You’ve Come A Long Way…
Are women still being passed over for the top magazine editing jobs? Or are they just too smart to take it?
It is 4 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18, 2007, in the Queen Street East offices of St. Joseph Media. The fourth-floor kitchen is crowded with Toronto Life magazine staffers who sip Trius Brut sparkling wine and nibble on cheese while Sharon McAuley, the magazine’s publisher, gives a speech. They should be at their Macs working on the […]
Letters to a Young Publisher
Dear X, Yes, brand extensions for magazines are all the rage, but...
From: brand_x@gmail.com Subject: Need Advice—Should I Invest in Brand Extensions? Date: January 16, 2008, 9:43:12 AM EST To: brandock.stan.shawn@gmail.com Dear Mr. Shawn, I’m the publisher of an 18-month-old bimonthly business magazine targeting young entrepreneurs. I’ve heard a great deal about your experience with creating successful magazine brands, and I was hoping you could help me. […]
Killer Smile
Why you shouldn't mess with Mesley
Wendy Mesley sits on a couch with Sarah Mulvihill in Brockville, Ontario in February 2005 to interview her for an episode of Marketplace. Mulvihill, 30, has blue eyes and chin-length, feathered blond hair. Six years earlier Mulvihill was one of the first Canadians to be prescribed Diane-35, a pill for severe acne. Mulvihill was told that […]
Nightmare on Mt. Pleasant
In every horror story, there's a moment when the furies are unleashed. At Chatelaine, it began when Kim Pittaway abruptly quit as editor-in-chief. A year and a half later, and with new editor-in-chief Sara Angel finally settled in, will the editorial mayhem continue?
The castle on Mount Pleasant Road is formidable. After extensive negotiations to secure an audience with Chatelaine’s queen, editor-in-chief Sara Angel — including one cancellation, attributed to an unexpected out-of-town trip — I’ve been given 30 minutes of her time. But it isn’t quite that simple. After checking in with security, I head up to the […]
Morning Glory
As commercial stations duked it out for ratings supremacy in the toughest market in the country, the unexpected occurred: a Toronto CBC program hosted by Andy Barrie climbed quietly to the top. How did that happen?
Andy Barrie pulls up in a taxi to the Front Street entrance of CBC’s downtown Toronto fortress at approximately 5:30 a.m. After settling the fare with his long-term driver, who jokes that Barrie has paid for at least 10 per cent of his mortgage, the king of morning radio grabs his copies of The Globe […]
Heart Attack
Despite many evolutionary changes, beat reporting remains the lifeblood of newspapers.So why is the Globe clogging its arteries with marquee columnists, a glut of Ottawa coverage and so much “news you can use”?
On a late fall morning, Kirk Makin walks out of room No. 13 in Ottawa’s Elgin Street courthouse. His tall, imposing figure stands above a clutch of lawyers and court officials. The hearing he’s covering — Her Majesty the Queen vs. Ontario Power Generation, John Tammadge and Robert Bednarek — has just finished, and Makin’s […]
Snapshots of Reality
What I gained as an immersion journalist in Iran
At a smoke-filled bar in the Gulf city-state of Dubai, the Filipino cover band rocks out to Guns N’ Roses as Canadian sailors on leave from patrolling the Gulf of Oman decorate their table with empty long-necked Budweisers. One of the more gregarious sailors is describing the lessons he’s learned since arriving in the Middle […]
Death of a ”Gotcha” Journalist
How I lost my taste for blood
The first story I wrote for a national magazine got a successful man fired. He was an accidental casualty, because the sad irony is that this story was titled “How to Stay Hired.” Written for Report on Business magazine, it explored the roles of communication and office culture in determining how long a new executive […]
Ants Invade Picnic … Details at 6
Why did the newsroom at CityTV Edmonton take such a hard lite turn? An investigation into why major media mergers weaken the local little guy
Thomas showed up late but didn’t need a formal announcement to know why the Breakfast Television studio was filled with crying colleagues. He received a package: inside was severance information with a letter that read, “As of today, your services are no longer required….” Thomas surrendered his security card and was denied access back into […]
Dynamic Duel
Vancouver Sun editor Patricia Graham and Tyee editor David Beers are "oil and water." They fight, they feud and, through the heat of competition, they've improved the city's news culture
The floor-to-ceiling windows in the editor-in-chief’s office at The Vancouver Sun face northeast, beyond the white sails of the city’s convention centre to the North Shore Mountains. In early spring 2000, then editor-in-chief John Cruickshank stared out the windows while his two to p editors argued. A simmering power struggle between managing editor Patricia Graham […]
