The state of Canadian Moto Journalism (online and print)

[TK4]

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Cycle Canada and CMG Online have pretty much jumped the shark.
Most stuff is just a rehash of press releases.
I can only read two writers now (Costa and Zac), the rest make my head hurt.
What's the future hold in store ?

 

[xrljoel]

Cycle Canada and CMG Online have pretty much jumped the shark.
Most stuff is just a rehash of press releases.
I can only read two writers now (Costa and Zac), the rest make my head hurt.
What's the future hold in store ?

Deader than a doornail.

Sadly, but not unexpectedly.

CC has devolved to the point of being a collection of press releases and is a faint shadow of what it was. The print magazines are hit and mostly miss with an occasional article/story that's worth a read while standing in the grocery store. Haven't purchased a copy in several years.

In my opinion CMG Online has fallen the farthest, fastest and is the most disappointing. Though I click on it every morning there's rarely anything interesting enough to make me stay beyond the 5/10 seconds to scan the front page. Where previously there would be a review or opinion piece by Zac Kuryluk, Mark Richardson, Costa M(don't want to butcher the spelling) and others there's now only press releases or occasionally a couple dull and uninteresting paragraphs about common topics. I don't want to insult the guy doing the writing, but it isn't as good or interesting as the above mentioned guys.

Of course they also killed the seemingly popular, and lively soapbox forum.

But this just mirrors what's happened to (North American) magazines in general, regardless the topic and newspapers as well.

 

[Priller]

Is Larry Tate still at Inside Motorcycles? Him and Rob Harris and Steve Bond were my favourites back in the day, but I lost touch with Larry when 'Arris passed and CMG changed hands.

I have found most Canadian moto-journalism since to be pretty bland. They're in a tough spot of needing manufacturers to stay friendly, as there simply aren't enough eyeballs in this country to pay for coverage without manufacturer support.

The reality is that print is meaningless now, and even written online stuff has mostly been supplanted by video coverage via YouTube. Ryan at Fortnine is now the leading Canadian moto-journo. Revzilla has replaced Motorcyclist and Cycle World in the US. Motorcyclist.com tries, but John Burns and Troy Siahaan aren't for me.

Which leaves the UK stuff, whether it's the lad culture at 44Teeth or the very serious MCN, both of whom can do great work in their way. I also subscribe to the Bikes Unlimited app, which gets me digital versions of the print magazines MCN, Bike, Ride, Practical Sportbikes, and Build (hipster central). It's chock full of incredible info, whether it's gear testing (ranking six pairs of waterproof gloves, for example), or very thorough ride tests. There's no way any Canadian outlet would have even 1/100th the resources required to match that, though.

To me, if any Canadian outlet is going to find an audience, they either need to find a reason for Canadian riders to go there first (as the content is usefully different to US or UK sources), or they need to find a voice like F9 or 44Teeth that differentiates them from the sea of press release distributors that most ignore. The former would be a tough go, but the latter is doable if you can get reach beyond Canada. There's two Canadian guys doing good stuff with cars over at the Throttle House YouTube channel, for example. But to find an audience with written content would require some otherworldly talent. Even Jensen Beeler is retired from Asphalt and Rubber now ..

 

[TK4]

Is Larry Tate still at Inside Motorcycles? Him and Rob Harris and Steve Bond were my favourites back in the day, but I lost touch with Larry when 'Arris passed and CMG changed hands.

I think Larry has pretty much retired from writing, Rob and Steve are both dead. I miss them.

 

[Scuba Steve]

It sucks I hate video and would much rather read a article preferably in print.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Mad Mike]

Trade and consumer journals are near dead everywhere, casualties of the interweb.

I'm surprised they hung on for this long.

 

[Chris-CJ]

That leaves David Booth and Costa M (sorry, I will make a hash of what follows "M", so leaving the full spelling out).

Print journalism in general has changed and does not have it's previous prominence.
In Canada, there was a (successful) niche for motorcycle print journals, perhaps that can be leveraged or "tuned" to morph into online moto-journalism.

Me, I had subscribed to a couple of Canadian motorcycle mags, IMO these had a way to go before reaching the standard of Cycle Canada when Bruce was at the helm.
The delivery of these magazines was spotty at best and I have let the subscriptions lapse.

As for store catalogs, GP Bikes is down to a few pages and Royal Distribution's has much of it's information hidden in QR codes. Don't know of any other available catalogs.

Did you notice the cartoon in the "Jokes" post of the Romper Room wherein the older person is telling the kid that books are a way of loading software into the brain ?

 

[Baggsy]

I kind of gave up on it, after reading how much fun one of the journalists had ripping through Mount Pleasant Cemetery, and almost crashing into a funeral.

 

[Mad Mike]

That leaves David Booth and Costa M (sorry, I will make a hash of what follows "M", so leaving the full spelling out).

Print journalism in general has changed and does not have it's previous prominence.
In Canada, there was a (successful) niche for motorcycle print journals, perhaps that can be leveraged or "tuned" to morph into online moto-journalism.

Me, I had subscribed to a couple of Canadian motorcycle mags, IMO these had a way to go before reaching the standard of Cycle Canada when Bruce was at the helm.
The delivery of these magazines was spotty at best and I have let the subscriptions lapse.

As for store catalogs, GP Bikes is down to a few pages and Royal Distribution's has much of it's information hidden in QR codes. Don't know of any other available catalogs.

Did you notice the cartoon in the "Jokes" post of the Romper Room wherein the older person is telling the kid that books are a way of loading software into the brain ?

In the pre internet world, many Canadian publications benefited from protections and subsidies that made them viable.

As content providers moved to digital platforms, their easy reach into Canada it made it impossible for Canadian publications to compete. Not just motorsports, almost all vertical publications died off.

 

[justride]

I think you need some sort of online present. The motorcycle journalist online (YouTube) will direct viewers to their online magazine for " full in depth review/ story, etc. Yes, we have a short riding season but that is some unique and interesting about Canada. We love our summers and take full advantage of it!

 

[ReSTored]

What about MotocycleMojo? I've subscribed for a couple of years and IMO it's pretty good.

Motorcycle Mojo Magazine - Motorcycle Reviews and News

Motorcycle Mojo Magazine is an award winning publication that provides premium content that is guaranteed to be of interest to every motorcycle enthusiast.

motorcyclemojo.com

 

[xrljoel]

It sucks I hate video and would much rather read a article preferably in print.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

I thought I was the only one. Nearly every time I try to watch a video I find myself muttering, "get to the point". I can't stand watching/listening to someone struggle to make a point/tell a story while riding.

Ryan from Fortnine is a different experience. Better production and a script make a huge difference.

 

[timtune]

I had a subscription to Cycle Canada for many years. I would rather have read one of Bruce Reeves editorials than watch one of Ryan's videos.
Sadly I just found out Bruce passed in 2019.
CC went downhill fast after he left IMO.

 

[justmike]

I used to read Cycle Canada cover to cover the minute it arrived back in the day. Sadly (to us old farts), time marches on, and things change.

 

[Priller]

I think Larry has pretty much retired from writing, Rob and Steve are both dead. I miss them.

You and me both. Rob was the heart and soul of CMG, it was never the same after he died, as the three of them gave the site it's irreverent balance of irascible and goofy that made it unique. Steve did some great stuff for the Star afterwards, though as I didn't subscribe to Inside Motorcycles, it was harder to keep up with Larry.

It sucks I hate video and would much rather read a article preferably in print.

If you have a tablet, the Bikes Unlimited app will get you reasonably close without spending a fortune buying imported magazines. It's just over $10/mo, and there's a mountain of good content you can't get anywhere else, whether it's websites or YouTube. For me, it's the in-depth gear tests, maintenance/garage tips and retrospective stuff about older bikes that make it worth every penny.

 

[AFJ]

.

 

[Brian P]

Inside Motorcycles is still pretty good. I had a subscription to Cycle Canada when they abandoned print ... no idea if it's still active.

 

[robertv19]

I thought I was the only one. Nearly every time I try to watch a video I find myself muttering, "get to the point". I can't stand watching/listening to someone struggle to make a point/tell a story while riding.

Ryan from Fortnine is a different experience. Better production and a script make a huge difference.

Totally agree.
Some folks like the sound of their own voice way too much.
Also, as you note - lack of a script and people just ramble.

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