Doug Knight announces retirement from St. Joseph Media

Douglas Knight, the president of St. Joseph Media, the publisher of, among other things, Toronto Life, Fashion Magazine, Wedding Bells, Where Magazine and the website Torontoist. is retiring July 4. He has been with the company since 2006 and is chair of Magazines Canada. In 2015 he was named to the Order of Canada for his services to the arts community and as a media publisher.

He was one of the principal drivers behind this year's creation of Canadian Magazine Awards/Grands prix du magazine, in collaboration with Magazines Canada; the new awards hope to displace the 40-year-old National Magazine Awards. 

Knight said in a statement published by the Globe and Mail that he was leaving the company “to retire from the management trenches, to carve out some time to think about where and how I might devote my energies for the next ten years.” He added: “It has also been a privilege and a delight since returning to Canada in 2006 to have spent time in every province and territory of the country.”

He had been publisher and CEO of the Financial Post and later publisher and CEO of the Toronto Sun and had moved to New York in 2000 where he created a media acquisition consultancy that oversaw the purchase of a number of major metropolitan Spanish-language dailies, including New York’s El Diario.

Peggy Berkowitz stepping down as editor of University Affairs

Peggy Berkowitz, the award-winning editor of University Affairs magazine, is retiring after more than 20 years, 14 of them as editor. She will be succeeded by her deputy editor Léo Charbonneau.  

Berkowitz joined the magazine in 1995 as associate editor after working for the Wall Street Journal and the Ottawa Citizen. As editor, she led it to be named magazine of the year in 2015 at the Kenneth R. Wilson Awards. Berkowitz was named editor of the year by the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) in 2013. 

Over a couple of decades I worked with Peggy and her colleagues as a consultant. It was always a pleasure. 

The longish goodbye: Mark Jamison retiring leaving as CEO of Magazines Canada at end of 2015

One of the worst-kept secrets in the magazine industry has been that Mark Jamison, the CEO of Magazines Canada, is retiring leaving the organization at the end of 2015. The organization has now made this official with a posting about the process it is undertaking to replace the 16-year veteran. 

"This is very much Mark’s decision, and as you would expect, he has provided ample advance notice to allow for a smooth transition," says Michael Fox, Chair of Magazines Canada's Board of Directors. "All of the Board members join me in acknowledging the tremendous leadership that Mark has provided, and in appreciating his practical approach to planning the future of the association as well as evolving his career." 

The Magazines Canada Board of Directors formed a CEO search committee at its March 27 meeting, responding to the planned departure of Jamison on December 31, 2015. 

"In the future, Mark plans to take on consulting projects in not-for-profit management," Fox says. "Mark has helped Magazines Canada stay current and focused on the future during a period of tremendous changes in magazines, our audiences, media technology and of course public policy priorities of the federal and provincial governments. He and the staff have made Magazines Canada a virtual big tent that provides a place to gather, to learn and to develop for people involved with all types of magazines. He has helped evolve the Magazines Canada organization to serve its members efficiently, effectively and enthusiastically. We wish him all the best in his new venture."

John Macfarlane stepping down as editor of The Walrus

John Macfarlane, the editor and co-publisher of The Walrus magazine since July 2008 is to retire at the end of the year. The search is on to replace him in a newly named position: editor-in-chief, content platforms.

“More than five years ago, I came on board as interim editor for six months, and suddenly it’s five years later,” said Macfarlane [in a release]. “The world of journalism has changed in the last five years, and although I’ve enjoyed every minute here the time has come, as the Walrus said, for a new kind of editor—an editor of all Walrus platforms. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and decided the timing is right—for me and for the organization.”

Macfarlane has been an important player in the Canadian magazine industry since he was associate editor of Maclean's magazine 1970-72. Since then he has been editor of Toronto Life twice (72 - 74 and 92 - 2007). He was managing director of news, features, and information programming at CTV (1991-92); publisher and editor-in-chief of the Financial Times of Canada (1987-90); publisher of Saturday Night magazine (1980-87); editor of Weekend Magazine (1976-80); executive editor of Maclean’s (1975-76); president of Analytical Communications Incorporated, a public relations company owned by Vickers & Benson (1974-75); and associate editor of Maclean’s (1970-72). He was also entertainment editor of the Toronto Star (1968-70); entertainment editor of the Globe and Mail (1967-68); and editorial writer at the Globe and Mail (1965-67).

In 2007, he received the Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement from the National Magazine Awards Foundation.

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Former students welcomed to wish Lynn Cunningham well on her retirement

Spread out throughout the magazine business are writers and editors who, as students in the magazine stream at Ryerson University, have had the good fortune to study the form and substance of the business under Lynn Cunningham. Somewhat in advance of her August retirement (but aligned with the school term and the fact she's on a sabbatical), she is the guest of honour at the school of journalism on Thursday, April 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. Current and former students are welcome to attend and say au revoir. 

 Cunningham joined the full-time journalism faculty in 1997 after holding senior positions at a variety of magazines, including Canadian Business, Quest and Toronto Life. She won the Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement from the National Magazine Awards in 1999. She served as a member of the 1993-94 Tasse-O'Callaghan federal task force on magazines and her 2001 master's thesis, entitled "Culture Wars: How Canada Lost the Battle to Protect Its Magazines," explored the federal government's failed attempts to construct cultural measures to foster Canadian magazines.