The Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Editing
Fashion magazine editor-in-chief Ceri Marsh shows that good manners still go a long way
You know Ceri Marsh, the Fabulous Girl, don’t you? She’s smart, funny and well mannered. She’s also incredibly stylish, of course – definitely the one you’d invite over to help spice up your wardrobe. If she’s otherwise occupied, you can always flip through the magazine she edits to decide what to wear on that all-important […]
Lucky Dube
CBC.ca editorial director Jonathan Dube prepares to overhaul the mother ship's website for its tenth anniversary
Large printouts of proposed site changes sit on CBC.ca editorial director Jonathan Dube’s desk at CBC headquarters in downtown Toronto. Just prior to its tenth birthday on July 4, the award-winning website will receive a makeover. Dube says the new design will be modern, lively and put more emphasis on exclusive features. A new “Canada […]
Satellite wars
Last year the Calgary Herald threw its readers a curveball called Swerve, aiming its Friday magazine insert at a demographic too old for alternative weeklies yet too young to stay inside all week. Now rival daily the Calgary Sun rotates the battle with an advertising department-driven product called Orb
Eleven copies of the March 3, 2006 issue of Calgary’s Swerve magazine are currently selling on eBay. At last check, the highest bid is just over $36. That’s pretty good considering Swerve is a freebie magazine tucked inside the city’s main daily newspaper, the Calgary Herald, every Friday. The March 3 edition holds great appeal […]
This Magazine Is About Chaos
New editor Jessica Johnston brings passion to the job, but she may offer something even more important to the current affairs publication on its 40th anniversary—stability.
As we sit down to lunch at Tequila Bookworm, a funky, laptop-friendly coffee shop on Queen Street West, Jessica Johnston and I both notice a familiar problem. Our table is wobbling on its uneven base. While I whine about our poor luck, Johnston chooses to address the issue head-on. She grabs a handful of napkins […]
Once Were Warriors
When it comes to professional sport, the game has changed a lot—but so has the reporting
As the Toronto Blue Jays start their 2006 baseball season, many sportswriters say the team will be a serious contender. For the first time in thirteen years – since Toronto last won the World Series – fans might have something to get excited about. “Touch ’em all, Joe [Carter],” said radio voice of the Jays […]
What Makes Clive Run?
Clive Thompson talks fast, works fast, sleeps little and makes a flying leap from editing This Magazine in Toronto to writing cover stories for The New York Times Magazine
Sitting in an Internet café in the Czech Republic, Clive Thompson is frantically searching for lawyers in Spain who specialize in Internet law. A week prior, in Britain, Thompson received news that a virus writer had been arrested in Spain. The only information he could find about the arrest was on a website written in […]
And Now, for my Next Act…
After editor-in-chief Dana Robbins unleashed "The Revolution" at The Hamilton Spectator, readership numbers went up. While the Canadian Journalism Foundation recognized the effort, the newspaper industry as a whole hasn't
Dana Robbins can’t sleep. The Hamilton Spectator‘s editor-in-chief is worried and excited about how readers will respond to the changes that will appear in the next morning’s paper. Actually, he hasn’t been trying all that hard to sleep. He just got home half an hour ago – at 3 A.M. – because he chose to […]
The Pope of CBC
Senior personnel say manager of special events and elections David Knapp is one of their key journalists. Yet, as he celebrates his fortieth year at the Corp, he's virtually unknown outside public broadcaster circles
Two colour photographs hang on the wall of a nondescript office on the fifth floor of CBC headquarters in downtown Toronto. Each picture features the same subjects – David Knapp shaking hands with Pope John Paul II – captured at specific moments in time, eighteen years apart. As CBC manager of special events and elections, […]
Fear of Publishing
Fallout from Muslim reaction to Jyllands-Posten caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed has led to contentious debate in Canada on what constitutes freedom of speech in the West
When cartoons ignite worldwide protests, resulting in torched embassies and many deaths, the decision to reprint is easy. Many outlets believe in freedom of speech and providing readers with context, but few in Canada have actually run the cartoons. Western Standard magazine and The Jewish Free Press, both based in Calgary, are two that did, […]
Causalities of War
Journalists used to be seen as neutral, but now they're ransom bait, bargaining chips or the outright enemy. Last year was the worst on record for correspondents getting killed on the job—and in 2006, the trend continues
On February 23, the bodies of correspondent Atwar Bahjat, cameraman Khaled Mahmoud al-Falahi and engineer Adnan Khairallah were found near Samarra, Iraq. Bahjat was a correspondent for Al-Arabiya, while al-Falahi and Khairallah were employees of Wasan Productions on assignment for Al-Arabiya. The Wasan crew was covering the bombing of a Shiite shrine near Samarra, Iraq, […]
