“I was pretty disappointed. That’s where I found out about all the concerts I went to,” said Concordia student, Jon Harding about the Montreal Mirror closing its doors back in June. Luckily for Jon and other students in Montreal, the editors of the news and arts website Cult MTL have come to the rescue.
If you were on campus last Friday, you may have been handed a copy of Cult MTL’s Student Survival Guide. A website that formed after the demise of the Montreal Mirror, Cult MTL released its first print edition, a special for students on everything they need to know to survive in Montreal, on Sept. 7.
In addition to pertinent and helpful information, the guide also boasts hotspot recommendations by local celebrities; Jeremy Gara of Arcade Fire, Nadia G of Bitchin Kitchen, Jessica Paré from Mad Men, Jay Baruchel from Tropic Thunder and many more.
However with a run of only 10,000 copies and select distribution, Cult MTL’s Student Survival Guide is a far cry from replacing its predecessor the Montreal Mirror, of whom Cult MTL’s editors derive.
“We’re using the tradition of The Mirror, the guides they would put out were very useful for people, people really loved the supplements, so we thought that it would be a good idea to keep that tradition going. In terms of the website, we are covering similar beats but we’re doing it in a different way. Just the way you present things on a website, of course, is different and the fact that it’s daily changes everything,” said Lorraine Carpenter, Cult MTL’s music editor during an interview on CTV News which aired Sept. 12.
Cultmtl.com was first launched only three weeks after the Mirror closed its doors. The site provides up-to-date news, which has been deemed ‘alternative’, music and art listings, and a section on culture which covers stories on art in general. Montreal Mirror fans will be glad to find column favourites such as Rantline and Sasha’s Sex Column reincarnated on the site, as well as the same extensive and navigable listings of concerts in and around the Montreal area.
Although available solely online, Cult MTL has helped fill some of the void left by the Mirror’s disappearance.
In a note on the WTF section of their webpage, Cult MTL editors express their goal with the site and their dedication to their readers:
“We all worked at the Montreal Mirror, either in editorial or as freelancers or both. Our aim is to serve Montreal as we used to, but with a fresh format and voice. We will deliver daily coverage of the city, from news to culture to event listings and recommendations for things to do, see and hear. Because there’s never a shortage of stuff to do, just a shortage of savvy voices to steer you to the best of it.”
The print edition of Cult MTL’s Student Survival Guide is available at select locations around campus. For more information visit their website at cultmontreal.com
