Ken Hunt – Publisher at Torontoist, Executive Producer at St. Joseph Media
Weigh-in with a question or comment for Ken
About Ken
Ken Hunt is the publisher of Torontoist and executive producer at St. Joseph Media Digital in charge of a number of new projects. A serial entrepreneur with a unique background that combines business, technology and journalism, Ken joined the St. Joseph team in March of 2011 with the acquisition of Torontoist and Ink Truck Media, a company he founded in 2009. Ken has contributed to many of the top magazines in Canada including a long stint writing a monthly column called “The Big Idea” in Report on Business magazine. His writing has been nominated for four National Magazine Awards and since founding Ink Truck Media to publish Torontoist, he has lead that publication to five Canadian Online Publishing Awards, including most recently, gold medals for Best Blog, Best News Coverage and Best Overall Online-Only Publication. Under Ken’s leadership, in 2010, Torontoist became the first ever digital-only publication in Canada to win a National Magazine Award.
A Taste of Ken’s Web Presence
Ken on Twitter | Torontoist.com | St. Joseph Meia
About Torontoist
From their website:
Torontoist‘s scope encompasses absolutely everything interesting related to Toronto, including news, arts, events, culture, transit, politics, photography, public spaces, food, and a whole lot more. Our goal is to capture the tenor and texture of life in Toronto, to evoke the daily experience of the city in words and images. We try always to be faithful in our rendering of Toronto, and to be fearless in advocating for what we think might make it better.
Established in October 2004 as part of the thirteen-city Gothamist network, Torontoist is now published by St. Joseph Media, and has become the largest, most influential, and most widely-read website of its kind in Canada. (You can see our full site statistics here.)
Interview Synopsis
00:22 -Going back to his university years, Ken shares what originally attracted him to the web.
01:45 – Ken talks about St. Joseph Media, Canada’s largest independently held magazine publisher.
02:18 – Ken’s describes his role as Publisher of Torontoist.
02:58 – Real identity, pseudonymity or total anonymity? Ken voices some strong opinions regarding identity on the web.
05:27 – Torontoist’s vocal commenters present opportunities and challenges. Ken describes his approach to managing user contributions.
06:17 – Mobile and portable are often conflated concepts where digital content distribution is concerned. Ken weighs in.
08:25 – It’s still early days for online advertising, says Ken. He compares the evolution of online advertising to that of the TV spot.
10:08 – Digital publishers face the danger of getting lost in a deluge of analytics. Ken sounds off on what metrics are most important to him.
12:18 – Ken articulates the current shortcomings of social media platforms, and offers a vision for the future of social media.