Mystic Point
Active Member
Church and Wellesley looks like a retirement village now.
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Church-Wellesley Village
- Thread starter dt_toronto_geek
- Start date
adma
Superstar
Hey, there's no queen like an old queen. Look at the positive side of things
3Dementia
Senior Member
There you go making another thread ... about you.
jaborandi
Active Member
Exactly which retirement village does it look like? I'm very curious to know.
JasonParis
Moderator
Some tidbits:
- Enza "Supermodel" Anderson has been named the Pride Toronto grand marshal for 2008's festivities.
- Jamaica will be the focus of Pride Toronto's attention this year
- The Church-Wellesley Village BIA has hired David Wootton (an event planner and designer) as its new coordinator.
- The Church Street Fetish Fair will go ahead again this year, but no date has been set yet.
- Pride Toronto's Executive Director Fatima Amarshi will be leaving her post after this year's event. The organization has begun the search for a replacement.
- Pink Triangle Press (owners of Xtra) have purchased Fab Magazine! (article to follow)
JasonParis
Moderator
Media concentration has hit Church Street!
Xtra's owner buys Fab
MEDIA / Fab editor concerned about possible changes
Krishna Rau / Xtra / Friday, February 08, 2008
PTP ON THE GROW. Publisher Brandon Matheson says he intends to preserve Fab and Xtra as complementary publications.
The publisher of Xtra has purchased Fab, Toronto's queer scene and entertainment magazine, leading to debate about media ownership in the community.
The deal between Pink Triangle Press (PTP) and Fab's owner, No Fear Publishing, will officially close Feb 25. The new ownership will come into effect for Fab's Mar 6 issue.
Brandon Matheson, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Xtra and Capital Xtra, PTP's Ottawa newspaper, will oversee Fab. Matheson says Fab will allow PTP to reach a different audience than Xtra.
"It's another avenue to reach readers," he says. "I've never been under the illusion that one magazine can be all things to all people. I think Fab is a good fit in that neither publication has really strived to reach the same audience."
Matheson says there are no plans to change the direction or content of Fab. He says the magazine will maintain its own office and a separate editorial and local advertising staff, although production and financial matters will be merged with PTP.
"Our plan is to continue the tradition of what Fab has been," he says. "The change in ownership is not something that is going to [conflict] with Fab in terms of it being the scene magazine."
But Paul Gallant, the editor-in-chief of Fab and the former managing editor of Xtra, sounded a note of caution about PTP controlling both publications.
"I'm obviously concerned that they might want to turn it into Xtra Lite," he says. "I think it should be a bit of a red flag for people who are concerned about media concentration."
Matheson says the purchase by PTP is preferable to a large publishing company outside the community.
"The reality is Fab was for sale and I think it's healthier that it become part of our non-profit company that cares about the community than it be picked up by a mainstream company like Torstar or Rogers," he says.
Keir MacRae, one of Fab's co-publishers, says Fab has been a unique presence in the community.
"It's sassy, fun and sexy," he says. "The community needs that and Fab certainly filled that role. It's a magazine people love to criticize but even people who say they don't read it, read it."
But MacRae says that after 14 years, he and partner Michael Schwarz were growing tired.
"It gets to be a lot, especially when you're a small publisher," he says. "My business partner has a new baby daughter and he wants to spend more time with her. And I have a dog."
MacRae says he and Schwarz were approached in 2006 by Torstar, the owner of the Toronto Star and Eye Weekly, to sound out their interest in selling Fab. He says they also received offers from a number of small magazine publishers and decided to approach other publishers, including PTP.
MacRae says that extensive conversations with PTP made him comfortable about selling Fab after some hesitation.
"Operating competing magazines in a small market for a number of years, you'd think we'd know more about each other," he says. "There might have been some initial ambivalence because of our being rivals."
Gallant says he and the staff at Fab have been kept in the dark about whether they'll be kept on.
"I really don't know what to make of it right now," he says. "They sent out the news release before they told us. We're just going to wait and see with bated breath."
Matheson says it will be up to No Fear Publishing to terminate its employment contracts with the staff at Fab. He says that PTP will then decide who to rehire.
Neither MacRae nor Matheson would comment on how much PTP paid for Fab.
Xtra's owner buys Fab
MEDIA / Fab editor concerned about possible changes
Krishna Rau / Xtra / Friday, February 08, 2008
PTP ON THE GROW. Publisher Brandon Matheson says he intends to preserve Fab and Xtra as complementary publications.
The publisher of Xtra has purchased Fab, Toronto's queer scene and entertainment magazine, leading to debate about media ownership in the community.
The deal between Pink Triangle Press (PTP) and Fab's owner, No Fear Publishing, will officially close Feb 25. The new ownership will come into effect for Fab's Mar 6 issue.
Brandon Matheson, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Xtra and Capital Xtra, PTP's Ottawa newspaper, will oversee Fab. Matheson says Fab will allow PTP to reach a different audience than Xtra.
"It's another avenue to reach readers," he says. "I've never been under the illusion that one magazine can be all things to all people. I think Fab is a good fit in that neither publication has really strived to reach the same audience."
Matheson says there are no plans to change the direction or content of Fab. He says the magazine will maintain its own office and a separate editorial and local advertising staff, although production and financial matters will be merged with PTP.
"Our plan is to continue the tradition of what Fab has been," he says. "The change in ownership is not something that is going to [conflict] with Fab in terms of it being the scene magazine."
But Paul Gallant, the editor-in-chief of Fab and the former managing editor of Xtra, sounded a note of caution about PTP controlling both publications.
"I'm obviously concerned that they might want to turn it into Xtra Lite," he says. "I think it should be a bit of a red flag for people who are concerned about media concentration."
Matheson says the purchase by PTP is preferable to a large publishing company outside the community.
"The reality is Fab was for sale and I think it's healthier that it become part of our non-profit company that cares about the community than it be picked up by a mainstream company like Torstar or Rogers," he says.
Keir MacRae, one of Fab's co-publishers, says Fab has been a unique presence in the community.
"It's sassy, fun and sexy," he says. "The community needs that and Fab certainly filled that role. It's a magazine people love to criticize but even people who say they don't read it, read it."
But MacRae says that after 14 years, he and partner Michael Schwarz were growing tired.
"It gets to be a lot, especially when you're a small publisher," he says. "My business partner has a new baby daughter and he wants to spend more time with her. And I have a dog."
MacRae says he and Schwarz were approached in 2006 by Torstar, the owner of the Toronto Star and Eye Weekly, to sound out their interest in selling Fab. He says they also received offers from a number of small magazine publishers and decided to approach other publishers, including PTP.
MacRae says that extensive conversations with PTP made him comfortable about selling Fab after some hesitation.
"Operating competing magazines in a small market for a number of years, you'd think we'd know more about each other," he says. "There might have been some initial ambivalence because of our being rivals."
Gallant says he and the staff at Fab have been kept in the dark about whether they'll be kept on.
"I really don't know what to make of it right now," he says. "They sent out the news release before they told us. We're just going to wait and see with bated breath."
Matheson says it will be up to No Fear Publishing to terminate its employment contracts with the staff at Fab. He says that PTP will then decide who to rehire.
Neither MacRae nor Matheson would comment on how much PTP paid for Fab.
adma
Superstar
Combine Fab and Proud-FM
(hey, all in jest)
(hey, all in jest)
JasonParis
Moderator
That's exactly why it's the focus.Because, in Jamaica, Gays are treated with respect and protected by law ...a shining example of tolerance.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I wonder why Pride Toronto feels the need to focus on a country where laws against homosexuality are actively enforced?
Mot
Active Member
I believe the point being that while things are good here we need to help our brothers and sisters where it's dangerous to be GLBTI.
JasonParis
Moderator
Yes, that's the point. The next frontier is helping our queer brothers and sisters in other parts of the world where aggressive hostility toward homosexuality still exists.
BTW, MOT...
Time to change your location!
BTW, MOT...
Time to change your location!
lxmoss
Active Member
What's wrong with sex, drugs, and one night stands?
Mot
Active Member
I just changed the location, thanks. (I never got the e-mail for the group).
Maybe next year we can shame the US into treating us fairly.
DENTROBATE54
Banned
The Caribbean in general is homophobic. Jamaica just gets singled out because the popularity of machismo Dancehall Reggae (regh-GAY, what irony). Closet gays meet in neutral areas and number about 40, 000 out of a total popualtion of 2.7 million. If they're outed they're usually shunned by their families, imprisoned or in rare incidents publically stoned.
But remember Jamaica's a third world country with still a ways to go, like the learning curve of 1980s America. Even at Caribana two years ago a DJ before playing a homophobic tune made the remark "This a not Pride Parade," to which a group of young women next to me screamed in elation.
JasonParis
Moderator
Where's that figure from? And how would accurate could it really be?