Perhaps a clue (thanks, 1236!)@1236 kindly directed me to @normwilner's
cryptic 02/24 tweet, and the long chain that follows. So, thanks for that, brah.
Norman's holding his cards tight to his hoodie, but let us close our eyes and try to predict what may be coming.
Here's my wild guess, based on nothing more than idle speculation: Tomorrow, the "privately owned" CreatorNews group will announce that following negotiations it will acquire ownership of the Media Central properties. Details concerning financial arrangements will be sketchy. Mr. Adam "Princeling of Kensington" Waxman will be announced as the CEO and publisher. NOW and Georgia Straight will be integrated into the CreatorNews organization. The print properties will reduce frequency to monthly. In preparation for those activities, Media Central will seek delisting from CSE. The pigeons who hang out at
CEO.ca/FLYY will continue to struggle to make sense of what just happened and will be slow to accept that they've been plucked.
Did I say that was purely a guess? What is palpable, however, is the grief of Norm Wilner and no doubt other long-time employees and friends of NOW and the Straight. MediaCentral's stewardship of these titles has been justly criticized, but we're quite possibly witnessing an era ending and it's a sad day. The roots of those papers goes back to storied "underground" press: Harbinger, AMEX, Satyrday, Tribal Village, Gurerilla. No one other than a handful of graying NOW and Straight staff will remember any of those names, but they were significant as the forerunners of today's blogs and blogosphere.
Alice Klein and Dan McLeod. Sorry for your (potential) loss.