The Walrus magazine, which has won more National Magazine Awards since its inception in 2003 than any other Canadian magazine, today launches its new WalrusTV channel, a joint venture with Toronto-based High Fidelity HDTV to produce short documentary films inspired by Walrus feature articles.
Explaining the bold venture to James Adams at The Globe and Mail, Walrus publisher Shelley Ambrose remarked simply that
“[W]ith respect to Walrus content, we need to be where people are or where they’re going. We can’t sit here and pull people to be towards us.”
And it’s not just the magazine itself that looks to benefit from this venture into new media; the many National Magazine Award-winning freelance writers and artists from The Walrus will hopefully benefit from the increased exposure to audiences for their work. That has to be good for all.
