Over Dose

Dose is dead, long live Dose. CanWest MediaWorks shut down the youth-oriented commuter newspaper today that was distributed free in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Launched a little over a year ago, the powers that be decided that paper was not going to be profitable and stopped the presses, effective immediately.

That’s the dry version. Full disclosure here, I was on contract as a web editor at Dose for the past six months and was lucky enough to work with a group of energetic, talented editors, writers, designers and photographers (and all the other people needed to put together a daily paper) who were excited about what they were creating. It was a fun place to work, with music playing and endless pop culture arguments.

The paper (or magazine as it was called around the office) was created to target advertising at the 18-to-34-year-old market, but over the year it became more than an advertising vehicle. Some things worked, some didn’t, but in every case they were trying for something new and different. Though owned by a major media corporation, it didn’t speak like one.

Anyway, 50 out of the 60 of us are now out looking for work and I wish them all well. The website Dose.ca and the mobile elements will continue and I also hope the best for them as well – it will be a hard road to follow with a reduced crew but I’m sure they are up to it.

For anyone reading this on Wednesday and in Toronto, you can find us tonight at Squirrely's on Queen Street West. If you are looking for an experienced web editor, drop me a line tomorrow when I’ve sobered up.