Have you seen my Media video column?

In it, I´m having a little fun with the good old print industry. But don´t be angry. I´m not going to start a bonfire and begin burning books – not even figuratively. I´m not a Philistine; not completely. Hell no. I, myself, am a writer.

Also a subscriber. I get The Globe and Mail delivered Monday to Saturday – and, on Sunday, The Sunday New York Times. And it’s huge! I bet there’s about 1/26th of a Redwood that goes into each and every one of those suckers.

Still, it´s a great read. Especially the recently published “Green Issue.”

Watch the video column

Oh, and I get Toronto Life too. Plus others that I can´t recall. So I´m often ink-stained and nursing paper cuts and filling the recycling bin with sheaves of half-read periodicals. In other words, a big supporter. Yet whenever I tell folks about our web-only publication, they can only say, "But I like a magazine I can hold in my hands." And they say it in a weepy sentimental tone, as if referring to a once prized teddy bear or comfort blanket.

It´s the 21st century. Time to move on. No?

That´s what the TORO brand is doing by launching as toromagazine.com. Let me put it in context.

Bob Dylan began his career playing acoustic folk songs. Then he went electric. TORO began as a print publication. On May 21st, at 6:30pm, we went electric. Digital, actually.

We´re following Dylan´s lead by launching toromagazine.com, an example of what a men’s magazine looks and acts like when taking advantage of state-of-the-art 21st Century digital technology.

In order to stay vital, artists (and brands) need to evolve, grow, and re-invent; otherwise they dry up, crumble, blow away. Where do I get this stuff? Why, I’m lifting directly from Heraclitus, Nietzsche, and Voltaire, among others. As noted, the printed word is my friend and helper.

Where does one thing end and another begin?

William Morassutti is the co-founder and Executive Producer of toromagazine.com. He was one of the founding members of TORO Magazine, where he served as both Editorial Director and Executive Director. Prior to joining TORO, he worked in Canadian broadcasting as a writer, producer, director, reporter and host.