Fast Forward Weekly (FFWD) was a news and entertainment weekly which provided news, alternative viewpoints, entertainment information, review articles and specialized advertising. It was distributed throughoutCalgary,Banff andCanmore. It is owned byGreat West Newspapers. With an assessed readership of 70,000 upon a distributed circulation of 30,000, the paper was one of the most widely circulated and well-respected alternative newspapers in Canada.
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| Type | Alternative weekly |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Great West Newspapers (Glacier Media) |
| Publisher | Ian Chiclo |
| Editor | Maureen McNamee |
| Founded | December 1995; 29 years ago (1995-12) |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | March 2015; 10 years ago (2015-03) |
| Headquarters | Calgary,Alberta, Canada |
| Circulation | 30,000 |
| Website | ffwdweekly.com |
The paper originated in December 1995 as Calgary's firstalternative weekly publication.[1] As of 2007, it was the only freely-distributed weekly newspaper of its type in the city, having outlasted a number of competitors including a short-lived Calgary edition ofThe Georgia Straight, which had originally been calledVOX, the long-runningCalgary Mirror (which folded in 2001), and theMirror's successor,FYI Calgary In-Print, which ran for only five months in 2001.
While the paper was initially arts-focused, in it later began covering more news stories and social issues.
In 2008, the paper was criticized over publishing a controversial article quoting CalgaryConservativeMPLee Richardson on comments regarding immigrants and crime which he later stated he regretted; clarifying he was referring only to youth gangs in the city.[2] Canada'sPrime MinisterStephen Harper called the reporting "gotcha journalism" for taking his comments out of their intended context, while other party leaders called for his resignation.[3]
One ofFast Forward's most popular editions was its annual Best of Calgary readers' poll. For this, readers voluntarily submitted their responses to a large variety of questions, indicating their favourite (or least favourite) aspects of Calgary, including its food, people, culture, infrastructure, political leadership and more.
After 19 years,Fast Forward Weekly shut down. Great West Newspapers announced February 21, 2015, that the last issue would be March 5, 2015. "Ad revenue was not enough to support the continuance of a free weekly newspaper" was cited as the main reason for the publications demise.
The website, ffwdweekly.com, is offline but the snapshots of certain pages were saved 815 times between February 20, 2002, and January 5, 2022[4] and are viewable on theInternet ArchiveWayback machine.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^The Peak: "Dan McLeod's Straight"Archived August 19, 2009, at theWayback Machine (refers to history and role ofFFWD)
- ^Braid, Don (September 26, 2008)."Sliming of Tory a typical campaign crock".Calgary Herald. Archived fromthe original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved2008-09-26.
- ^Fekete, Jason (September 26, 2008)."Harper rejects calls for Calgary Tory candidate's resignation".Calgary Herald. Archived fromthe original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved2008-09-26.
- ^"Wayback Machine archive of ffwdweekly.com". RetrievedJanuary 5, 2022.