Frank (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Frank is a bi-weekly Canadian
scandal or satirical magazine published since 1987 in Halifax
, Nova Scotia
.
A separate publication in Ottawa
, Ontario
, of the same name was published from 1989 to 2004 and then revived from 2005 to 2008. This publication was a legally separate entity, although it was spawned from the Halifax publication.
Frank was inspired by, and is often compared to, the British Private Eye
. The magazine is available on newsstands throughout Halifax and communities in the Maritimes
.
. Using money he received from the sale of The Daily News
, Bentley, along with Lyndon Watkins and Dulcie Conrad, started a bi-weekly "gossip rag" or "scandal magazine" which they gave the name Frank.
The first issue was published in November 1987 and focused on gossip about the private lives of the rich, famous and politically connected in the Maritimes
. It was designed to sell the sensational news coverage that mainstream press in the Maritimes was averse to covering and was somewhat of an extension to Bentley's vision for The Daily News during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Bentley followed a successful formula with Frank by feeding the need for sensational gossip among the rich and powerful as well as the average citizen. The publication found its niche in a Canadian media which was traditionally reluctant to pry into the personal lives of politicians and other notables, often covering material found nowhere else. All articles in Frank are published anonymously although some of its contributors have at times been revealed to be reporters working for more mainstream media outlets.
Unusually, the magazine had no real advertising and operated solely from its subscriptions, although it does contain a great deal of satirical "advertising".
Bentley expanded the Frank franchise to include an Ottawa
edition in 1989 with the help of former Canadian Press reporter Michael Bate
, while continuing with his publication of the Halifax edition. The Halifax edition of Frank gained considerable coverage after scooping local and national media to reveal the charges of sexual assault against former Premier of Nova Scotia
and Trudeau-era cabinet minister Gerald Regan
. Regan was subsequently acquitted. Local targets of the magazines satire and gossip have frequently included members of the billionaire Sobey, Irving and McCain families, as well as prominent local media personalities and politicians in all three provinces.
Dulcie Conrad sold her share of the Halifax edition of Frank in the mid-1990s to Bentley and Watkins. In September 2000, Bentley and Watkins sold an equity stake in the Maritime edition of Frank to one of the magazine's reporters, Clifford Boutilier.
From 2002 to 2004, David Bentley's daughter Carolyn Wood was the editor/publisher of the Maritime edition.
In 2004, Wood handed control of the magazine to John Williams, previously a Frank staff reporter. No money changed hands.
Williams sold Frank Magazine to Cape Breton-born businessman Douglas Rudderham for an undisclosed sum in November of 2010, in order to concentrate efforts on his gay publication, Gaze Magazine.
Based in Montreal, Rudderham is also the president and CEO of Pharmacy Wholesale Services, primarily a supplier of diabetic supplies.
In June 2011 conventional media outlets such as CBC
and The Chronicle Herald reported that the publication's newsroom underwent a massive shakeup when 4 of its 5 reporters left - 3 having been fired by managing editor Andrew Douglas and 1 resigning. CBC reported that the first reporter to be fired, Mairin Prentiss, occurred after she had questioned a recent column on sexism
. The firing of Prentiss apparently triggered Walsh's resignation, which was followed by terminations for Neal Ozano and Jacob Boon who allegedly acted insubordinately.
edition in 1989, with the help of Michael Bate
, proved extremely successful during its first decade of publication, as the edition quickly outsold its Maritime cousin by feeding off the void of gossip news among mainstream media in the nation's capital.
Bate subsequently bought out Bentley and his other partners to make the Ottawa edition of Frank independent of its Halifax roots, although both magazines maintained similar coverage and continued much as before.
Bate did make several changes including adding a "Remedial Media" section which printed gossip tidbits on the internal politics of Canadian media outlets. Michael Coren
, whose humour column "Aesthete's Diary" was retitled "Michael Coren's Diary" after he revealed his true identity, was one of the few contributors ever to use his real name in the magazine.
The final page of the Ottawa edition of Frank also featured a humour column, usually satirizing the point of view of a real Canadian political figure such as Sheila Copps
or Preston Manning
. In later years, the back page column was titled "Dick Little's Canadian Beef"—Little was not a real figure, but simply a curmudgeonly character of mostly conservative views meant to satirize a typical "angry Canadian."
The Ottawa edition of Frank received notoriety in 1991 when the magazine ran a satirical advertisement for a contest inviting young Tories
to "Deflower Caroline Mulroney." Mulroney's father, Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney
, was incensed and threatened physical harm toward those responsible before joining several women's groups in denouncing the ad as an incitement to rape
—the magazine maintained that it was commenting on Brian Mulroney's perceived habit of using his daughter as a political prop.
The Ottawa edition of Frank broke a number of notable stories, including being the first to publish the tale of Mel Lastman
's wife's shoplifting arrest and was the only Canadian publication to cover the divorce trial of cabinet minister Paul Dick
. Other Frank targets included notorious teen killer Karla Homolka
, CBC Radio
host Peter Gzowski
, and comedian Dan Aykroyd
. Frank continuously followed the marriages of personalities, such as CBC Television
news anchor Peter Mansbridge
with fellow journalist Wendy Mesley
then with actress Cynthia Dale
, and Bank of Montreal
CEO Matthew Barrett
with pin-up model Anne Marie Sten.
Frank frequently mocked what it saw as banal or clichéd journalistic prose, particularly that of lifestyle columnists such as Leah McLaren
and Russell Smith from The Globe and Mail
and Rebecca Eckler
of The National Post.
Other regular features of the magazine included parody movie or television advertisements and a two-page fumetti
comic which used television screenshots, usually of newscasts, to mock journalists and politicians through the use of satirical dialogue balloons.
Many of those who had been written about or "Franked," threatened lawsuits, and many issues toward the end of Michael Bate's ownership contained printed apologies as a means to warding off the expense of lawyers' fees. The magazine bit the bullet on only two legal battles—one to a Quebec judge and one to Mike Duffy, a Canadian television journalist whom the magazine deemed a "fat-faced liar" and had called "Mike Puffy" (in reference to his physical appearance). Although the magazine settled on the latter case, the legal expenses launched the Ottawa edition into a downward financial spiral.
In 2003 Bate made it known that he was looking for a buyer. A bid was soon on offer by Theo Caldwell, who had no publishing background and was apparently returning to Canada after a bid to become a Hollywood actor. Likely backed by his father, an investment adviser, Caldwell offered $150,000 for the company. Caldwell claimed to be interested in making Frank a "kinder, gentler" magazine.
A counteroffer was soon made by a group of Toronto investors led by former Globe and Mail business reporter Fabrice Taylor
. After a reportedly bizarre meeting at Bate's house, he sold the magazine to Taylor's group. Taylor moved the magazine to Toronto
and relaunched it in late 2003 — however, circulation dropped dramatically, and lingering financial difficulties resulting from libel lawsuits ended with the final issue on December 3, 2004. The Halifax edition was unaffected and continued publishing.
The Ottawa edition of Frank was resurrected after Bate reportedly reacquired the property from Taylor, returning the satire magazine to the nation's capital. The new ownership created an online magazine using the name efrank.ca, with the first issue publishing on September 27, 2005. Several features from the original printed version of the Ottawa edition were retained and a full print version returned to newsstands in late November 2005 (issues are numbered as "Volume 2"). With the print version, subscription-by-mail again became available.
The return of Frank to Ottawa coincided with the fall of the government and launch of a federal election
. The Ottawa edition of Frank scooped national media by being the first to report controversial remarks by Liberal media spokesperson Scott Reid
.
An announcement was sent on October 28, 2008 that the print and web versions of the publication were ceasing publication.
public figures — whether publicly out or not — were often referred to as "avid pianists" (if male) and "sushi enthusiasts" (if female).
Frank also referred to many of Canada's elite in a derogatory manner based upon their personalities, name, or other unique characteristics. Prime Ministers were always referred to by nicknames such as Byron Muldoon
or Jean Crouton
rather than their real names.
Some celebrities who have sued Frank include:
Frank was also censured by former Prime Minister
s, Premiers of Quebec
and the Canadian House of Commons
for defaming the province of Quebec.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
scandal or satirical magazine published since 1987 in Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
.
A separate publication in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, of the same name was published from 1989 to 2004 and then revived from 2005 to 2008. This publication was a legally separate entity, although it was spawned from the Halifax publication.
Frank was inspired by, and is often compared to, the British Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
. The magazine is available on newsstands throughout Halifax and communities in the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
.
Halifax edition
The idea for Frank can be traced to Halifax-area newspaper publisher David BentleyDavid Bentley (Canadian businessman)
David Bentley is a Canadian businessman from Halifax, Nova Scotia who has been involved in print media since the 1970s.Born in England, Bentley emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1966-The Daily News:...
. Using money he received from the sale of The Daily News
The Daily News (Halifax)
The Daily News was a tabloid newspaper in Halifax, Nova Scotia that was published from 1974 until ceasing operations in February 2008.-History:...
, Bentley, along with Lyndon Watkins and Dulcie Conrad, started a bi-weekly "gossip rag" or "scandal magazine" which they gave the name Frank.
The first issue was published in November 1987 and focused on gossip about the private lives of the rich, famous and politically connected in the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
. It was designed to sell the sensational news coverage that mainstream press in the Maritimes was averse to covering and was somewhat of an extension to Bentley's vision for The Daily News during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Bentley followed a successful formula with Frank by feeding the need for sensational gossip among the rich and powerful as well as the average citizen. The publication found its niche in a Canadian media which was traditionally reluctant to pry into the personal lives of politicians and other notables, often covering material found nowhere else. All articles in Frank are published anonymously although some of its contributors have at times been revealed to be reporters working for more mainstream media outlets.
Unusually, the magazine had no real advertising and operated solely from its subscriptions, although it does contain a great deal of satirical "advertising".
Bentley expanded the Frank franchise to include an Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
edition in 1989 with the help of former Canadian Press reporter Michael Bate
Michael Bate
Michael Bate is a Canadian media entrepreneur and one of the founders of the Ottawa edition of gossip magazine Frank.Born in England, he grew up in Canada, attending the University of Victoria in 1965, and later studying history at Carleton...
, while continuing with his publication of the Halifax edition. The Halifax edition of Frank gained considerable coverage after scooping local and national media to reveal the charges of sexual assault against former Premier of Nova Scotia
Premier of Nova Scotia
The Premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister for the Canadian province of Nova Scotia who presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of the political party which has the most seats in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly...
and Trudeau-era cabinet minister Gerald Regan
Gerald Regan
Gerald Augustine Regan, PC is a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th Premier of Nova Scotia from 1970 to 1978....
. Regan was subsequently acquitted. Local targets of the magazines satire and gossip have frequently included members of the billionaire Sobey, Irving and McCain families, as well as prominent local media personalities and politicians in all three provinces.
Dulcie Conrad sold her share of the Halifax edition of Frank in the mid-1990s to Bentley and Watkins. In September 2000, Bentley and Watkins sold an equity stake in the Maritime edition of Frank to one of the magazine's reporters, Clifford Boutilier.
From 2002 to 2004, David Bentley's daughter Carolyn Wood was the editor/publisher of the Maritime edition.
In 2004, Wood handed control of the magazine to John Williams, previously a Frank staff reporter. No money changed hands.
Williams sold Frank Magazine to Cape Breton-born businessman Douglas Rudderham for an undisclosed sum in November of 2010, in order to concentrate efforts on his gay publication, Gaze Magazine.
Based in Montreal, Rudderham is also the president and CEO of Pharmacy Wholesale Services, primarily a supplier of diabetic supplies.
In June 2011 conventional media outlets such as CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
and The Chronicle Herald reported that the publication's newsroom underwent a massive shakeup when 4 of its 5 reporters left - 3 having been fired by managing editor Andrew Douglas and 1 resigning. CBC reported that the first reporter to be fired, Mairin Prentiss, occurred after she had questioned a recent column on sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
. The firing of Prentiss apparently triggered Walsh's resignation, which was followed by terminations for Neal Ozano and Jacob Boon who allegedly acted insubordinately.
Ottawa edition
Bentley's expansion of the Frank franchise from its Halifax base to include an OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
edition in 1989, with the help of Michael Bate
Michael Bate
Michael Bate is a Canadian media entrepreneur and one of the founders of the Ottawa edition of gossip magazine Frank.Born in England, he grew up in Canada, attending the University of Victoria in 1965, and later studying history at Carleton...
, proved extremely successful during its first decade of publication, as the edition quickly outsold its Maritime cousin by feeding off the void of gossip news among mainstream media in the nation's capital.
Bate subsequently bought out Bentley and his other partners to make the Ottawa edition of Frank independent of its Halifax roots, although both magazines maintained similar coverage and continued much as before.
Bate did make several changes including adding a "Remedial Media" section which printed gossip tidbits on the internal politics of Canadian media outlets. Michael Coren
Michael Coren
Michael Coren is an English-Canadian columnist, author, public speaker, radio host and television talk show host. He hosted the television talk show The Michael Coren Show on the Crossroads Television System from 1999 to 2011 when he moved to the Sun News Network to host an evening talk show, The...
, whose humour column "Aesthete's Diary" was retitled "Michael Coren's Diary" after he revealed his true identity, was one of the few contributors ever to use his real name in the magazine.
The final page of the Ottawa edition of Frank also featured a humour column, usually satirizing the point of view of a real Canadian political figure such as Sheila Copps
Sheila Copps
Sheila Maureen Copps, PC is a former Canadian politician who also served as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to April 30, 1996 and June 19, 1996 to June 11, 1997....
or Preston Manning
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...
. In later years, the back page column was titled "Dick Little's Canadian Beef"—Little was not a real figure, but simply a curmudgeonly character of mostly conservative views meant to satirize a typical "angry Canadian."
The Ottawa edition of Frank received notoriety in 1991 when the magazine ran a satirical advertisement for a contest inviting young Tories
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
to "Deflower Caroline Mulroney." Mulroney's father, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, was incensed and threatened physical harm toward those responsible before joining several women's groups in denouncing the ad as an incitement to rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
—the magazine maintained that it was commenting on Brian Mulroney's perceived habit of using his daughter as a political prop.
The Ottawa edition of Frank broke a number of notable stories, including being the first to publish the tale of Mel Lastman
Mel Lastman
Melvin Douglas "Mel" Lastman , nicknamed "Mayor Mel", is a former businessman and politician. He is the founder of the Bad Boy Furniture chain. He served as the mayor of the former city of North York, Ontario, Canada from 1972 until 1997. At the end of 1997, North York, along with five other...
's wife's shoplifting arrest and was the only Canadian publication to cover the divorce trial of cabinet minister Paul Dick
Paul Dick
Paul Wyatt Dick, PC is a lawyer and former Canadian politician.He was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, the son of Wyatt Dick and Constance Grace Harrison, and educated in Arnprior, Port Hope, at the University of Western Ontario and the University of New Brunswick. Dick was called to the Ontario bar...
. Other Frank targets included notorious teen killer Karla Homolka
Karla Homolka
Karla Leanne Homolka, also known as Karla Leanne Teale , is a Canadian serial killer. She attracted worldwide media attention when she was convicted of manslaughter following a plea bargain in the 1991 and 1992 rape-murders of two Ontario teenage girls, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, as well as...
, CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
host Peter Gzowski
Peter Gzowski
Peter Gzowski, was a Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter, most famous for his work on the CBC radio show Morningside. His first biographer argued that Gzowski's contribution to Canadian media must be considered in the context of efforts by a generation of Canadian nationalists to understand...
, and comedian Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
. Frank continuously followed the marriages of personalities, such as CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
news anchor Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge, OC , a Canadian broadcaster and news anchor, is the CBC News Chief Correspondent and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison...
with fellow journalist Wendy Mesley
Wendy Mesley
Wendy Mesley is a host and reporter for CBC Television's consumer investigation series Marketplace. She is also a frequent back-up anchor for CBC's flagship evening news program The National. She also co-hosts Test the Nation with Brent Bambury...
then with actress Cynthia Dale
Cynthia Dale
Cynthia Dale is a Canadian television actress and stage performer. With a long and accomplished history as a dramatic actor, she is best known for her role as lawyer Olivia Novak in the 1987-94 television drama Street Legal....
, and Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
CEO Matthew Barrett
Matthew Barrett
Matthew William Barrett, is an Irish Canadian banker who until 2006 was the Chairman of Barclays Bank.Born in County Kerry, Ireland, he attended the Christian Brothers School in Kells, County Meath, and attended the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Programme in 1981.He started his...
with pin-up model Anne Marie Sten.
Frank frequently mocked what it saw as banal or clichéd journalistic prose, particularly that of lifestyle columnists such as Leah McLaren
Leah McLaren
Leah McLaren is a Canadian author and newspaper columnist.Born in Peterborough, Ontario, McLaren attended Claude Watson School for the Arts in Toronto. She studied English literature at McGill University in Montreal, and Trent University in Peterborough, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in...
and Russell Smith from The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
and Rebecca Eckler
Rebecca Eckler
-Journalism career:Eckler's work has appeared in ELLE, Fashion, Maclean's, Lifestyles, Canadian House and Home and Mademoiselle. She was the host of the short-lived television show Modern Manners, and has appeared on CTV and CBC television, and on Global television as a reporter.Eckler was employed...
of The National Post.
Other regular features of the magazine included parody movie or television advertisements and a two-page fumetti
Fumetti
Fumetti is an Italian word which refers to all comics. In English, the term refers specifically to photonovels or photographic comics, a genre of comics illustrated with photographs rather than drawings. Italians call these fotoromanzi...
comic which used television screenshots, usually of newscasts, to mock journalists and politicians through the use of satirical dialogue balloons.
Many of those who had been written about or "Franked," threatened lawsuits, and many issues toward the end of Michael Bate's ownership contained printed apologies as a means to warding off the expense of lawyers' fees. The magazine bit the bullet on only two legal battles—one to a Quebec judge and one to Mike Duffy, a Canadian television journalist whom the magazine deemed a "fat-faced liar" and had called "Mike Puffy" (in reference to his physical appearance). Although the magazine settled on the latter case, the legal expenses launched the Ottawa edition into a downward financial spiral.
In 2003 Bate made it known that he was looking for a buyer. A bid was soon on offer by Theo Caldwell, who had no publishing background and was apparently returning to Canada after a bid to become a Hollywood actor. Likely backed by his father, an investment adviser, Caldwell offered $150,000 for the company. Caldwell claimed to be interested in making Frank a "kinder, gentler" magazine.
A counteroffer was soon made by a group of Toronto investors led by former Globe and Mail business reporter Fabrice Taylor
Fabrice Taylor
Fabrice Taylor is a journalist who reports on business and investment activities for print, radio and television media.Taylor began his career at the Globe and Mail in 1995. He moved to the Toronto Star in 1997 where he worked as an assistant business editor for three years before returning to the...
. After a reportedly bizarre meeting at Bate's house, he sold the magazine to Taylor's group. Taylor moved the magazine to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and relaunched it in late 2003 — however, circulation dropped dramatically, and lingering financial difficulties resulting from libel lawsuits ended with the final issue on December 3, 2004. The Halifax edition was unaffected and continued publishing.
The Ottawa edition of Frank was resurrected after Bate reportedly reacquired the property from Taylor, returning the satire magazine to the nation's capital. The new ownership created an online magazine using the name efrank.ca, with the first issue publishing on September 27, 2005. Several features from the original printed version of the Ottawa edition were retained and a full print version returned to newsstands in late November 2005 (issues are numbered as "Volume 2"). With the print version, subscription-by-mail again became available.
The return of Frank to Ottawa coincided with the fall of the government and launch of a federal election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
. The Ottawa edition of Frank scooped national media by being the first to report controversial remarks by Liberal media spokesperson Scott Reid
Scott Reid (political advisor)
Scott Reid was the deputy chief of staff in the Prime Minister's Office of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, as well as one of Martin's senior and longest-serving advisors. As a key spokesman for Martin, he made frequent appearances in Canadian media speaking on behalf of the PMO and the...
.
An announcement was sent on October 28, 2008 that the print and web versions of the publication were ceasing publication.
Frank jargon
Frank often incorporates custom jargon and phrasing in articles. Examples include referring to news readers as "bingo callers", public relations staff were referred to as "bum boys" and "fartcatchers". When the magazine alluded to two famous Canadians having sexual relations, it would refer to them as "horizontal mambo partners", while gayGay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
public figures — whether publicly out or not — were often referred to as "avid pianists" (if male) and "sushi enthusiasts" (if female).
Frank also referred to many of Canada's elite in a derogatory manner based upon their personalities, name, or other unique characteristics. Prime Ministers were always referred to by nicknames such as Byron Muldoon
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
or Jean Crouton
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
rather than their real names.
Controversies
Both the Maritime and Ottawa editions of Frank have been the subject of numerous libel complaints. In the case of the Ottawa edition, several of these actions were successful and are cited as a major reason for the collapse of that edition in 2004.Some celebrities who have sued Frank include:
- Mike Duffy, a CTVCTV television networkCTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
political correspondent who was reportedly awarded $50,000 in civil court. - Mary Hogan, former Ontario Deputy Attorney General.
- Warren KinsellaWarren KinsellaWarren James Douglas Kinsella , is a Toronto-based Canadian, lawyer, author, musician, political consultant, commentator, and blogger...
, journalist. - Steve Petherbridge
- Pamela WallinPamela WallinPamela Wallin, OC, SOM is a former Canadian television journalist and diplomat. On January 2, 2009, she was seated in the Canadian Senate, where she sits as a Conservative.-Early life and career:...
, a TV personality.
Frank was also censured by former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
s, Premiers of Quebec
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
and the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
for defaming the province of Quebec.
External links
- http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/18/38/News/tech.html Libel Noose Closes on Frank: Satirical Rag Has Few Friends.
- http://www.rrj.ca/online/588/ The Ballad of Electronic Frank (re: libel suits after Ottawa re-launch).
- Frank Magazine - Atlantic Canada Edition