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''Saturday Night'' was a Canadian general interest
magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
. It was founded 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 ...
in 1887 and was Canada's oldest general interest magazine. The magazine ceased publication in 2005.


History

''Saturday Night'' was first established in 1887 as a weekly
broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
about public affairs and the arts, and was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor,
Edmund E. Sheppard Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings an ...
, was prevented from editing a daily newspaper due to an earlier
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
action in regards to an incident involving
Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
. Additionally,
Blue laws Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, ...
in Toronto prevented publication on Sunday. So, in its first years, the paper was restricted to being a weekly publication, published on Saturdays, hence the name. It had a circulation of 10,000. In 1925 the magazine sold 30,858 copies. ''Saturday Night'' went through a number of owners, formats, and frequencies of publication. Its content went through periods where it would focus more on news, and at other times a greater focus on feature columns. In 1949, Its format size was reduced from
broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
to magazine size. In 1952,
Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian-American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and news ...
became the magazine's publisher after he purchased its owner, Consolidated Press, and it entered a period of decline, and switched from weekly to
fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is h ...
ly publication in 1954. Under Cooke, the magazine "lost its character and pre-eminence" as a cultural magazine, with Cooke attempting to change it into a
newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...
, similar to ''TIME''. In 1961, Kent sold the magazine to Percy Bishop, an oil and mining entrepreneur and supporter of the far-right
Alberta Social Credit League Alberta Social Credit was a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on social credit monetary policy put forward by C.H. Douglas, Clifford Hugh Douglas and on conservative Christianity, Christian social values. The Canadia ...
. The next year Bishop merged ''Saturday Night'' with his other publications ''The Canadian'', a right-wing magazine he had started to promote his political views. ''Saturday Night'' editor-in-chief Arnold Edinborough and six other members of the editorial board resigned in protest Bishop's renamed magazine, ''Canadian Saturday Night'', was edited by one-time Social Credit candidate Arthur Lowe and folded after three issues. ''Saturday Night'' was revived in 1963 by Edinborough who purchased the magazine with $100,000 of his own money and some funding from the family of
Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...
, and thus also becoming its publisher, and circulation grew to 90,000. Robert Fulford was the magazine's editor from 1968 to 1987. Under his editorial guidance, the magazine enjoyed critical success and expanded its arts and literary coverage and was also an important source of long-form political reportage, much of it by
Christina McCall Christina McCall (29 January 193527 April 2005) was a Canadian political writer. Biography Christina McCall was born on 29 January 1935 in Toronto, Ontario, to Orlie Alma (Freeman) and Christopher Warnock McCall. She studied English language an ...
. However, financial difficulties continued. Losing money, in 1971 Edinborough sold the magazine for $1 to a non-profit foundation. In 1974, the magazine again ceased publication for six months due to financial difficulties until it was purchased by a group of funders led by developer
Murray Frum Murray Frum (September 3, 1931 – May 28, 2013) was a Canadian real estate developer and philanthropist. Biography Frum was born to a Jewish family on September 3, 1931, the only child of Saul and Rivka Frum, who had emigrated from Poland the y ...
and a $100,000 grant from
Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...
.
Norman Webster Norman Eric Webster (June 4, 1941 – November 19, 2021) was a Canadian journalist and an editor-in-chief of ''The Globe and Mail'' and '' The Gazette''. He was one of the three western journalists in the Chinese capital Beijing during the Cult ...
, whose family owned the ''
Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', purchased the magazine in 1979. Under Fulford, ''Saturday Night'' also featured short stories and poetry and gave poet Dennis Lee and writer
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...
their first national exposure. Works by
Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...
(who was the magazine's literary editor in the 1940s),
Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...
,
Peter Gzowski Peter John Gzowski (July 13, 1934 – January 24, 2002), known colloquially as "Mr. Canada", or "Captain Canada",Mary Gazze Canadian Press via The ''Toronto Star'', August 23, 2010. Retrieved 2016-06-27. was a Canadian broadcaster, write ...
,
Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...
, and portrait photographer
Yousuf Karsh Yousuf Karsh, FRPS (December 23, 1908 – July 13, 2002) was a Canadian-Armenian photographer known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. An Armenian ...
were also featured in the magazine in its heyday.


Demise

The magazine was purchased by
Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer. His father was businessman George Montegu Black II, who had significant holdings in Canadi ...
by his company Hollinger Inc. in 1987. The magazine lost money for Black for the years he owned it, never recovering even in the late 1990s when many other Canadian magazines saw their fortunes improve. The last standalone monthly issue was March 2000 (Vol 115 No 2, Issue #3819) under editor
Paul Tough Paul Tough (born 1967) is a Canadian-American writer and broadcaster. He is perhaps best known for authoring the works ''Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America'' and ''How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and th ...
. In addition to newsstand distribution, the magazine was included as a weekend supplement in subscription copies of several Hollinger newspapers, although in 1992 Hollinger began offering subscribers the option of switching to '' The Idler'' instead of ''Saturday Night''."Idler magazine faces changes". ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', February 14, 1992.
After a hiatus of two months it was relaunched as a weekend magazine insert within Black's ''
National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'', continuing as Vol 115 No 3, Issue #3819. It was issued weekly in this format under the editorship of Dianna Symonds until September 22, 2001 (Vol 116 No 35 Issue #3885) when it was cancelled as part of
CanWest Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...
's cutbacks at the ''National Post''. The title was saved, however, when it was purchased by MultiVision Publishing and re-emerged under editor Matthew Church as a bimonthly (and later 10 times-a-year) newsstand magazine (with some copies inserted in subscription ''National Post''s) beginning in April 2002 as Vol 117, No 1, Issue #3886. Later purchased by St. Joseph Media, publication was ended in November 2005 with Issue #3916, which is at present the last printed issue of ''Saturday Night''. On October 20, 2005, the company announced that publication would be "suspended" due to insufficient advertiser support. The editor at the time of suspension was Gary Ross, who had been editor since 2004.


Blog

On December 18, 2008, the ''Saturday Night'' website was relaunched as a blog, with the initial post indicating that the site would "canvas the country and present you with a unique and intriguing perspective on our national life in politics and power, sex and crime, entertainment and culture, arts and literature, style and design." However, after five posts made that day, the blog was abandoned and has not been updated since.


Editors-in-chief

*Edmund E. Sheppard (1887–1906), also owner and publisher *Joseph Thomas Clark (1906–1909) *Charles Frederick Paul (1909–1926) *
Hector Charlesworth Hector Willoughby Charlesworth (28 September 1872 – 30 December 1945) was a Canadian writer, editor, and critic. Biography Hector Charlesworth was born in Hamilton on 28 September 1872. He married Katherine Ryan on 15 February 1897, and they h ...
(1926–1932) * Bernard Keble Sandwell (1932–1951) *Robert A. Farquharson (1951–1952) *Gwyn Kinsey (1952–1957) *Robert Marjoribanks (1957–1958) *Arnold Edinborough (1958–1962) *Arthur Lowe (1962–1963), editor-in-chief of the merged ''Canadian Saturday Night'' *Arnold Edinborough, (1963–1968), also served as owner and publisher (1963–1970) * Robert Fulford (1968–1987) *
John Fraser John Fraser may refer to: Politics *John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire *John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...
(1987–1994) *
Kenneth Whyte Kenneth Whyte (born August 12, 1960) is a Canadian journalist, publisher and author based in Toronto. He was formerly the Senior Vice-President of Public Policy for Rogers Communications and if the former chair of the Donner Canadian Foundation. ...
(1994–1998) *
Paul Tough Paul Tough (born 1967) is a Canadian-American writer and broadcaster. He is perhaps best known for authoring the works ''Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America'' and ''How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and th ...
(1998–2000) *Matthew Church (2001–2004) *Gary Ross (2004–2005)


Notable contributors

Editors and contributors have included Robert Thomas Allen,
Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...
, Sylvia Fraser, Douglas Gibson,
Peter Gzowski Peter John Gzowski (July 13, 1934 – January 24, 2002), known colloquially as "Mr. Canada", or "Captain Canada",Mary Gazze Canadian Press via The ''Toronto Star'', August 23, 2010. Retrieved 2016-06-27. was a Canadian broadcaster, write ...
, Ernest Hillen, J. Timothy Hunt,
Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...
,
Yousuf Karsh Yousuf Karsh, FRPS (December 23, 1908 – July 13, 2002) was a Canadian-Armenian photographer known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. An Armenian ...
,
Bharati Mukherjee Bharati Mukherjee (July 27, 1940 – January 28, 2017) was an Indian American-Canadian writer and professor emerita in the department of English at the University of California, Berkeley. She was the author of a number of novels and short story ...
,
Erna Paris Erna Paris (6 May 1938 – 3 February 2022) was a Canadian non-fiction author. Biography Paris was born in Toronto to an essentially secular Jewish family. She was the niece of classical pianist Beth Lipkin. After earning a Bachelor of Arts de ...
,
Alexander Fraser Pirie Alexander Fraser Pirie (October 1, 1849 – August 15, 1903) was a Canadians, Canadian journalist and newspaper editor. Life Pirie was born in Guelph, Upper Canada, to George Pirie (publisher), George Pirie (1799–1870), a native of Aberdeen, S ...
,
Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...
, Clarence Tillenius, Martin Vaughn-James (as cartoonist), and
Isabel Vincent Isabel Vincent (born 1965 in Toronto) a Canadian investigative journalist who writes for the ''New York Post'', is an alumna of the University of Toronto's ''The'' ''Varsity'' newspaper and the author of five books. Early life and education Bor ...
.


See also

*
Media in 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 nati ...


References


External links

* *{{cite web, url=https://library.mcmaster.ca/archives/findaids/fonds/s/satnight.htm, title=Saturday Night. (Toronto, Ont.), work=The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, publisher=McMaster University Library, access-date=10 January 2015 1887 establishments in Ontario 2005 disestablishments in Ontario News magazines published in Canada Lifestyle magazines published in Canada Weekly magazines published in Canada Defunct magazines published in Canada Magazines published in Toronto Magazines established in 1887 Magazines disestablished in 2005 National Post St. Joseph Media magazines Literary magazines published in Canada