Our Last Issue?

by Rebecca Ephraim

photo by Jaime Kowal

It’s one day before we go to press with the March issue and I have made the difficult decision to discontinue publication of Today’s Vancouver Woman. What you are reading is the last issue before we go on hiatus.

I understand that some people outside of the magazine may incorrectly attribute this development to a lack of acceptance of the new title and positioning. As everyone on our staff knows, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, the energy and excitement that TVW’s introduction has generated makes this decision all the more difficult. 

The honest truth is that the support and acceptance of our former title, SharedVISION, in the community has always been much greater than its ability to attract advertising, our sole source of income. When I stepped into the publisher’s role three and a half years ago, the magazine was deeply in the red. But in the last three years we really picked up steam—our major improvements seemed to please our readers and apparently our advertisers—as we cut our losses over 70 per cent during that period, anticipating a well-earned profit at the end of this year.

What could possibly happen to turn that around and threaten the magazine’s future? You know the answer, as this historic economic downturn has probably touched each and every one of you. In turn, small and independent local retailers, our advertising base, have cut back on their advertising. This magazine has always been proud to be locally and independently owned, yet therefore does not have deep corporate pockets to help it through the rough patches. But this economic downturn is much more than just another rough patch.

Of course we are hardly alone. Some of the largest and most powerful in the publishing industry are in deep trouble, too. Canwest is reportedly close to bankruptcy and thousands of other publications are in jeopardy. This downturn may bring a major shakeout in the world of media as we know it, with new players, perhaps in the online industry, rising in time to take the place of print properties that will fall away.

Is this the last issue of this magazine? Not necessarily. There is a rhythm to everything in life… the oceans ebb and flow and our publication has played a highly valued role in this community for 22 years.

Perhaps we will continue our work with our website. Perhaps there is an investor who would like to join us or a buyer who would like to step forward and write the next chapter of a beautiful story of passion and service to this community. Perhaps the economic pendulum will swing back in the months ahead. For now we are going to take a break to, as they say, “assess our strategic options.”

On behalf of our remarkable and dedicated team of professionals, I want you to know that it has been an honour to create this magazine for you each month. We are deeply grateful for your support and trust that we have helped you make your lives more heartful and meaningful in return.

We have created a place on our Facebook Page to continue this conversation and give you a way to be a part of it. We look forward to hearing from you.

In gratitude,
Rebecca

Rebecca Ephraim
publisher and editor-in-chief
rebecca@tvwmag.com