Ottawa XPress

Ottawa XPress
TypeWeekly
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Communications Voir
Editor-in-chiefCormac Rea
Managing editorMelissa Proulx
FoundedApril 1993; 31 years ago (1993-04)
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publicationMay 17, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-05-17)
HeadquartersOttawa, Canada
Circulation40,000 (2005)[1]
Sister newspapersVoir
Hour
Websiteottawaxpress.ca

The Ottawa XPress, or rendered as (x)press on its cover, was an alternative weekly newspaper in Ottawa, Ontario.

The paper was launched in April 1993 by Jim Creskey and Ross Dickson, who both also founded The Hill Times. Its original editor-in-chief was Derek Raymaker. In March 2001, the paper was sold to Voir's president and founder, Pierre Paquet. Xpress was the fifth paper to join the group, along with Montreal's Hour and the French-language cultural weeklies Voir Montréal, Voir Quebec, and Voir Gatineau, and was therefore part of the largest alternative newsweekly group in Canada. Its size changed from a 13.5-inch to a 15-inch tabloid in 2001.[2]

As of January 2010, Cormac Rea was editor-in-chief and Melissa Proulx was managing editor. Proulx, previously Voir Gatineau's editor, was initially appointed interim editor in late November 2007.[3][4]

The publication carried the syndicated Savage Love column until January 2010.[5] The explicit content of this sex advice feature prompted the Loeb supermarket chain to discontinue distribution of the Xpress in its stores as of late 2005. Dan Savage said this action was another instance of a minority group trying to deprive a majority of people reading his column.[6]

Communications Voir ended publication of the Ottawa XPress after its 17 May 2012 edition.[7]

  1. ^ "Ottawa Xpress". Echo Media. 2005. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  2. ^ "Communications Voir to Acquire Ottawa Xpress". Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. 21 March 2001. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  3. ^ "(X)Press fires editor-in-chief". Ottawa Citizen. 23 November 2007. p. F11. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Contact us at Ottawa XPress". Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  5. ^ "Community Garden". Ottawa XPress. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Loeb tosses XPress from stores". CBC News. 4 November 2005. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  7. ^ Heartfield, Kate (22 May 2012). "XPress was news for the Ottawa that stayed up late". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.