Canadian magazines received a big hit this week with the announcement of the rules for the new Canadian Periodical Fund. Under these new eligibility rules, we will lose literary mags (maybe not all but some). I could go into a lot of talk about what the details of the new program actually are but I won't. Please just know that your government is blatantly going against their word to support small and medium-sized magazines. They've dropped all support for small literary and poetry mags but are boosting funds for farm magazines. Is "farm magazines" a fancy word for a special type of magazines?, you ask. No, they are simply magazines about farming because obviously they contribute to Canadian arts and culture in a big way.The Harper government isn't listening to the thousands of people who spoke out online and asked that Heritage Minister Moore honour the promises made in the past. What we can do now is support the magazines that still stand and read them.
Do you love Canadian magazines? Here are a few things you can do:
- You can donate money to your favourite little mags
- You can subscribe to Canadian mags for cheap! Magazines Canada has a special (awesome) deal: buy 2 mag subscriptions and get the 3rd for free.
- You can read magazines online. This week, I recommend the thoughtful and provocative writing found on Maisonneuve's website.
1 comment:
I have an idea, here's what we do: we find someone very, very rich to buy up all of the little magazines and make them into one big magazine. We amalgamate all of the ideas and the subscriptions and funnel them into one big magazine.
Everybody in Canada only gets one literary magazine because this is how art works: the more people buy of one thing, the better. That's why subscriptions are the most important indicator of a magazine's success. Forget what you've been told about "lowest common denominator." Or "specialization." Or "dialogue." More. of. the. same. thing. for. everyone. OK, Canada?
There, the problem is solved.
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