‘Xtra’ papers in 3 Canadian cities shutting down

TORONTO — The publisher of Xtra announced this week it is shutting down the print editions of its gay and lesbian newspapers next month after 30 years.

Pink Triangle Press (PTP) said Wednesday the decision to cease publication of its biweekly Xtra editions in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver will put 12 people out of work.

The final issues of Xtra in Ottawa and Vancouver will be distributed Feb. 12 followed by the last Toronto edition on Feb. 19.

PTP said it will continue to publish news and features on DailyXtra.com.

“We have concluded that a complete transition to digital media offers the best opportunity to continue to engage our audiences over the long term,” explained Ken Popert, PTP executive director and president, in an online statement.

Xtra launched in Toronto in 1984 as an off-shoot of The Body Politic (which ceased publishing in 1987) and was followed by the Ottawa and Vancouver editions in 1993. Over the years PTP launched several short-lived publications, including Go Big and Canadian Male.

In 2006, PTP acquired U.S. travel publication The Guide and within four years ceased publication. It bought lifestyle magazine fab in 2008 and shut it down five years later.

For two decades, most of PTP’s revenues came from Cruiseline, a telephone chat service for gay men. It was sold to First Media Group in 2011 but PTP continues to make money from online dating and “hook-up” site Squirt.

PTP’s decision to cease publication of Xtra comes six months after Toronto Star parent company Torstar shuttered weekly newspaper The Grid and its digital operation, putting 22 people out of work.

The Grid was a rebranding of Eye Weekly, which launched in 1991.

A number of publications aimed at the gay and lesbian market in Canada have ceased publishing in recent years, including AbOUT, Gaiety and Outlooks.

In November, Toronto gay and lesbian radio station Proud FM moved out of the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood and laid off three employees. It continues to broadcast from its parent company’s studios in Etobicoke.

Toronto’s Mint Media Group continues to publish the gay and lesbian monthly IN Magazine.

—–

John R. Kennedy was a contributing reporter to Xtra from 1993 to 1998 and the editor and associate publisher of fab from 1998 to 2002.