ascent nominated for 2009 utne independent press award!!
April 9th, 2009 by roseanne Posted in ascent, independent media
ascent is actually no stranger to the Utne awards (which honour and acknowledge the best of the independent media throughout North America), having won for Best Spiritual Coverage in 2003 and 2005. The 2009 winners will be announced in May and the whole list will be published in the July-August issue of Utne. Even though ascent no longer exists as a print publication, we will happily accept a posthumous award!
Read the full list of nominees here.
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is yoga an election issue?
September 25th, 2008 by vanessa Posted in Executive Publisher, independent media, small mags
IT IS WHEN THE FUTURE OF CANADIAN MAGAZINES IS AT STAKE. If the proposed changes to Canada Post’s Publications Assistance Program (PAP) go through, magazines across Canada will suffer immeasurably. Postage costs will be prohibitive. Many small and independent publications will not survive. The PAP has been a cornerstone of federal cultural policy for decades. With the dominance of US-produced content on our newsstands, programs like the PAP allow Canadian content to thrive and the original work of our writers, artists, editors and designers to get to readers across this country. We’re in trouble, though. This 100% federally owned Crown Corporation has unilaterally decided to undercut the PAP. This will make it impossible for Canadian magazines, especially small independent ones like ascent magazine who bring together yoga, art and social issues, to distribute their original content. If we want to ensure a thriving cultural climate and industry, engage the voices of our artists, citizens, pioneers, luminaries, and yes, our yogis…. it is definitely the time to act. Act NOW - write to your MP and make this an election issue. Take a look at this provocative youtube parody ~ A renowned Quebec artist applies for an grant and faces difficulties and misunderstandings galore. Painfully funny.
Says Magazines Canada, “The PAP helps ensure that more than 70 per cent of the magazines delivered by subscription are Canadian and have over 80 per cent Canadian content…..If Canada Post is permitted to cut its financial support, Canadian magazines will see a 40 per cent increase in postage costs. The cost of magazine subscriptions will increase, foreign magazines will be advantaged over Canadian ones and some magazines will no longer be available at all.” If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
ascent, in the world
September 20th, 2008 by vanessa Posted in ascent, community, independent media, small mags
THOUGHTS FROM VANESSA, EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Here at ascent, we think a lot about letting go into the change that wants to come. After all, we are deeply involved in, and committed to, the practices of karma yoga, not being attached to outcomes, listening deeply to our inner wisdom and collective intelligence … This isn’t always so easy, as a organization. And there is also the responsibility to take action, to set intentions, to purposefully cultivate the grounds for the inner and outer worlds we want to live in and pass on… So how do we live this as a magazine? As an organization? And how do we work with, and thrive in, the context of an increasingly chaotic external environment? We see political, environmental and global stresses and a publishing industry in crisis. ascent magazine has been witnessing fellow independent publications like Bitch Magazine in the US live the roller coaster of staying alive in an industry whose corporate values are incongruous with being true to authenticity and the expression of diverse voices. ascent magazine, as a small, independent, non-profit publication is not exempt from this. As independent presses we are all responding to - and pioneering within - this rapidly changing media environment where print and social/web media are in a dynamic negotiation, and conglomerates are the norm. If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
the wild & wonderful world of small magazine publishing
September 19th, 2008 by ian Posted in community, independent media, small mags
There was a shudder of fear throughout the magazine world when, on September 15th, the beloved feminist magazine Bitch, published out of Portland Oregon, began a hail mary donation campaign to save their publication. In a short video that has circulated around the web for the last four days Bitch’s Co-Founder/Editorial Director, Andi Zeisler, and Director/Publisher, Debbie Rassmusen reveal to the world that Bitch will need $40,000 by October 15th or else the last issue of Bitch will truly be the last issue ever. Small magazines give voice to the visions of writers, artists, thinkers, and leaders of all our communities, they keep us informed and connected to the world around us with a personal relevance that large corporate publications can never match. But publishing a small independent magazine, like Bitch or like ascent magazine is an uphill battle to generate the funds and resources needed just to get the magazine printed and in the mail. Everyday wild and wonderful small magazines are throwing in the towel. Bitch made small magazine history when they announced last night that just three days into a month long campaign they had met and exceeded their goal of $40,000, proving through the outpouring of their readers just how important their voice is. Bitch will live to print another issue, but they are not out of the fire, and still in need of any support they can get, because the small magazine world is changing from the base, and we all need to find ways to sustain ourselves in a new and different world.
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