Has there been a more exciting time on the Toronto magazine scene? On May 11, Torstar’s Eye Weekly tabloid boldly rebranded as The Grid.
In late March, venerable Toronto Life bought 7-year-old Torontoist. com, vowing to invest in the award-winning brand. And an ambitious new online magazine, the Toronto Standard, launched in early April. Why all this activity now? And, more importantly, will these new ventures and partnerships survive?
The current buzz reminds me of the mid 1980s, when two groups took legitimate shots at creating new Toronto city magazines, and when alt weekly granddaddy Now Magazine was just a toddler. TO Magazine launched in 1984 with a young staff, offices just off Queen West, and a mission to “capture the essence of Toronto and cast it in a new and dynamic light;” i.e., we’re not stuffy old Toronto Life. Two years later, The Globe and Mail launched the glossy Toronto as part of a grandiose magazine program, spurred by the success of ROB Magazine.
Three conditions that existed then are also true today: a youthful, energized street scene; new and inexpensive publishing technologies (back then it was “desktop publishing”); and a more confident post-recession vibe (there was a severe downturn in the early 1980s).
But success in magazine publishing is always a long shot, and in online publishing, arguably more so. St. Joseph Media’s acquisition of Torontoist.com seems a reasonable investment, with a modest amount of money. It can protect Toronto Life’s flank while using the younger-focused Torontoist.com to graduate readers up to Toronto Life, groom talent, and offer package deals to advertisers. The Toronto Standard is off to an impressive start, with quality, thought-provoking long-form journalism; snappy online design; and a core of excellent contributors. Editorial director Christopher Frey says the project has already surpassed traffic and revenue expectations, and that new revenue streams such as video and events will add to the existing network-sold banner ads. Still, I worry the Standard may hit a financial wall sooner rather than later, depending on the amount of start-up cash in its wallet. It’s also light on the most important ingredients for successful city magazines: listings and service journalism.
As for The Grid, as of this writing I haven’t seen the new book. On the plus side, it’s backed by Torstar, has a 20-year track record as a successful (albeit No. 2) publication, and a promising team. The big question is whether the ad market can sustain two print weeklies as a generation of digital natives moves into the prime target demographic. After a few good years, TO Magazine succumbed in 1988. The Globe’s Toronto collapsed in 1991 along with the newspaper’s entire magazine program (except the original ROB Magazine). In the end, the biggest contribution these publications made to the city was to serve as launching pads for the careers of many top magazine editors, writers, photographers, illustrators, designers and ad sales people. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
