100 replies to this topic

[Zoe]

Danielle Pope was editor of The Martlet, UVic's student newspaper.

[Rob Randall]

Monday is looking for a new editor to replace John Threlfall.

http://blackpress.ca...ers.php?divID=1

[Jacques Cadé]

Grant McKenzie is the new editor of Monday. CBC is interviewing him tomorrow morning.

[Sparky]

Grant McKenzie is the new editor of Monday. CBC is interviewing him tomorrow morning.

He seems like a fun character. I like the axe laying across the old typewriter on his web page. He might just be what Monday needs.

[Zoe]

Amanda Farrell-Low is leaving the paper. Her replacement will be announced.

The annual Earth Week edition comes out April 21.

[Zoe]

Mary Ellen Green is the new arts editor. She did a stint at Goldstream Gazette and freelanced for other papers, she says.

[pontcanna]

I don't care for the new-look Monday Mag. It has that Black Press "freebie newspaper" feel, with large fonts that give the impression that there are less words filling up the same space. Just feels dumbed-down somehow. Guess we'll see over the succeeding weeks.

[Jacques Cadé]

I've heard that Monday Magazine is about to purge its servers of all articles published on its website (mondaymag.com) before January 2011. So if you want a story that's currently on the site, it would be a good idea to archive it now ...

[weirdie]

Grant McKenzie is no longer at Monday Magazine

"This morning, I was terminated from my position as Editor-in-Chief of Monday Magazine for economic reasons :("

https://www.facebook...ckenzie?fref=ts

[Holden West]

That's very strange. I've never heard of laying of an editor for economic reasons. It's like getting rid of a ship captain--it's the one position that can't be eliminated. Unless they think they can replace him with a cheaper college graduate, that's the only possibility. I can't believe they can cut costs any more--it's a shadow of what it was only a couple of years ago.

[Mike K.]

And a couple of years ago it was a shadow of what is was a couple of years before that.

Escort and similar classifieds are most likely the only sizable source of revenue at Monday.

[Holden West]

^Escort ads were always the cash cow. That and the full page colour ads. Back when cigarette ads were quasi-legal (race car sponsorship) they brought in big bucks. Nightclub and movie ads were also reliable income generators. Basically, Monday profited off the shady advertising other media shied away from. Remember they once ran a full page of those wacky alternative practitioner classifieds on the back pages. It's all gone online now, with all the movie and concert listings.

I guess the publisher will assume editorial duties like assigning and editing stories since the position is not being replaced. But I feel this is a stopgap measure and that Black wants to put the paper up for sale.

The other Black weeklies are keeping their heads above water with the fat stack of supermarket fliers that come with the paper.

I think the jump the shark moment was the Johnson St. Bridge saga. In the past, Monday would be all over a major story like that, but the story ended up being Focus Magazine's baby and just like that, the torch was passed.

[gumgum]

They ran full page cigarette ads as recent as a couple of years ago . Does anyone remember?

[gumgum]

For the last two issues, I've noticed Monday Mag subjecting us to full page ciggarette ads, sometimes up to three per issue.

Looks like Monday is lowering their standards just to make an advertising buck.

...

[gumgum]

Meanwhile, I know a guy in sales for Douglas, Yam and others and they're doing just fine thank you very much.

[Holden West]

This is from ten years ago:

Today's alternative publications, like Now, can hardly be called "underground" anymore. They are essentially city magazines in tabloid newsprint format, and they vary widely in journalistic quality and ideological orientation. "A lot of the alternative weeklies are cookie-cutter," says Alastair Sutherland, editor of the Montreal Mirror. "You've got a few news stories, you've got 'Life in Hell,' astrology, music stories, listings, and there you go."

Indeed, listings and sex ads are the bread and butter for many of them, while others, like The Boston Phoenix, Halifax's Coast, and Victoria's Monday Magazine, have exceptionally strong news sections and owners willing to commit resources to investigative journalism. Robert Cribb, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists and an investigative reporter at the Toronto Star, points out that this brings prestige to a newspaper, be it a weekly or a daily. "It's exclusive, and it's the kind of journalism that gives any media outlet an identity," he says.

http://www.rrj.ca/m3804/

So much for all that.

Interesting letter from Monday founder Gene Miller:

David,

Hail from long ago! Enjoyed reading your piece about the state and fate of the Seattle Weekly. I think your assessment is accurate--for the Weekly and for almost all of the other alternative newsweeklies--and certainly for Victoria's Monday Magazine (which, believe it or not, pre-dates the Seattle Weekly by a year). I founded Monday with roughly the same intentions held by the other publishers/editors at that time. By the way, I, too, entertained the idea of starting an alternative weekly in Vancouver (my strategy was to purchase the Georgia Straight, but that came to nothing as publisher Dan MacLeod thought better of selling).

Monday, too, is not the publication it was in its heyday. Bear in mind that our publications are now middle-aged, in their mid-thirties, and that so many institutions, not just in publishing, have gone through enormous changes. When I think back, I consider it a good run; and it was so much fun shaming the dozy dailies and connecting vitally, importantly with our readerships.

Sometimes, I yield to nostalgia and the memory of years of journalistic accomplishments, but mostly I take the view, as do you, that things have just moved on...and online. I take the same position about conferences, after recently running seven consecutive annual environmental conferences under the name, Gaining Ground. While it was great to convene communities of conscience in Victoria, Vancouver and Calgary and to powerfully inform audiences, the business model stunk, and the potentials of vaster audiences online reachable at a fraction of the cost beckoned (and continue to beckon) seductively!

Also, it encourages me that alternative and investigative voices seem now to be everywhere. Light now shines into many dark corners, and our alternative newsweeklies have played a significant role in that outcome.

Best to you,

Gene Miller
Founding Publisher
Monday Magazine
Victoria, BC

http://crosscut.com/...seattle-weekly/

[weirdie]

And a couple of years ago it was a shadow of what is was a couple of years before that.

It's really unfortunate. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I remember a time when the Monday was 30 pages long, actually broke stories, and wasn't just something to skim through at breakfast.

Now it seems like a 16 page rag with 10 pages of ads and 6 pages of content.

[mysage]

Nothing wrong about sounding like an "old fart" when you are right.
Monday magazine became irrelevant in the local media scene many years ago.
In fact I would argue it became that way soon after Gene Miller left. It deteriorated into a radicalized rag that tried to provide investigative journalism but really only provided stories that reflected its own fringe element thoughts. Surprised it is still around actually.

[Mike K.]

^couldn't agree more, mysage!

Monday became known as the "Monday Rag" several years after Miller's departure and pushed a left agenda to such a degree that it was unreadable. Everything was wrong with everyone, everywhere, who dared look to the right. The material became predictive and overly biased.

[tedward]

I stopped reading Monday a couple of years ago. They used to be the best source for local news features and were a great way to get stories of what City Hall was up to. It seems that Focus is taking over that role and here's hoping they can keep it up.