You will select your advertisers to fit the feel of the magazine. Oh how I'd like to be there for that pitch. "Hey Mr. Advertiser, it's your lucky day. We've decided we will let you be on our site". Best of luck with that! I look forward to hearing the excited advertisers celebrating that you've deemed them worthy to work with. UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Interesting and ambitious effort from Christopher Frey and his crew, who I'm told include Carl Wilson, Chris Randle, James Chatto, Jason McBride, Alex Bozikovic and Bert Archer.

Strange though that while these are solid magazine names, I think they collectively have about three hours of web experience between them.

If The Standard will primarily be a web site, as Frey says in the article above, I'm surprised there aren't any big names from Toronto's amazing online publishing scene in the masthead. (Or any women.)

Reads like a bunch of classic magazine guys out to prove how sites like Torontoist or BlogTO or OpenFile or even Torontolife.com are doing the web wrong. Best of luck!

And...where do you find those 'big names from Toronto's amazing online publishing scene'?

"Advertisers will be chosen to fit the feel of the magazine"

I always thought it was the other way round?

This is obviously the work of some who have never made a living banging on doors, selling media. What a "head up your butt" approach. Selecting clients who fit the magazine? Do you really think you're that good? Any sales person will tell you that the fit isn't as important as, do they have money!

Plug: You can find some of the big names from the Canadian online publishing scene in the credits from the winners of the Canadian Online Publishing Awards: http://www.canadianonlinepublishingawards.com/2010/winners.shtml

Based on the site's format, it's a tablet-targeted layout, so why shouldn't they use the 'match advertiser to content' approach? It's ambitious, sure, but they're probably going after sponsored, exclusive model. It's just a very competitive, web-savvy niche - just look at Torontoist.

I just looked at the site, and felt like I was looking at an updated version of Saturday Night (a once great magazine that's been dead almost 10 years?). Will it soon feature photo spreads of the same two Toronto party organizing women, over and over again? Sorry, I just don't think Toronto's 'scene' is that deep (don't get me wrong, I actually love living and owning a home here). I wish the Standard luck, genuinely.

Publishing really is full of angry and bitter people. It must feel amazing to tramp all over someone when they have the courage to start something new. Now that you've gotten it out of your system, try reading it. It's good.

Well said Debbie!! I also love that you have the common decency to at least use your first name, unlike those outspoken cowards who hide behind the anonymous title. Yes, it is a challenge to start something new. Unfortunately the price one pays for being mentioned on sites such as Masthead is that you become the target for self proclaimed experts who have the God-given gift of knowing how to do things, such as launching a new publication, but sadly lack the courage to put their time and money on the line. Such is our business. Having been on many launches over the years, the biggest sceptics are found at the agency media buying level. More than taking care of their client's interests, the sad fact is many simply get off on being able to reject new properties which don't have the funds to offer them free lunches, hockey boxes, ice cream parties, theatre tickets trips or a thousand other such perks. In any other industry it's called graft! To those writing in, Debbie is right. Someone has stepped up. Let's support with constructive comments, not just negative shots.

Here are some constructive comments. The site looks good, so far. Just one suggestion: more female contributors, please!

C'mon # 11. Here's a new idea. Let's use contibutors because they are good. Using more females????? Aside from gender discrimination, that's just a foolish thing to say. If you want gender discrimination in publishing, go into sales. Start checking out the mastheads. You're going to like what you see. Media sales has a huge female percentage. Much larger than any publisher could ever defend.