Calgary's 'Fast Forward Weekly' to Cease Publication

BY Alex HudsonPublished Feb 20, 2015

Fast Forward Weekly has long been one of the Prairies' most respected news sources, but all good things must come to an end, and the Calgary publication has announced that it will be closing up shop next month.

FFWD has been around for 19 years, but it now has only two more weeks left, with the last issue arriving on March 5. The paper covered an array of topics including alternative news, arts and entertainment. It also had a thriving music section, and a number of Exclaim! contributors were also regulars at FFWD.

An announcement from editor and publisher Drew Anderson explains, "Our readership never dipped, proving that Calgarians are hungry for the kind of journalism and cultural coverage that Fast Forward provides, but the ad dollars just weren't there to support it."

The paper is planning "a big sendoff" in the form of a final issue and a farewell party; details about the latter are still forthcoming. The future of the website has not yet been decided.

Anderson wrote, "I still think there is a great need for alternative media, particularly in a city like Calgary, where oil and gas rules and conservatives keep winning bloody elections. Fast Forward Weekly has always been a voice in Calgary's media wilderness and while being part of it was sometimes disheartening, it always felt important to be a source of dissent. I hope you agree that Calgary is worse off for our closure, no matter if you agree with us or not."

You can read the full farewell announcement here.

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