News

NEXT is the new NOW. I can say this with confidence, having started NOW with a group of friends back in the ’80s — I sold my interest in 2016 — and having started NEXT in 2020 with a new group of young journalists as well as NOW veterans. First as  a national arts magazine, in spring 2023, we rebooted NEXT as Toronto’s new progressive voice and champion of independent arts.

The reasons for starting NOW have only become more pressing today. We launched NEXT in a city where independent media voices are disappearing and a growing arts scene has even fewer places to be covered as legacy media slashes entertainment journalism.

Toronto has an amazing arts scene — live music, theatre, film, visual art and more. And the progressive community that often helps this city be its best is almost completely media disenfranchised. Our goal is to showcase — in print and online — the best arts in Toronto while also providing reporting and dialogue on local Toronto issues from a progressive point of view.

As with NOW, we know NEXT has to have great listings — online of course — at nextmag.ca, and we publish the best of them in print. Using a platform developed by our colleagues in the alternative media, our listings are free to use and we encourage all local producers, artists and community groups to utilize them to reach thousands of people at no cost.

We are hyper-local in our news coverage, featuring reporting in The Closer section of the print magazine, with ongoing and breaking news and commentary online.

We publish 60,000 copies that are distributed through all subway stations, select GO stations, street boxes and 400 other outlets. We will eventually be monthly — about halfway there now — with fresh content online throughout the day, every day.

People kindly tell me NOW had a significant impact on them and their city. I seek to have the same impact with NEXT; Toronto and the amazing citizens and creators in it deserve nothing less.

All the best,

Michael Hollett
Editor/publisher, NEXT (2020 – present)
Editor/publisher NOW (1981 – 2016)

— Look for our Fall Guide Arts preview in print this September and new content online all summer at nextmag.ca