| The Alberta Magazine Publisher’s Association (AMPA), like other non-profit societies, depends on its funding sources to survive. One of its major funders, the Canadian Magazine Fund (CMF), hasn’t come through on funding leaving AMPA in a bind.
With a mandate to sustain a healthy, thriving magazine industry and a mission to support the people that publish, create, print and distribute a uniquely Albertan view of the world, a disruption in funding plans creates problems in carrying that mandate out. This affects cultural representation as a whole in Alberta.
Colleen Seto, Executive Director of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association, says her organization depends on the CMF, a Department of Canadian Heritage program, for many projects such as the organization’s internship and professional development programs.
"We're currently entering our sixth month of waiting to hear whether our project applications are successful. We had only anticipated a four-month waiting period, and as a result, we've had to freeze our programs until we get confirmation about our funding."
Magazines like WHERE, Avenue and Alberta Views receive funding from AMPA to provide journalism, communications and English students with four-month editorial internships. Many of those internships were scheduled to begin this month and the current funding uncertainty has forced AMPA to leave these magazines hanging.
As well, next month AMPA is supposed to be hosting Read Alberta Magazines Month. However, as a direct result of the funding delay, AMPA cannot carry out the activities and events as planned.
According to Dominique Collin of the Department of Canadian Heritage, since the new accountability and transparency measures were introduced, government programs are subject to increased scrutiny. The department receives numerous requests for funding, and in order to ensure the best value for Canadians, considerable criteria need to be evaluated. The process is thorough and takes time. "There is ongoing communication between the applicant and the funder. And if any information is missing in a funding application, an already cumbersome process can take even longer. A six month wait time is not unusual," Collin relates.
For Seto, the increased application processing time is causing a lot of concern. "This delay has made it very difficult for AMPA to do any planning or to move forward on any projects. Ultimately, AMPA is unable to effectively support its members at the moment, and for many Alberta publishers, AMPA is their only source for any industry support."
Seto tries to remain optimistic though and is hoping magazine publishers can wait this uncertainty out. "Nevertheless, we will forge on and do what we can to promote Alberta magazines without the funding." |
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