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Gary Stephen Ross (Editor) & Kim Peacock (Publisher) Finished At Vancouver Magazine

by Andrew Morrison | Oh noes. I’ve only just learned that Van Mag’s editor, Gary Stephen Ross, and the publisher, Kim Peacock, were let go the other day. According to a leaked internal memo, interim leadership has fallen to TC Media group publisher Caroline Andrews.

The memo didn’t mention why they were dumped (the consequence of a “well thought-out restructuring”), but I can’t imagine it was an easy run for either of them. Like other leaders of long-established print outfits in recent years, they had to deal with the advent of social media, the recession, the skepticism of increasingly empowered advertisers, and the whittling impact of a local blogosphere of occasional quality and influence (aka The Four Horsemen of the Old Media Apocalypse). I thought they’d done as good a job as could be expected under such freakishly unprecedented circumstances but, alas, via Malcolm Parry:

Western Living and Vancouver magazines’ publisher Kim Peacock and editorial director Gary Ross arrived at their offices Monday and were promptly shown the door. Transcontinental Media senior VP Pierre Marcoux’s subsequent memo noted the two “have been instrumental in developing and transforming our Western brands and have both been great contributors to the team. I wish to thank them for their contribution and hard work over the past years.”

Gary and Kim had been running the magazine since 2006, right when I came on board as a judge at their restaurant awards and began making occasional contributions to the magazine. Gary taught me a few things and made several of my stories better (he is as gifted an editor as he is a writer), and Kim kindly tolerated my occasionally fatuous, self-important bone-picking about food coverage, online presence, the awards, you name it. They made a big impact on my career, and I’m eternally grateful for that. I hope that they both go well and land lucratively, wherever that may be.

There are 2 comments

  1. this article seems mildly innapropriate. i wasn’t aware scout was becoming a gossip collumn?

  2. Olivia;
    Get a life. VanMag, Gary and Kim were instrumental in recognizing the culinary talents in British Columbia. Now all we can look forward to is Toronto gibberish.