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Frank is a noted pair of Canadian scandal sheets and satirical magazines, often compared to the British title Private Eye. The original Frank began publication in Halifax, Nova Scotia in November, 1987 focusing on the private lives of the rich and famous in the Maritimes. It later expanded and put out a central Canadian edition that sold far more copies than the Maritime version; the central Canadian edition eventually being owned independently of the Atlantic edition. The magazines profiled the goings on amongst Canada's wealthy, politicians, and media figures.
The editor and publisher of the central Canadian Frank through most of its history was Michael Bate. In 2003, the magazine was purchased by Globe and Mail business reporter Fabrice Taylor, who also became the magazine's new editor. In December 2004, it was announced that this edition of Frank would cease publication. The Atlantic publication would not be affected.
Since Canada's mainstream media have always been extremely reluctant to pry into the personal lives of politicians and other notables, Frank often covers material that is found nowhere else. All articles in Frank are published anonymously, but many of them are written by writers for more mainstream media outlets who have discovered some scandalous detail.
Since Frank mostly contains gossip, not all of its stories are verifiable. The magazine has broken a number of notable stories, however. They were the first to publish the tale of Mel Lastman's wife's shoplifting arrest, and they broke the stories of sexual abuse that saw former Nova Scotia premier Gerald Regan eventually go to jail.
Frank also regularly contains satirical content. Most famously, in 1991 they ran an advertisement for a contest inviting young Tories to "Deflower Caroline Mulroney". Mulroney's father, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, joined several women's groups in denouncing the ad as an incitement to rape, but the magazine maintained that it was simply commenting on Brian Mulroney's perceived habit of using Caroline as a political prop.
Most contributors to Frank have been anonymous or have used pseudonyms. One notable exception was the humour column Aesthete's Diary, which was eventually revealed to have been written by Michael Coren.
See Also
External links - Official Site (http://www.frankmagazine.ca/)
- CBC News story: Frank magazine goes belly up (http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2004/12/17/Arts/frank041217.html)
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