Publishers of iconic U.S. black magazines Ebony and Jet file for bankruptcy

The publishers of two of the best-known magazines aimed at a black audience -- Ebony and Jet -- have filed for bankruptcy. Johnson Publishing Co. said the company was “caught in a tidal wave of marketplace changes and business issues which, despite exhaustive efforts, could not be overcome.”

Ebony was founded in 1945, patterned after LIFE magazine and it reached an average monthly circulation of around 2 million in the 1990s, according to an AP story.

Jet had ceased print publication in 2014 and became a digital-only publication. 

“Johnson Publishing Company is an iconic part of American and African American history since our founding in 1942, and the company’s impact on society cannot be overstated,” the company said in Tuesday’s statement.

After reporting revenues in the hundreds of millions in the 1990s, the company’s fortunes began to decline after Johnson died in 2005 and magazines in general began to struggle as advertisers moved to alternative media. 

In 2014, Jet ceased print editions and became a digital-only publication. In 2016, both publications were sold to Clear View Group, an equity firm in Texas.Despite being under new ownership, the company struggled financially, with freelance writers suing to be paid. The lawsuit was settled last year.

Quote, unquote:On burnout and lunch money

"We have been paying most of our writers only $25 per review for 27 issues now, and the editors didn’t even make lunch money. The prospect of positive change in the magazine’s financial health was, in my view, small, far-off and dependent on significant heavy lifting. I burned out.”

-- Maurice Mierau, editor of The Winnipeg Review, explaining why the online publication is ceasing publication after the current issue. [from Quill & Quire]. The Review was founded in 2010.

TVA Group to close two titles as part of Quebecor Media's 220 job cuts

The Quebecor Media Group has announced that it will be cutting 220 jobs, or nearly 8 per cent of its workforce. Some 125 of those jobs will be at the TVA Group Inc. and the magazine division will cease publication of two magazines: CHEZ Soi and Tellement bon. TVA Group is one of the largest broadcasters and publishers of French content in North America.

“In Quebec as elsewhere in the world, our industry is facing ongoing disruption,” Julie Tremblay, chief executive of Quebecor Media Group and TVA Group Inc, said in a statement. "We have therefore taken a number of initiatives over the past two years to adapt to the changes, including the creation of Quebecor Media Group, an integrated media company, and the acquisition and sale of various properties. Today it is clear that we must continue our transformation in order to further adjust structural costs and become more agile."  

Tremblay did not say what the likely cost of restructuring would be or what savings would result.

The cutbacks parallel the announcement in September that Rogers Communications Inc. will stop publishing four of its magazines in the new year and sell all of its French language and business-to-business publications. 

The TVA Group reported a $32.5 million net loss in the third quarter. 

140-year-old Presbyterian Record is to fold

The Presbyterian Record, which has been published since 1876 (140 years) faced with a continuing decline in revenue and circulation is to be discontinued effective with its December issue.

In a statement board chair Botond Fejes wrote: “Arriving at this conclusion has been a difficult process for the board. Its members have struggled with this responsibility for a considerable time. The continued publication of the Record, in its present configuration, was simply not sustainable … therefore, we are sadly constrained to allow this ebb in the fortunes of the Presbyterian Record to run its course.”

David Harris, the publisher and editor, said the magazine was not able to transition from a sub-based model to a magazine based on philanthropy, despite great support from donors.

“Our donors have been fantastic,” said Harris. “Over the past 12 years, they have given us almost $1.5 million. Without that support, the magazine would have folded years ago. Over the past 25 years, readership has been declining at an average rate of 2,000 subscribers a year, while the denomination itself—the magazine’s sole market—has been declining at a rate of about 2,800 members a year."

Publishing an online version is not practical, said Harris.

“Salaries, not printing and postage, are the biggest costs at a small magazine like the Record,” he said. “You need excellent staff whether a publication is online or print. And the Record could not expect to generate significant online revenue.”

The magazine posted a loss of $141,425 at the end of 2015 on a budget of $900.000, but the loss for 2016 is projected to be nearly a quarter of a million dollars. To carry on, it would have to raise an additional $75,000 this year and about $250,000 next.

In 1975, the magazine had a circulation of 88,000 but by 2000, it had fallen to 50,000 and is continuing to slide since to approximately 10,000 today. The Presbyterian Church has lost about a third of its members this century. In 2015 alone, 16 congregations were shuttered.

“Besides the fall in denominational numbers, the financial crisis of 2007-2008 was definitely a major factor,” said Harris. “Many—perhaps most—Presbyterians are on a fixed income. They saw their net worth fall, their pension income decline, and congregations needed their money just to keep up the buildings and ministers’ salaries. 

“The magazine became an expendable luxury under the circumstances.”

Canadian Gardening to be closed this spring by TVA Publications

Sept. 2015 issue

The TVA Group is to cease operating Canadian Gardening and its web presence, canadiangardening.com, following publication of the spring issue, according to a post on Mastheadonline. A statement from the company was as follows:

TVA Publications has decided to concentrate on its strongest brands and will allocate the required staff and resources to keep strengthening their positioning. In that context, we will cease the activities of the Canadian Gardening magazine. The final issue will be the Spring 2016 issue (hitting newsstand on March 21, mailed to subscribers on March 8). 

This consolidation strategy is the best way for the company to optimize the reach of its flagship titles in a fast-changing market. TVA Publications will maintain a strong presence in every segment of the industry – fashion, beauty, home decor, cooking, celebrities & entertainment. We remain fully committed to print magazines as a core component of TVA Publications' business strategy while continuing to develop its brands on other platforms.

Canadian Gardening was purchased by Transcontinental Media in 2004 from its founder, Avid Media Inc. along with Canadian Home Workshop and Canadian Home and Country (both no longer publishing) and Outdoor Canada. (now owned by Cottage Life Media.) Later, Transcontinental Media was bought by TVA, the magazine publishing arm of Quebecor. At its peak Canadian Gardening had a measured readership of approximately 2.5 million.

North American mag launches outpace closures in 2015

While there were relatively fewer launches of Canadian and U.S. magazines during 2015 (a net gain of 78, compared to 91 in 2014) there were also fewer closures, according to figures tracked by MediaFinder. 

There were fewer launches, but also fewer closures -- only 35, compared with 99 in 2014. 13 new b2b magazines were launched, down from 47 last year, but only 7 titles were closed, compared with 27 in 2014. The margin between launches and closures has reached its narrowest point since 2010, however. 

[Click graph to enlarge]

Snowboard Canada publisher SBC Media files for bankruptcy

SBC Media, which published a number of action sports media properties for snow, skating, surf and sand and prided itself on being rider-owned, driven, managed and staffed by passionate, dedicated board sports lifers, filed for bankruptcy Monday after more than 20 years. The company published titles such as Snowboard Canada, SBC Skier, SBC Surf, SBC Skateboard, SBC Wakeboard and Windsport. 
The privately held, Toronto-based company, with a staff of fewer than 50 producing seven periodicals and annuals had received some additional funding from investors last year, but the tap was apparently turned off quite suddenly. 

“We were surprised,” says Scott Birke, group editorial director for SBC Media. “We underwent a refocusing last year to offer more options to our partners and advertisers.” The initial realignment involved a heavier digital content approach. Under the reinvestment, SBC’s publications went through a restructuring and had one year to grow the business. “We were moving in a positive trajectory. So it came as a surprise when they withdrew their support earlier than we thought,” admits Birke. He told Transworld Business that though there has been some interest in buying individual publications, he didn't see SBC continuing as a company. 

Newsweek Europe closing

The European edition of Newsweek magazine, launched with fanfare less than a year and a half ago, is being closed. It has been announced that Richard Addis, the editor-in-chief , has resigned (Addis was editor of the Globe and Mail 1999 - 2002.) There will still be a print edition of the title on European newsstands, but most of it will be repurposed American content rather than original content produced by an editorial staff of eight.

IBT Media, which bought Newsweek in 2013 with plans to revive it from a web-only operation, apparently concluded Newsweek Europe was never going to sell  enough advertising to cover the costs of its claimed 70,000 copies circulated in 40 countries.                            

Herald magazine discontinued by Nova Scotia's Chronicle Herald newspaper

November 2014 edition

As part of a major layoff and cost-cutting exercise, Halifax's Chronicle Herald newspaper is discontinuing its award-winning current affairs publication, Herald magazine. The decision was announced by Chronicle Herald CEO Mark Lever. 

The Facebook page Friends of the Chronicle Herald Newsroom has reported frequently in recent weeks on the layoffs, buyouts and early retirements being imposed on the newspaper. 

Deborah Wiles, the editor of the magazine and 26-year veteran, is leaving. The magazine had been included with the newspaper  and was available by digital-only subscription. 

When 20 layoff notices (about a quarter of the staff) were made to unionized newsroom staff in October, CEO Lever said they were necessary "as the company adjusts to the rapidly changing environment for newspapers". A union spokesperson said the company was trying to save $1.4 million in the newsroom. Previously, six union members and two non-union members had taken offered early retirement. In 2009, the paper cut 25 positions. Almost all if it was attributed to a significant decline in advertising sales. 

Online, paid, reader-funded The Magazine is ceasing publication

The Magazine, a wholly subscriber-supported, paid online magazine, is going to cease publication after its December 17 issue. 

It has been publishing every other Thursday (and usually contains four offbeat features; a true "general interest" publication.) 

Subscriptions, which have cost $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year, will be refunded on a pro-rata basis and  the company may produce some e-books or other special projects. Going out with a bang is the way it describes its planned Year Two anthology, a crowdfunded project containing 29 stories from the magazine, for which it plans to pay writers reprint fees. (A class act.) 

The magazine was founded in October 2012 by Marco Arment, the founder of Instapaper and the first employee of Tumblr. However it has been owned since May 2013 by publisher and editor Glenn Fleishman (who, among other distinctions, was a two-time Jeopardy champion.) In his blog, Fleishman says

"The sad truth has been that, while profitable from week one, the publication has had a declining subscription base since February 2013. It started at such a high level that we could handle a decline for a long time, but despite every effort — including our first-year anthology crowdfunded a bit under a year ago — we couldn't replace departing subscribers with new ones fast enough. We're a general-interest magazine that appeals to people who like technology, and that makes it very hard to market. "Pivoting" to a different editorial focus would have lost subscribers even faster."

Gardens West suddenly ceases publication -- as do companions Prairie, Central and East

Gardens West and its companion magazines Gardens Central and Gardens East, has ceased publishing. It was announced today in a Facebook post that the current issue, now on the stands will be its last. The subscriber page and online store have been closed down.

The magazine was published nine times a year for southwestern BC from Vancouver by Cornwall Publishing as was its Prairie edition for prairies and north. Gardens Central for Ontario and Quebec and Gardens East for Atlantic Canada were added in 2010.

The publisher was David Mulroney, who took over in 2013 when his mother, Dorothy Horton, retired. She had founded the magazine in 1987. The editor was Melissa Cornwell who had worked with the magazine for eight years and risen through the ranks. There are a number of contributors and columnists on plants, birds and gardening -- most of them freelance -- who are out of work with the sudden closure. 

A brief note on the magazine's website Forum page from reader Amy Aikman, dated September 30, put the situation bluntly:

"I'm so sad that the magazine is done for, and that the publisher is bankrupt. I will miss finding it in my mail box (real mail!), poring over all articles and gorgeous photos. Thank you to all of you at Gardens West who brought it to life!"

WORN Fashion Journal closing after 10 years and 20 issues

The final issue

WORN Fashion Journal, the non-mainstream twice-a-year fashion title (once in cold weather, once in hot), is closing after 10 years and 20 issues with the release of a November double issue (right). 

Launched in Toronto in a Kensington market vintage clothing store, WORN moved to Montreal for a couple of years and then was moved back to Toronto in the summer of 2008.  It has since been published out of the Toronto apartment of editor-publisher Serah-Marie McMahon. 

The "editor in pants", as she was listed on the masthead, McMahon started WORN because of a growing frustration with conventional fashion and decided that the best way to deal with it was to start her own magazine. She eventually surrounded herself with a group of more than a dozen volunteers dubbed the Wornettes. 

The magazine became well known for its strategy of holding "slow dance" launch parties to help finance issues and for writing not about runway fashion or fashion trends, but the cultural importance of clothes and personal stories of fashion from across Canada and around the world, somehow covering the intersection of pop culture and scholarship, without advertising support. 

Read more »

The Grid is shutting down

It will be a matter of sadness to its many readers that The Grid, the Toronto weekly magazine published by the Star Media Group (Toronto Star) is being shut down. After 162 issues, it was announced, this Thursday's will be its last. 

The decision, announced by John Cruickshank, the president of Star Media Group, was attributed to insufficient advertising revenue, despite the strong and loyal reader following. 

Among he many ironies of the decision is that The Grid was accreting the kind of young, hip, urban following that the parent company wanted to reach. And in the process had won international prizes as one of the world's best-designed newspapers and many National Magazine Awards for design and writing. Recently, the magazine had significantly reduced its trim size in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to reduce costs. 

The paper was launched in May 2011, succeeding Torstar's Eye Weekly, heralding itself as "a fresh, accessible voice for Toronto". Among other things, it eschewed the sex ads that had been a staple of Eye. 

Among the many things that will likely be missed by its readers is the insightful column The Keenan Wire by Edward Keenan and the energetic infographics that The Grid excelled in. 

Magazine launches outpace closures more than 3-to-1 in first half of 2014

First half 2014 magazine launches outpaced closures more than 3-to-1, according to the online North American database MediaFinder; 93 launched, 30 closed (about the same as the same period in 2013.)

Top category for new launches was “regional interest” with six new print titles such as 12th & Broad and The Sip. In the “craft” category, new magazine launches include Craft Beer & Brewing and Willow & Sage. Other new titles in the first half of 2014 are Barbecue America and San Francisco Cottages & Gardens. Ceased magazines include Diabetic Cooking, Scene (NY), and 13 specialty automobile titles from TEN: The Enthusiast Network (formerly Source Interlink Media).

 “While it appears that the magazine industry may be stabilizing, it is sad to see that two venerable magazines, Jet and Ladies Home [Journal], have dropped their print editions,” said Trish Hagood, president of MediaFinder.com. “We are seeing continued strength in specialized magazines such as regional and crafts.”

 In the business-to-business magazine sector, 15 new titles launched, such as IEEE Cloud Computing Magazine, compared with 14 new titles in 2013. During the same period, five b-to-b titles closed, including Seafood Business, while nine magazines closed in 2013. In addition, Computerworld and CSO dropped their print editions during the first half of 2014.

MediaFinder maintains information on about 77,000 U.S. and Canadian magazines, journals, newsletters, directories and catalogues. 

Print version of Fresh Juice magazine being shut down by TC Media; online content to continue

TC Media is closing down the print version of Fresh Juice, effective with its current February/March issue. The magazine was launched in April 2012, in partnership with Loblaw, Canada's largest grocery retailer; TC Media was responsible for all content and Loblaw for most of the distribution. Some 400,000 copies were printed of each of its 6 issue, with 325,000 sent to the chain's most loyal and highest-spending customers and 60,000 to TC Media subscribers and 15,000 net sold on newsstands.

Fresh Juice will continue to be provided online, including its e-letters and social media, according to an official statement from TC Media.

As the brand evolved, it became apparent that this niche market of engaged consumers gravitates towards digital content, therefore it has been decided that Fresh Juice, the print magazine, will cease publication and the current February/March issue will be the last.

Most senior staff have been laid off and some junior staff have been moved over to Totem Brand Stories, TC Media's contract-publishing arm.

Fresh Juice was never officially positioned as a replacement for Homemaker's magazine, the subscription-based title which TC Media shut down in fall 2011 after 45 years. But that was how it was widely perceived.

Related posts:

• TC Media launches Fresh Juice in collaboration with Loblaw

Color, the skateboarding lifestyle magazine ceases printing

Color magazine, the Vancouver-based title which has focussed on skateboard culture for 10 years, has announced it is taking "an extended hiatus from traditional methods", ceasing printing. It will be moving forward in other, unspecified, ways to bolster coverage of skateboarding.

"Fourcorner Publishing Inc. recognizes that the legacy Color Magazine leaves behind would not be made possible without the support from its loyal advertisers and devout readership, but Color wasn’t conceived for the purpose of doing business, it was always a passion for the publisher who was consistently inspired and motivated by the people who helped put it all together."

Back issues of the magazine will be available at two shows in Long Beach, California, later this week and in Vancouver the week after.

Founder/producer Alessandro Grison said:

“Color has been a dream for me… The magazine gave me the opportunity to sit and get to know so many of my heros and experience things I never thought I would in my lifetime. It opened my eyes to a world outside of my own as I hope it did for others.I may have received back just as much as we gave [while making the magazine]—which was always all of ourselves. I am forever grateful for the amazing people I met and got the opportunity to work with over the years. I’m thankful to walk away enriched by memorable experiences”.

According to the magazine's website, the idea for the magazine transpired in September 2002 "between two out-of-work artists in an East Vancouver apartment building.  Sandro Grison and David Christian sought to explore and accurately depict skateboard culture, and the things that inspired those within it."

FUSE magazine announces it is ceasing after 37 years of publication

FUSE magazine, the Toronto-based arts and cultural title that has been published for 37 years in one form or another, has announced that it is ceasing publication, although it is going out in its own unique style. 

The current issue (Winter 2013-14) is printed in a newsprint tabloid format which is described as a "special-interest bulletin". 

An editorial signed by Gina Badger, the editorial director and publisher on behalf of the board and editorial committee says that the magazine has "endured chronic underfunding for many years" and that it is "coming to a close".

"After much planning and consultation with our elders, we have come to the conclusion that this is no longer a viable project under current conditions. With this in mind, we are planning a very special year with some dramatic shifts in what we do. Most significantly, we will not be producing a quarterly magazine, instead focussing our time and energy on two exciting projects: a commemorative issue of the magazine to be published in September 2014 , and the development of an accessible web-based archive of FUSE content going back to our first issue in 1976."

FUSE has been published quarterly by Artons Cultural Affairs Society and Publishing Inc. that was incorporated in 1984. It has been supported in part by grants from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council as well as subscriptions, single copy sales and advertising. 

The magazine started out as a newsprint magazine called Centrefold based in Calgary in 1976.  Relocated to Toronto in 1978, it changed its name to FUSE, the founding editors of which were Clive Robertson, Lisa Steele and Tom Sherman. 

Canada's oldest magazine, The Canadian Sportsman, to cease publishing in December

The Canadian Sportsman, Canada's oldest magazine [note: see comment], will cease publishing in December 2013. Dedicated to the sport of harness horse racing, The Canadian Sportsman produced its first edition in 1870 and ran continuously for 143 years. The monthly trade magazine has been published since 1989 out of the small southwestern Ontario hamlet of Straffordville. It has a total circulation of 5,500, 4,200 of which is paid. 

The president of Sportswood Printing, Gary Foerster, places much of the blame for a severe contraction of the industry and a decline in advertising and sub revenue squarely on the Ontario Liberal government. It decided, on very short notice, to scrap a revenue-sharing agreement for slot machines at racetracks, knocking out a support that had been buttressing the horse racing industry for several years. 

"Several factors have led to this very difficult decision," said Foerster. "Print magazines face unprecedented challenges in the digital age and the demographics served by the magazine pose their own unique challenges...."

"Our major source of advertising revenue has traditionally come from Ontario horse breeders. Since the Ontario Liberal government under then Premier Dalton McGuinty  announced in 2012 that it was scrapping the Slots At Racetrack Program  (SARP) in just a matter of months, the breeders have suffered dramatic losses. The adverse financial circumstances visited on the breeders, and the industry at large, have been reflected in our advertising sales and subscription revenue which have plummeted to the point where, after nearly a century and a half, this magazine is no longer economically viable." 

"The current Ontario government has announced some details of a plan designed to support racing on a vastly reduced scale. Regrettably, we do not envision a scenario whereby our publication can continue to exist."

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Canadian Home Workshop closed by Cottage Life Media, after 37 years of publication

The final cover

[This post has been updated] Canadian Home Workshop, the do-it-yourself magazine published by Cottage Life Media, is being discontinued after 37 years of publication. There has been no official announcement or press release,  but advertisers have been informed [see also letter to contributors, below]. The reason is apparently a long term decline of advertising support for the 85,500 paid circulation magazine. 

"After more than 37 years of publishing, it is with great regret that we announce the final edition of Canadian Home Workshop with our Winter 2013 issue," said a letter to advertisers, signed by editor Douglas Thomson and publisher and CEO Al Zikovitz. 

"Although Canadian Home Workshop has continued to attract a loyal audience of passionate readers, the ability to sustain a viable revenue model is not possible in today's fragmented media environment." 

Subscribers' remaining issues will be fulfilled by Family Handyman magazine, published by Reader's Digest Association Inc.
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The TORO story comes to an end as online version is being discontinued

The 10-year run of TORO magazine is coming to an end. Following four years as a glossy men's lifestyle title, distributed tucked inside the Globe and Mail, its print version was suspended in 2007. In 2008, was relaunched as a web-only publication. Now, the online version is being discontinued.

While it ran in print, the magazine had been highly regarded for its emphasis on sports, gear and women and a rather roguish, frat boy sense of humour. But it also published, under the editorship of Derek Finkle, a good deal of excellent long-form journalism that gained admiration, including 10 gold National Magazine awards and 5 silver out of 63 nominations. 

It was originally founded by Christopher Bratty, he of the developer family and William Morassutti took over in 2008 as editor in chief of the online-only version of the magazine, a position he maintained for three years. (He left in May 2011 and now lists himself as content editorial director at Venture Communications.) 

The website last posted a "TORO woman" profile in August and issued its last newsletter post in July. There continue to be occasional posts on the site, some as recently as a few days ago, but they are fewer and farther between. When we asked what was happening, we were told that the digital content created in the past five years could continue to appear as an online archive, but no new content would be created after this month. The magazine has closed its office.

"Our owner initially sought to launch TORO in its print form to showcase great Canadian talent, from the editors, writers and photographers who created the content to the subjects it covered," said Christina Butterfield. "We sought to the do the same online, introducing a strong video lineup to the mix and finding some talented new contributors when we launched in 2008. In the end, despite strong audience growth and increased awareness, we experienced sales declines that we couldn't overcome."