P.E.I.'s Buzz turns 25

P.E.I.'s free monthly arts and culture magazine The Buzz started out 25 years ago as a mere eight-page newsprint magazine and has grown to 80 must-read pages.

It all began in June 1993, at the same time managing editor Peter Richards and business partner Derek Martin were also launching City Cinema, Charlottetown's alternative movie theatre — they wanted a newspaper to advertise what was playing at the cinema. 

"I had the idea maybe I could make this into a bigger business than just a flyer for the cinema — maybe all of the arts could be talked about," Richards told Island Morning's Matt Rainnie. 

We haven't gotten rich, but we're still in business.— Peter Richards

Richards used Halifax magazine Cinema Guide as a template, and its editors helped.

"They said this is my Mac, this is my scanner and this is my modem — all of which were new words to me!" Richards said. 

'I did not want to fail'

He realized one person could single-handedly create a good-looking newspaper, he said. The Buzz was also P.E.I.'s very first online publication according to Richards. 

The magazine is now widely read and still contains City Cinema's offerings as well as concert, theatre and art show listings, restaurant reviews, artist profiles and more. 

He's happy the magazine has been a success but never imagined it would last 25 years. 

"I did not want to fail, I wanted to keep it going," Richards said. "I just kind of put my head down and didn't look up until one year was in." 

The magazine has now published 300 issues, all of which are archived and make for some interesting reading. 

'Print is not going anywhere'

Many of the people that Richards wrote about in the early years are still involved in the arts on P.E.I. now, he said.

"It's very interesting to see what's still around and what's faded into history," said Richards. 

Seeking advertising revenues that make the publication profitable is very competitive, Richards said. The magazine has to not only pay for itself but make money to sustain Richards and staffers including his wife Nancy, son Yanik and Yanik's wife Michelle, as well as graphic designer Maggie Lillo. 

"We haven't gotten rich, but we're still in business," he said. "We've just grown a little bit at a time." 

Richards is looking forward to retirement soon — his son is poised to take over, he said.

"I think the success of it is because it does matter, because it does mean something," Richards said. "Print is not going anywhere ... in 2018 we increased our circulation."

A special anniversary issue of The Buzz will hit public spaces June 1. 

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