culture The Grid Is Closing

Much-lauded weekly announces today that next issue will be its last.

After three years of operation and dozens of awards, the Grid announced today that it would cease publication as of tomorrow. The Torstar-owned alternative weekly launched May 12, 2011, after the discontinuation of its predecessor, Eye Weekly.

“Regretfully, despite a strong and loyal following, we have been unable to generate sufficient revenue from marketers and other sources to fund the Grid’s great journalism,” said John Cruickshank, president of Star Media Group, in a statement.

Well, we gave it our best shot. After 162 issues, this Thursday’s issue of @TheGridTO will be our last. We are shutting down immediately. — TheGridTO (@TheGridTO) July 2, 2014

The Grid was envisioned, in the words of its publisher and editor-in-chief Laas Turnbull, as a “younger, hipper, more provocative version of Toronto Life in a weekly guise.” It distinguished itself through the quality of its reporting, writing, and design, regularly winning both national and international awards. Just this past April, it went through a redesign and announced it would be focusing on “more topical, must-read stories about Toronto communities and personalities, and the urgent issues facing the city.”

We'd like to thank our incredible staff and contributors and especially our readers for their tremendous support. This city is the greatest. — TheGridTO (@TheGridTO) July 2, 2014

Toronto’s media landscape has lost a vital and valued outlet. The Grid‘s closing will mean that fewer Toronto stories will be told—and the city will be the poorer for it.

Dedicated readers, former Grid writers, and those in favour of a healthy and diverse media ecosystem expressed shock and disappointment, and filled Twitter with spontaneous reflections, well-wishes, and eulogies:

Tomorrow's issue of The Grid is the last. It has been a helluva lot of fun, Toronto. Don't know if I'll ever have a better gig. — Edward Keenan (@thekeenanwire) July 2, 2014

Shorter version of Star statement: Grid did good journalism. Good journalism doesn’t always pay. http://t.co/K1dZea6uj8 — Steve Ladurantaye (@sladurantaye) July 2, 2014

Like Windsor when a factory shut down announcement went through. Feel the earth shake a bit under Toronto. — Shawn Micallef (@shawnmicallef) July 2, 2014

The Grid did EVERYTHING they were supposed to. Interesting content. Unique, defined perspective. Beautiful design. Paid freelancers decently — Josh Kolm (@JoshKolm) July 2, 2014

Slowly realizing just HOW MANY voices I'll miss off the pages of The Grid. Thankfully most are also elsewhere. Hope they all get picked up. — Val A (@VAinTO) July 2, 2014

.@TheGridTO also of course had really great writing and writers. And designers! Was a great looking paper. Huge loss for Toronto. — Matt Elliott (@GraphicMatt) July 2, 2014

Going On The Grid