Yonge Street, a new online weekly magazine published by Detroit-based Issue Media Group, launched this week in Toronto. Co-CEO and group publisher Paul Schutt says that although it has 13 other city weeklies across the U.S., the content for the new Toronto site will be all locally generated.


The site’s managing editor is Shawn Micallef who also works as a senior editor of Spacing and public-space columnist for Eye Weekly. “The site will cover the new economy,” he says. “Both in the 416 and 905. It is going to shine a light on places in the city where there is growth and good things happening in the city. A lot of times local news focuses on the negative.”

With a target audience of those employed or involved in the “new economy”, Schutt says that advertisers on the site will be large stakeholders such as RBC and Toronto Hydro. “We don’t do business with bars, restaurants,” he says. “We only do annual commitments, don’t do month by month or by-issue commitments.”

Yonge Street’s other prominent staffers include development editor Bert Archer who also writes for the real estate section of Toronto Life, and managing photographer Tanja Tiziana, who runs the photoblog Doublecrossed.ca. Innovation and job news editor Edward Keenan also works as senior editor of Eye Weekly.

The online magazine will be published every Wednesday at Yongestreetmedia.ca as well as being sent out to a list of e-mail subscribers.