Chatto axed at TO Life

[rgruby]

Just saw the story in the Star.

I'm quite surprised. I always liked his writing, even if I didn't always agree with him.

Apparently the mag is "going in a different direction" or words to that affect and Chatto's writing supposedly didn't fit with the new direction. Erm, yeah.

They also aren't looking to replace him.

Cheers,

Geoff

[seanw]

He could do worse than head west, where there is a dearth of good restaurant writers, such as the trail blazed by Alex Gill(who isn't afraid of upsetting the apple cart, which is refreshing from the general lovefest that prevails)

[jenc]

posted this in another forum, but here are my thoughts:

Honestly, he did a lot for the food scene in Toronto - good or bad, he had power. While foodies know to take reviews with a grain (or shaker) of salt, the masses would take his opinion as THE TRUTH.

Chatto primarily wrote what I think of as "food essays" and it's interesting that TL is moving away from Chatto. I wonder if the competition online is getting to a point where TL feels the need to compete more seriously against the flood of boards 'n' bloggers. Despite the fact that TL is print, they can't ignore the speed/turnaround of online publication/forums and the buzz and traffic that they produce, especially early on in a restaurant's game.

[rgruby]

posted this in another forum, but here are my thoughts:

Honestly, he did a lot for the food scene in Toronto - good or bad, he had power. While foodies know to take reviews with a grain (or shaker) of salt, the masses would take his opinion as THE TRUTH.

Chatto primarily wrote what I think of as "food essays" and it's interesting that TL is moving away from Chatto. I wonder if the competition online is getting to a point where TL feels the need to compete more seriously against the flood of boards 'n' bloggers. Despite the fact that TL is print, they can't ignore the speed/turnaround of online publication/forums and the buzz and traffic that they produce, especially early on in a restaurant's game.

Well,

Chatto did have a blog, right?

So, I don't know if that's the reason.

My guess is simply $$$$. Easier to just fill up the mag with a few more photos of pseudo-celebs and "beautiful people".

Cheers,

Geoff

[jenc]

I think Chatto did have a blog, but I thought they axed that a while ago too? Not sure. But for the print edition, Chatto mainly wrote the big features.

Chatto is too expensive to make him write blogs, I'd think. In general, I thought food was the biggest money maker for TL? If not by revenue, than by interest, I'd think. But I actually think it's both. I don't have any handy marketing literature to scavenge and find out. Anyone less lazy than me?

[phoenikia]

James Chatto's blog:

http://jameschatto.com/

Edited May 10, 2010 by phoenikia (log)

[Endy']

I didn't actually find the article's wording suspicious. I can believe that Toronto Life wants to move in a lighter direction for their food coverage and if that's the case, Chatto's style certainly doesn't fit. Which is too bad, because I really enjoyed his writing; it was dense (that is, substantial) and it anchored the food section -- but I can understand if Toronto Life thought of it as maybe an anchor in another sense. I'm interested to see what the magazine looks like after the change.

jenc -- I remember Chris Nuttall-Smith saying once that dining costs made up the single largest line item in their budget. Not that that implies that their restaurant coverage is their biggest source of INCOME, but it must be up there, right? I do kind of feel like they're the best source of info about the Toronto food scene. I don't mean the Top-10 lists or whatever -- I don't care about stars or rankings -- but I found it easiest to get a sense of what was going on by flipping through the magazine each month, rather than from other sources.

[rgruby]

Anyone have any comments now that there've been a couple issues out since Chatto was axed?

I will say I doubt I'll be renewing my subscription.

Cheers,

Geoff