May 20, 2008

NOW Magazine Confronts Drop in Print Readership

Source: The Globe and Mail

Canada's Print Measurement Bureau recently released numbers showing a 14.2 percent drop in NOW's readership over the past two years, according to the Globe and Mail. The Canadian daily uses the readership drop as a springboard to examine the state of Toronto's alt-weeklies -- NOW and its competitor Eye Weekly, which is in the same ownership group as the daily Toronto Star. "Alt-weeklies are a particular case. Entirely reliant on advertising revenues, their revenue is not augmented by subscriptions or newsstand sales," the Globe and Mail reports. "At the same time, they're threatened by a panoply of other free offerings." NOW publisher Michael Hollett shrugs off the latest numbers, and says the paper's health is strong. "It's just one of many ways of counting," he says. "Our boxes are empty and business is good." Indeed, the Globe and Mail reports that NOW's ad revenue was up in 2007, and Hollett notes that the paper continues to innovate -- and gain readers -- online.

May 20, 2008

East Bay Express to Conduct Same-Sex Weddings

Source: East Bay Express Press Release

The paper is holding two "Wedding Wednesdays" where it will conduct free group weddings for twelve same-sex couples, "in celebration of the long overdue right for homosexual partners to legally marry in the state of California," according to a press release. The ceremonies will be conducted by Express marketing director Terry Furry on June 25 and July 2, with help from a local wedding planning company. In addition to the ceremonies, the Express will provide the twelve couples with a catered reception, honeymoon prize packages, professional photos, a published wedding announcement, and local media publicity.