Our senior editorial team. From left: Anya Shor, managing editor, David Loopstra, publisher, and Roger Klein, chief of content. Missing from this photo is Moses Znaimer, On the Bay’s executive producer.
by David Loopstra
Recently a friend asked me, “How tough is the print media business these days?”
“It’s not tough at all,” I responded. “In fact it’s the opposite, and it’s also fun.”
“Really?” he said. “But remember when it would take ALL WEEKEND to get through the Saturday edition of the Globe and Mail? Now I’m done by breakfast.”
He may have a point about some national print products, but this is not the case locally.
Local magazines are stronger than ever, and that’s a good news story for society and democracy. Local magazines bring people together. At On The Bay, our content is immediate, relevant, important and local; our advertising is effective and accessible; and our readers are highly engaged—both with our magazine and with our community. In an era where truth is scarce and where Canadians are missing a national voice of reason (i.e., what the editorial sections of the national papers used to be), On The Bay offers balanced, fair, objective journalism that covers local in a way that social media can’t.
A quick look at our “Inbox” section reveals that On The Bay is a place where important discussions occur—discussions that are curated by professionals (that is, by actual humans, not AI or social media algorithms) for their validity, bias, fairness and interest.
On The Bay is a forum free from knee-jerk reactions. It’s more permanent, slower, presenting a balanced point of view of the world.
As you read through our pages, you’ll see this not only in our editorial coverage; you’ll also see advertising from a variety of sources—real estate or industrial developers, small businesses, entrepreneurial ventures and environmentalists looking to preserve our region.
We are devoted to being the forum where all sides can say their piece, purchase advertising space to say their piece, or write letters to the editor and have their piece evaluated by our professional journalistic team.
Sometimes, however, the playing field is tilted. On one hand, the corporations whose business model depends on the development of our region have large advertising and PR budgets. On the other hand, the grassroots community or environmental groups whose aim is to protect our region often work with little to no PR or advertising budgets. For the betterment of our community and to ensure all sides get their say, On The Bay is pleased to reignite our initiative to donate advertising space to community and environmental groups who meet certain criteria. To have your group considered for this space, please email me at the address at right.
Overall, our aim is to encourage discussion. Indeed, discussion is the cornerstone of democracy—provided that we can trust politicians to act in the best interest of their constituents.
Speaking of discussion, we would love to hear from you! This issue is packed with excellent and varied content. Plus, our recent covers have triggered a lot of conversation and we love the fact that people are talking. Our executive producer, Moses Znaimer (also president and CEO of Zoomer Media and the owner of this publication), directs our lead stories and cover art and verbiage. Moses has built a hugely successful career creating out-of-the-box concepts, and his vision for On The Bay is no different. We have healthy debates. We certainly agree that when people talk about On The Bay, which they do often, it’s a really good thing—and without question, his covers get people talking.
So what do you think? This is your magazine too, and we’d love to hear from you. The community magazine is alive and well. And we are all better because of it.
Enjoy this issue! It’s a good one.
Sincerely,
David Loopstra
Publisher,
On The Bay
dloopstra@onthebaymagazine.com
