Career
In 1981, Hollett co-founded NOW with his partner Alice Klein. The paper has remained independent ever since. Although a number of alternative weekly newspapers had been attempted in Toronto without success in the past, Now's early decision to be distributed without charge proved to be crucial in its success. Buzz Burza helped develop the free distribution initiative after the paper initially charged 50 cents per copy.
The magazine also continues to reflect the editorial slant that Hollett brought to it, notably favouring the New Democratic Party (NDP) politically.
In 1995, Hollett became a founder of the North by Northeast (NXNE) music festival.
In 2004, he provided the liner notes for a greatest hits CD release by the band Blue Rodeo.
Hollett served on the board of directors of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) a continental organization representing alt weeklies and digital media across North America from 2009 until 2016. He was also a founding member of the Alternative Media Foundation. Hollett resigned from both boards when he resigned from NOW Magazine in 2016. He resigned from NOW to focus on growing NXNE and to spend more time writing. He is a founding board member of Music Canada Live, launched in 2014, and remains active in the association. Hollett continues to travel the world attending music festivals and conferences, often as a speaker, expanding NXNE's contacts and looking for talent to book. He recently spoke at the Golden Medlody Awards, Conference and Festival in Taipei, Taiwan in June, 2018 and again in 2019.
The Village Voice is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the Voice began as a platform for the creative community of New York City. It ceased publication in 2017, although its online archives remained accessible. After an ownership change, the Voice reappeared in print as a quarterly in April 2021.
Louis Black is an American journalist and businessman who is the co-founder of The Austin Chronicle, an alternative weekly newspaper published in Austin, Texas, and was the newspaper's editor from its inception until his retirement on August 8, 2017. He has written over 600 articles in his column in that newspaper. Black is also the co-founder of the South by Southwest Festival, also located in Austin, although the festival operates separately from the Chronicle. He also is a founding partner in Toronto's North by Northeast music and film festival.
The Phoenix was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the Portland Phoenix and the now-defunct Boston Phoenix, Providence Phoenix and Worcester Phoenix. These publications emphasized local arts and entertainment coverage as well as lifestyle and political coverage. The Portland Phoenix, which was published until 2023, is now owned by another company, New Portland Publishing.
Now, also known as NOW Magazine is an online publication based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Through most of its existence, Now was a free alternative weekly newspaper. Physical publication of Now was suspended in August 2022, amid the bankruptcy of its former owner Media Central Corporation, although some new content was still published to its website.
The Chicago Reader, or Reader, is an American nonprofit alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a group of friends from Carleton College.
LA Weekly is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers Los Angeles music, arts, film, theater, culture, concerts, and events. LA Weekly was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as its editor from 1978 to 1991 and its president from 1978 to 1992.
DigBoston—formerly known as the Weekly Dig and known colloquially as The Dig—is a free alternative newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts. It covers news in the Greater Boston area and offers commentary on music, arts, politics, business, film, sex, food, drink and more, as well as providing local bar, entertainment and club listings. DigBoston is distributed Thursdays, free of charge, in self-serve newspaper dispensers located throughout the city, as well as in local businesses.
Dave Bidini is a Canadian musician and writer. Originally from Etobicoke, Ontario, he was a founding member of the rock band Rheostatics, and currently performs with Bidiniband. In addition, he has published several books about music, travel and sports, and has written feature journalism pieces and columns for numerous Canadian magazines and newspapers. He is the only Canadian to have been nominated for all three of Canada's main entertainment awards, the Gemini Award for television work, the Genie Awards for film work and the Juno Awards for music, as well as being nominated on Canada's national book awards program, Canada Reads.
The Socialist League was a Canadian Trotskyist group formed in 1974 by Ross Dowson and approximately twenty other former members of the League for Socialist Action after their faction was defeated at the 1973 LSA national convention. Dowson had previously been the leader of the LSA. The group published a newspaper, Forward and soon became better known as the "Forward Readers Group" or the "Forward Group".
Alice Klein is the co-founder and former owner of Toronto's longest-running free alternative newsweekly NOW Magazine. In 1981, Klein co-founded NOW with Michael Hollett and several others. It is now one of the largest independent media organizations in Canada.
Paper Bag Records is a Canadian independent record label, artist-management company, and music publisher founded in 2002 and based in Toronto.
Exeter is a community in the municipality of South Huron, in the southern portion of Huron County, Ontario, Canada, located approximately 40 kilometres north of London. The community proclaims itself the "Home of the White Squirrel", owing to the presence of the unusually-coloured mammals. Exeter's mascot, "Willis The White Wonder", can be seen at many community events throughout the year, including Canada Day celebrations, the Exeter Rodeo, and the Santa Claus Parade.
North Toronto Collegiate Institute is a semestered, public high school institution with over 1,200 students located in North Toronto area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is operated and governed by the Toronto District School Board. From its founding until 1998, it was overseen by the Toronto Board of Education.
Philadelphia Weekly (PW) is a website based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a newspaper in 1971 as The Welcomat, a sister publication to the South Philadelphia Press. In 1995, the paper became Philadelphia Weekly. The paper features stories on local and national politics, as well extensive coverage of the arts - music, film, theater and the visual arts.
Ken McKenzie was a Canadian newspaper publisher and sports journalist. He served as publicity director of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1946 to 1963. In 1947, he published the first NHL press and radio guide, and co-founded The Hockey News with Will Cote and C$383.81. McKenzie bought out his partner and later sold an 80 per cent share of The Hockey News for a reported $4-million in 1973. He stayed on as its publisher and a columnist until 1981. He also published Canadian Football News, Ontario Golf News, and the magazines Hockey Pictorial and Hockey World.
The Woodstock Sentinel-Review is a local daily newspaper that serves Woodstock, Ontario and Oxford County in the Canadian province of Ontario.
North by Northeast is an annual music and arts festival held each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival's main focus is live music, particularly emerging talent. Acts that have had break out appearances at NXNE at small venues early in their careers include: Lizzo, Daniel Caesar (2016), Run the Jewels (2014), Lumineers (2012), Grimes (2011), Gary Clark Jr. (2007), The Arkells (2007), Feist (2004), Billy Talent (1999) and thousands more. In its return post-COVID, the festival embraced its roots as a discovery event, programming exclusively in Toronto's live music venues, presenting over 200 of the world's best emerging acts bands in 20 venues over five nights from June 14–18, 2022. Festival passes were low priced and bands were not charged a fee to apply. The 2023 Festival takes place June 13–17. Complete festival passes cost $25, all shows are $15 at the door without a pass.
Dinosaur Bones are a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2008 in Toronto consisting of songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Ben Fox, bassist Branko Scekic, keyboardist David Wickland, drummer Lucas Fredette, and guitarist Josh Byrne.
Mushy Callahan is a Canadian indie rock band based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band's lineup consists of four members: Lucas, Joel, Noah and Jacob McCann and has remained constant since the band became active in 2010. All of the band members are brothers from a small town in Northern Alberta called Peace River.
Trevor Coleman is a co-founder of InteraXon, a Canadian company specializing in software for Non-invasive Brain-computer interfaces. The company presented an installation at Ontario House during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games that allowed users in Vancouver to control the lights on the CN Tower, Niagara Falls and the Canadian Parliament Buildings. Interaxon also created the world's first thought-controlled in-flight entertainment system, which they demonstrated at the On the Wings of Innovation conference organized by the Ontario Government and Ontario Aerospace Council in Windsor in June 2010.
