''Now'' (styled as ''NOW''), also known as ''NOW Magazine'' is an online publication based in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. Throughout most of its existence, ''Now'' was a free
alternative weekly newspaper
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting l ...
. Physical publication of ''Now'' was suspended in August 2022, and there are no current plans to resume printed publication.
Publication history
''Now'' was first published on September 10, 1981, by
Michael Hollett Michael Hollett is the founder and president of North by Northeast (NXNE) music festival which happens every June in Toronto since 1995. Hollett is also founder of the national print and online arts magazine, ''NEXT'', available in Toronto, Vancouve ...
and
Alice Klein
Alice Klein is the co-founder and former owner of Toronto's longest-running free alternative newsweekly '' NOW Magazine''. In 1981, Klein co-founded ''NOW'' with Michael Hollett and several others. It is now one of the largest independent media org ...
.
["Publisher of Toronto's iconic NOW Magazine files for bankruptcy."](_blank)
''blogTO'', April 1, 2022. ''NOW'' is an alternative weekly that covers news, culture, arts, and entertainment. In its printed incarnation, ''NOW'' was published 52 times a year and could be picked up in Toronto subway stations, cafes, variety stores, clothing outlets, restaurants, alternative movie venues, and in its green and red newspaper boxes. ''NOW'' was published every Thursday for a period of over 40 years, from 1981 to 2022. In March 2022, NOW Magazine switched to monthly publication in an effort to save money. By August, the printed magazine was abandoned entirely.
''NOW'' has been online since 1993, first as now.com and then as nowtoronto.com since 2000.
It is also a central sponsor and its owners held an ownership stake in
North by Northeast
North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual music and arts festival held each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival's main focus is live music, but it also includes an eSports gaming tournament, comedy, a conversations series, a flea mark ...
, a major annual
music festival
A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...
in Toronto.
''NOW'' was privately owned by Hollett and Klein until 2016, when Hollett sold his share of the company to Klein and left the newspaper to focus on North by Northeast as the festival's president and founder. Hollett became sole owner of NXNE when he sold his shares in NOW. Hollett started a new national music and arts print publication, NEXT Magazine, in 2020, publishing in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary,
In 2019, Klein's NOW Communications sold ''NOW'' to Media Central Corporation for $2 million. Klein remained with the newspaper as "Chief Editorial Strategist".
[ A few weeks later, Media Central Corporation also announced a deal to acquire the similar ]Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
publication ''The Georgia Straight
''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...
''.
In April 2022, Media Central Corp Inc., of which NOW Central Communications Inc. is a subsidiary of, that owns and publishes NOW Magazine, filed for bankruptcy. Soon afterward, several of its longtime staff members left, notably film critic Norman Wilner leaving to take a job as a programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
.
In August, film critic and acting editor Radheyan Simonpillai stated on Twitter that the August 18 issue would be the publication's "last masthead"; in an interview on CBC's ''Metro Morning
Metro Morning is CBC Radio One's local morning program in Toronto, airing on CBLA-FM. The program airs from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. weekday mornings, and has frequently been Toronto's highest-rated radio program in its timeslot. The program is c ...
'' the following day, he clarified that the publication was not necessarily going out of business entirely, but would not be releasing print issues for the foreseeable future and many of its remaining staff were owed weeks of back pay.
Content
Syndicated content in ''NOW'' includes Dan Savage
Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist. He writes ''Savage Love'', an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husba ...
's "Savage Love" sex advice column and Rob Brezsny
Rob Brezsny is an American astrologer, author, and musician. His weekly horoscope column "Free Will Astrology" – formerly "Real Astrology" – has been published since 1980, and by 2010 was syndicated in around 120 periodicals.
Caree ...
's "Real Astrology". Notable writers and editors have included Matt Galloway, Naomi Klein, Cameron Bailey, Susan G. Cole
Susan G. Cole (born February 9, 1952) is a Canadian feminist author, activist, editor, speaker and playwright. She has spoken out on a number of issues, including free speech, pornography, race and religion. As a lesbian activist and mother, sh ...
, Adria Vasil, Glenn Sumi, Norman Wilner, Radheyan Simonpillai, John Sewell, Matt Groening, and David Suzuki.
''NOW publishes several comprehensive guide issues every year. Some of these include:
''
In September 2021, Media Central Corporation announced that the company would be selling nine NFTs made from previous covers published by NOW Magazine and Georgia Straight. The NFTs are still listed as open for bidding.["Weekly rag goes monthly: NOW Magazine cuts back on print issues"](_blank)
Daily Hive
''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian online newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became Western Canada's largest online-only publication by 2016.
In September 2022 ...
Toronto, April 1, 2022.
In March 2022, NOW Magazine cut back on printing weekly issues in an effort to save money and grow its online audience. In August, the printed magazine was abandoned entirely.
Green efforts
Some of these efforts include the construction of the ''Green Roof
A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...
'' in 2006. The roof helps to keep the building temperature regulated while using less energy which aids in keeping pollution low. The plant life, which is a sedum
''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succul ...
species, helps to purify the air. The green roof also reduces stormwater runoff
Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when the s ...
– which can cause sewage backup during periods of deluge. ''NOW'' implements a 100% recycled paper policy and uses only vegetable-based dyes for print. This effort, each year, saves over 28,000 living trees, reduces greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs and Emission (electromagnetic radiation), emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse ...
es – the equivalent given off by 534 cars, eliminates 7 swimming pools of waste water and saves 79 garbage trucks worth of solid waste. ''Now'' also partners with Green Enterprise Toronto (GET) and Canopy (formerly Markets Initiative). Both companies are dedicated to responsible business and green initiatives.
''NOW'' is a certified B Corporation
In the United States, a benefit corporation (or in several jurisdictions including Delaware, a public-benefit corporation or PBC) is a type of for-profit corporate entity, authorized by 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, that include ...
.
See also
*List of newspapers in Canada
This list of newspapers in Canada is a list of newspapers printed and distributed in Canada. Daily newspapers
Local weeklies
Alberta
* Airdrie – ''Airdrie Echo''
* Bashaw – '' Bashaw Star''
* Bassano – ''Bassano Times''
* Beaumont – ...
*Media of Canada
The media of Canada is diverse and highly regionalized. News media, both print and digital and in both official languages, is largely dominated by a handful of major media corporations. The largest of these corporations is the country’s natio ...
References
{{reflist
External links
https://nowtoronto.com/
Newspapers published in Toronto
Publications established in 1981
Alternative weekly newspapers published in Canada
Weekly newspapers published in Ontario
1981 establishments in Ontario