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EDITORIAL The Issue is Survival BY MIEKE NYENHUIS AND CHRISTINA STARR "I'm sorry,
the As most of the readers will know from the letter that was enclosed with the last issue of Women's Education des femmes, we are facing that same obstacle. It was in 1987 that the Board of Directors decided another publication was needed, next to the magazine, to communicate more quickly and more frequently with the membership of CCLOW, to pass on organizational news and information on urgent issues. Minerva, our newsletter, was first printed in September of 1987 and from that day to this both it and Women's Education des femmes have been funded by Secretary of State, Women's Program, under the rubric of "operational funding." Not long after that first issue of Minerva, however, CCLOW was informed by SecState of a government policy not to fund the publication of magazines by organizations which receive operational funding, though money is provided for a membership communications tool. Women's Education des femmes is seen as a magazine; Minerva as the membership communications tool. We were forced to make a choice. Women's Education des femmes is CCLOW's most important face to the community. If we limit its distribution to members only we miss a significant opportunity to reach out to service providers and individuals or groups outside CCLOW who have an interest in women and learning. To support the claim that Women's Education des femmes and its outreach is fundamental to the operation of CCLOW, we turned to you, the members and readers. Your response to our request for lobbying action has been generous and encouraging. We thank you. But what is the necessity for this anxiety and scramble for lobbying support? Why can't La vie en rose, Herzons and the Newsmagazine by alberta women survive? Recently the Toronto Star carried an article on the reduction in funding by the Ontario Arts Council to various locally produced national magazines. Quill and Quire, C Magazine, Books in Canada, Impulse, Opera Canada and This Magazine all received cuts from $10,000 to $27,000. The article says that funding has been reallocated to other alternative magazines but at the very least the message is clear: the means with which to support the alternative press in Canada, whether it be the arts, feminism or social conscience, are limited. And Mulroney's love affair with the United States is not encouraging. The Canadian Periodical Publishers' Association expressed concern in a recent newsletter about "the government's future ability, in the atmosphere of free trade, to sponsor new initiatives in support of Canadian cultural industries. The postal subsidy for publications has already been seriously threatened and the proposed sales tax could be disastrous for some. In our interview in this issue, Deborah Holmberg - Schwartz and Penni Mitchell, two members of the collective that from October of 1979 to March of 1987 published Herizons out of Winnipeg, talk about the frustrations and complications of obtaining and retaining government funding. If they relaunch, which they plan to do, they will endeavor to rely as little as possible on government money, seeking through subscriptions, private funds, donations, advertising, to establish a base not so easily threatened, a connection not easily severed. This is the aim of The Womanist, a new national feminist newspaper published out of Ottawa by Catalyst Research and Communications. Their first editorial reads: "We are not government funded. Nor do we ever want to be dependent on that source. We believe that the women of Canada can sustain a women's newspaper." So far two thick issues have appeared and it is hoped they will continue to materialize. As for Women's Education des femmes, at the time of writing it is understood that we will receive funding, but it has become obvious that to continue as a magazine available to members and non-members alike we will have to supplement that money by turning, like the plans for Herizons and the reality for The Womanist, to increased membership, donations and fund-raising from the private sector. Because for CCLOW, our membership, women in Canada and education in general, it is imperative that the connection be maintained. Mieke Nyenhuis is a member of the
Editorial Board of CCLOW. |
number you have reached is not
in service. Please hang up and try your call again." Such is the message the
recorded voice delivers when you dial the number listed in the masthead of
the Newsmagazine by alberta women to ask what happened after the March
/April issue of 1988. They don't exist any more. Like La vie en rose in
Quebec, Herizons in Manitoba, the Newsmagazine has presumably
hit up against the critical issue of funding and found an obstacle they
couldn't surpass. They have been disconnected.| Back | Contents | Next |