Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs’ conspicuously detailed death announcement, accidentally published by Bloomberg news service in 2008, revealed a little-known fact about the craft of writing obituaries: the blood doesn’t have to have gone cold before someone writes the first draft of your final epitaph. In fact, there doesn’t even have to be a reason […] More »

On Tuesday, the sixth and final remaining manslaughter charge in the Boxing Day shootings that killed 15-year-old Jane Creba and wounded several others in 2005 ended in acquittal. Two others, who actually fired weapons, had previously been convicted of second degree murder. G.C., whose full name is withheld because he was a minor at the […] More »

We experimented with a few one-off podcasts sometime last year, but with the dawn of a new decade, and armed with some New Year’s Resolutions to be as awesome as possible, This is launching a new podcast series today — cleverly titled “Listen to This,” geddit? We’ll be posting new Q&As with some fascinating Canadian […] More »

A year of layoffs and anaemic ad buys has given journalists an excuse to turn inwards like never before. By now, even folks outside the industry must be sick of hearing about the Future of Journalism — my own fervent hope is to never read another article about social media for reporters. But I do […] More »

[This was meant to auto-post yesterday, but didn’t, for some reason. So it’s kind of “WTF Thursday” today…] Reporters sans frontières has now waded into the mire that is the lock-out of employees at Le Journal de Montréal. Unlike many public figures, who have thrown their hats in the union’s ring, RSF’s secretary-general, Jean-François Julliard, sided […] More »

Several of my previous blog posts have mentioned Kwani?, the Nairobi literary journal/publishing network dedicated to building contemporary African literature. My interest in the publication was first aroused by the contrasting literary scenes in Uganda and Kenya. While FEMRITE, based in Kampala, Uganda, is a strong local writers’ organization, I never found a literary magazine […] More »

Anthony Fenton, the investigative journalist who wrote “Hostile Takeover: Canada’s outsourced war for Iraq’s oil riches,” the September-October cover story in This Magazine, has been on the air three times in recent weeks, talking about the article, Canada’s part in the Iraq occupation, and the private businesses that profit from the conflict. Here’s Anthony talking […] More »

With Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears splashed across tabloid covers, racing toward early graves, it’s easy to think they’re stupid or sick. But there’s something irresistably subversive about women who won’t behave The website “When Will Amy Winehouse Die?” reads like a macabre count-the-jellybeans contest. How many days does a junkie have left […] More »

We’re extremely pleased to tell you that This won last night at the Canadian Newsstand Awards in the small magazine category. This is actually the third year in a row we’ve won this particular award, which is given out annually to magazines that sell well on the newsstand. The issue that took the prize is […] More »

I was pretty sure I knew what the Canadian flag, held upside down, was supposed to represent. But I had to ask anyway. Last Monday afternoon, standing outside the Houses of Parliament in London in Parliament square, I held my cell phone aloft with a hundred other protesters, taking part in a “climate flash mob,” […] More »

We’re setting up our booth right now for Word On The Street in Toronto, and looking forward to meeting lots of current and future readers of This Magazine. We’ll be offering special deals on back issues and subscriptions today, so please come and say hello! We’re at Booth #235, at the corner of Queen’s Park […] More »