendidly in true Saskatchewan fashion."                  

Interview magazine, founded more than 40 years ago by Andy Warhol, folds

Interview magazine, which was founded in 1969 by artist and pop-culture leader Andy Warhol, has folded. It filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday and immediately discontinued its print and posted online content.
"Fans of the magazine immediately spoke out in disappointment, as the publication served as a cultural beacon on the intersections of the art, fashion and celebrity for decades [said People].
Although it wasn't likely the only reason, the magazine was sued for $600,000 earlier this months by former editorial director who claimed he wasn't paid by the magazine. 

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Friday, May 11, 2018

Coast to Coast newsstand distributor to be bought by Pattison's Comag group

Coast to Coast Newsstand Services Partnership (CTC) -- one of the best known distributors of Canadian and U.S. magazines in the Canadian market -- is to be bought by the Comag Marketing Group PLC, a Princeton, New Jersey-based retail magazine sales and marketing company effective January 1.  Comag is a subsidiary of The Jim Pattison Group of Vancouver, 
 “I’m disappointed that CTC will not be carrying on after January 1, 2019" [said Dan Shapiro, Managing Director of CTC a release published on Mastheadonline.com] "but am gratified that our clients will continue to receive expert quality service through CMGC. Continuous sales declines throughout our entire eco system put the sustainability of CTC in jeopardy.”
Glenn Morgan, President of CTC, will continue in his role after the acquisition, 

Coast to Coast is a partnership between Rogers Communications and a group of major Canadian magazine wholesalers. Originally owned by Maclean-Hunter, primarily to distribute its own magazines, CTC was purchased by Rogers Media in 1994 and in 2000, a majority interest was sold to three industry veterans, Glenn Morgan, Frank Auddino, and Scott Bullock. In 2005, majority interest in the company was purchased by a consortium of the major periodical wholesalers in Canada. 

Comag Marketing Group LLC, a retail sales and marketing company, provides single copy sales strategies and supply chain solutions for magazines worldwide. The company serves mass market, direct-to-retail, and specialty market channels.  Comag Marketing Group LLC was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. As of January 31, 2012, Comag Marketing Group LLC operates as a subsidiary of The Jim Pattison Group, Inc.

In 2013, Coast to Coast outsourced most of its back-office accounting to Comag to handle all billing and collection, print order and galley preparation as well as other administrative functions. 

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Thursday, May 10, 2018

Programmatic buying comes to print

A new venture has been launched under the auspices of media auditing firm BPA Worldwide to allow for automatic buying of print media ads on behalf member publishers and to the benefit of their clients. 

In other words it allows for "offline" media buying, including print, e-letters, directory ads and other products in addition to the usual online digital ads. It expands the B2B Media Exchange which was earlier launched by BPAWW and is the result of a collaboration between BPA and Paris-based Adwanted.com. (See story presented in Publishing Executive.) 

Publishers are able to offer advertisers the entire buying process, including media insertion orders, terms and conditions -- in fact the entire menu of services to clients -- only expanded to include traditional print products. Similar automated services are being offered in Europe at Lagardere (Elle, Paris Match, etc.), Group Marie Claire (Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan), Mondadori (Grazia, Auto Plus), as well as Le Monde and Les Echos.

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Sunday, May 06, 2018

COPA awards announce categories for 10th anniversary year

The Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPAs) has announced the categories for its 10th anniversary  -- 20 categories in each division with 15 categories each, with the exception of students/schools, which has five (see below; click on each item to enlarge)

Call for Entries opens May 14; June 15 - Early Bird Deadline;July 13 - Entry Deadline

In celebration of the10th Anniversary the COPAs are rolling back the entries fees to when they first started. The entry fee this year is $95 down from $115 and the early bird is $75 down from $95. All independent publishers pay only $75. Schools get one free entry.



Friday, May 04, 2018

TVA Q1 results in magazine division are positive as result of cost-cutting

Though there was a decline in operating revenues in the magazine division of TVA Group Inc. it has been able to have good, though modest,adjusted operating income of $875,000 , a variance of $491,000 primarily as a result of savings in staff and expense lines implemented in 2017 and the first quarter of 2018.

France Lauzière, President and CEO of TVA Group said
"Although the decline in our Magazines segment's operating revenues continued in the first quarter of 2018, we were able to improve the segment's financial results by continuing our efforts to cut operating expenses and focusing on our strongest brands. According to the latest Vividata survey, we are reaching 9.1 million readers in Canada across all platforms. Our English‑language titles have 6.7 million readers and our French‑language titles 2.9 million".
Over all, TVA Group Inc. recorded a net loss of $5 million or $0.12 a share in the first quarter, compared to a lost of $8 million or $0.19 a share in the comparable period in 2017. TVA Group Inc., a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is a communications company engaged in the broadcasting, film and audiovisual production, and magazine publishing industries. TVA Group Inc. is North America's largest broadcaster of French‑language entertainment, information and public affairs programming and one of the largest private‑sector producers of French‑language content. It is also the largest publisher of French‑language magazines and publishes some of the most popular English‑language titles in Canada. The Corporation's Class B shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TVA.B. 

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Thursday, May 03, 2018

St. Joseph buys beer event and will expand Toronto Beer Guide

St. Joseph Media has acquired the ownership of the 9-day Toronto Beer Week event. A posting on Canadian Beer News says St. Joseph will be expanding an existing annual program publication into the Toronto Beer Guide “a year-round magazine-style publication that includes relevant, evergreen content in addition to being a companion to the event.” 
year-round . 

The beer week festival will hold its 9th annual edition on September 14th to 22nd, 2018. The event was founded in 2010 by a group of local beer fans and has grown to include a variety of beer-themed events: pub crawls, beer dinners, tap takeovers, meet the brewers sessions, beer releases and associated food and cheese pairings. 

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Mag world view: Glamour staffs up; NS "major" online expansion; Google, what's up?; "True-life" mag for over-40 women; Pricey paywall

Tuesday, May 01, 2018

Mag awards finalists announced: Leading the pack L’actualité, The Walrus and Report on Business

The finalists for this year's National Magazine Awards have been announced by the National Media Awards Foundation. 197 Canadian magazine, in English and French, print and digital, submitted the work of more than 2,000 writers, editors, photographers, iullustrators, art directors and other creators. The winners will be announced at the Magawards gala on June 1 at the Arcadian Court in Toronto.
Joyce Byrne

Joyce Byrne is this year's recipient of the Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement, recognizing her career excellence and leadership in Canadian magazines. She is the current president of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association and recent president of the National Media Awards Foundation. She is group publisher at Red Point Media and publisher of Avenue Calgary.  To read Joyce’s complete bio, visit magazine-awards.com/oa

Nominated by 150 volunteer judges were a total of 208 submissions from 81 different Canadian magazines for awards in 29 written and visual, editorial and best magazine categories. 

This year, for the first time, awards for best magazines will be presented to publications in six divisions and from the category winners will be selected "best in show" to receive the Magazine Grand Prix.

General Interest Magazines 
  • L’actualité 
  • Nouveau Projet 
  • Report on Business
Service Magazines 
  • Best Health 
  • Rotman Magazine 
  • Today’s Parent 
Lifestyle Magazines
  • Chatelaine 
  • Explore 
  • Ricardo 
Fashion & Beauty Magazines 
  • ELLE Canada 
  • FASHION Magazine 
  • S/magazine 
Art & Literary Magazines 
  • Brick
  • Inuit Art Quarterly 
  • The Site Magazine 
Special Interest Magazines 
  • Azure
  • Hayo 
  • Planète F
Read more »

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