I’m delighted to report that I have a new job, starting next Monday, at the Toronto Star.
As Assistant Managing Editor - Multimedia, my responsibilties will include editorial content on thestar.com, one of Canada’s most popular news sites.
The Star has an impressive commitment to digital publishing, and it’s an honour to join an organization with such high standards and values.
The next few weeks are going to be very hectic indeed as I get to know my new team — some of whom I was fortunate to meet, albeit briefly, this afternoon — and learn my way around a very large, dynamic operation.
I’m looking forward to working with my new boss, editor-in-chief Fred Kuntz, and everyone else at the Star.
The 27 clips include Joan Walsh of salon.com, Joe Crump of Avenue A/Razorfish (designers of nytimes.com), Matt Thompson of savetheinternet.com, and Jessica Rose (lonelygirl15).
Interest in online gaming increases traffic to sites in June
Both the online gaming information and online gaming categories gained in June, bolstered by significant growth among the under 18 demographic. The gaming information category, composed of sites that offer players the latest gaming tips and news, grew 9 percent to 42.8 million visitors, buoyed by strong growth at IGN entertainment (up 17 per cent to 10.4 million visitors), Nintendo Co. (up 26 per cent to 4.3 million visitors) and EA.com (up 41 per cent to 1.8 million visitors). The online gaming category also grew in June, gaining 8 per cent to nearly 64 million visitors. Sites catering to younger individuals saw significant gains within the category, including Disney Games (up 38 per cent to 6.3 million visitors) and Neopets (up 29 per cent to 4.8 million visitors).
World Series of Poker sparks growth to gambling sites
As excitement mounted for the approaching 2007 World Series of Poker, the online gambling category increased 13 percent to 12.5 million visitors. With several online poker sites hosting WSOP satellite tournaments in advance of the main event, many sites experienced gains including PokerStars (up 17 percent increase to 1.6 million visitors), FullTiltPoker (up 10 per cent to 1.1 million visitors) and UltimateBet.com Online Poker (up 16 per cent to 466,000 visitors).
Online radio ranks as top-gaining category in June
Radio sites surged 34 per cent to 48.9 million visitors in June, making it the top gaining category for the month. Yahoo! Music led the category with more than 25 million visitors (up 11 per cent), while AOL Radio (up 11 per cent to 3.2 million visitors) and Disney Music (up 16 per cent to nearly 1.5 million visitors) both saw significant gains for the month.
Entertainment news sees jump with Paris Hilton media frenzy
Americans’ fascination with celebrities spurred growth in the entertainment news category, which saw a seven per cent increase to 42.1 million visitors in June. Largely fueled by national interest in the Paris Hilton scandal, traffic to entertainment news site TMZ surged 37 per cent to 9.4 million visitors for the month, while People experienced a six per cent increase to 6.1 million visitors. The tragic news of the deaths of professional wrestler Chris Benoit and his family drove a flood of traffic to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which jumped 117 per cent to 8.4 million visitors.
Pride month boosts traffic to gay and lesbian sites
Traffic to gay/lesbian sites jumped 23 per cent in June to nearly 3 million visitors as people across the nation celebrated Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. The category was led by PlanetOut with 742,000 visitors (up 19 per cent), followed by Queer Sighted with 563,000 visitors (up 116 per cent), and LOGOonline with 454,000 visitors (up 17 per cent).
Toronto-based community videocasting site blogtv.ca is adding two channels: one for comedy and the other for news and politics.
The channels are scheduled to launch tomorrow [Friday].
Although blogTV.ca is a platform for anyone who wants to videocast [including some who are a long way from being video professionals], it’s owned by a genuine television network, Alliance Atlantis Communications.
Alliance Atlantis is in the process of being acquired by CanWest Global Communications and Goldman Sachs.
