New York and Toronto (January 25, 2012)—Crushable—the smart, irreverent pop culture and celebrity gossip news site published by B5Media—has named Jenni Maier its new Editor-in-Chief.  The announcement was made by B5Media group publisher and CEO Elaine Kunda.

Maier joins Crushable from COED Media Group (CMG), where she served as Executive Director, managing close to 100 writers and overseeing editorial for CMG’s three properties: CollegeCandy, COEDMagazine and Busted Coverage.  Under Maier’s leadership, CMG’s traffic not only doubled, but all three sites also saw increased audience engagement and social media interaction. Prior to her role as Executive Director, Maier was Senior Editor at CollegeCandy, where she oversaw daily content production as well as on-site marketing.

“Jenni’s keen sense and passion for all things pop will be a valuable asset to Crushable,” said Kunda. “She is digitally savvy and has a great understanding of what our audience wants. We are excited to welcome her to our team.”

Maier began her blogging career in college by writing stories for BravoTV.com and a Senioritis column for CollegeCandy. After graduating, she began freelancing for several lifestyle and humor sites, including Guyism, Brilliant But Canceled, Heavy, Abroad101, Campus Socialite, 89^th and Broke and Zug.

“Crushable is a great brand with a powerful voice and I’m so happy to be taking over the team,” said Maier. “I’m thrilled to have the excuse to obsess over pop culture and celebrities like it’s my job—because in fact, it is.”

A New York resident, Maier holds a B.S. in Television, Radio and Film from Syracuse University.

About B5Media

As one of the fastest growing media networks devoted to women, B5Media is the publisher of prominent lifestyle websites, Blisstree, Crushable, The Gloss, The Grindstone and Mommyish.  Across the network, women find new places to discover relevant, meaningful content as their lives move from one phase to the next. With more than 3.7 million unique visitors per month, B5Media sites span the topics of entertainment, career, fashion, beauty relationships, parenting, health and wellness. For more information, visit www.b5media.com.

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For Immediate Release

Contact:
Abby Berman (The Rosen Group)
646.695.7044 / abby@rosengrouppr.com

—Fashion/Style Website Recognized with

Outstanding Achievement Honor—

New York and Toronto (December 14, 2011)—TheGloss.com, published by B5Media, has received the “Outstanding Achievement ” Interactive Media Award in the category of Fashion/Style.  Selected from a pool of 133 entries, TheGloss surpassed its competitors in the areas of design, content, feature functionality, usability and compatibility.

“This award distinguishes TheGloss as the go-to interactive destination that reflects the way modern women live,” said Elaine Kunda, Group Publisher and CEO, B5Media. “We are so honored to receive this recognition.”

Focused on fashion and beauty, TheGloss also offers relatable and reliable content on all aspects of contemporary life including culture and relationships.

“With a unique voice and great sense of humor, TheGloss strives to provide our readers with a smart, sexy take on fashion and style,” added Jennifer Wright, editor-in-chief, TheGloss.  “Being recognized for the work we do is really thrilling.”

Created by the Interactive Media Council, the Interactive Media Awards recognize the highest standards in website design and development and represent the best in planning, execution and overall professionalism.

About B5Media

As one of the fastest growing media networks devoted to women, B5Media is the publisher of prominent lifestyle sites Blisstree, Crushable, The Gloss, The Grindstone and Mommyish.  Across the network, women find new places to discover relevant, meaningful content as their lives move from one phase to the next. With more than 3.7 million unique visitors per month, B5Media sites span the topics of entertainment, career, fashion, beauty relationships, parenting, health and wellness. For more information, visit www.b5media.com.

—Partnership Commences On World AIDS Day and Seeks to Inspire Action—

New York and Toronto (December 1, 2011)—B5Media—leading lifestyle network and publisher of Blisstree, Crushable, The Gloss, The Grindstone and Mommyish—has partnered with ONE—a non-partisan advocacy organization dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world— to help shed light on the issues facing women and inspire others to make meaningful change.  The partnership kicks-off today on World AIDS Day, when B5Media and ONE will educate people worldwide on the facts about HIV/AIDS, what it’s like to live with the disease and how to prevent it.

Across the B5Media network, each property will highlight specific issues with regard to HIV/AIDS including stigma in the workplace, depictions in pop culture, treatment advice and more. As the partnership expands, B5Media will tackle additional topics in the ONE campaign including health, hunger and transparency.

“This is an opportunity to come together to educate, empower and inspire,” said Elaine Kunda, CEO and Group Publisher, B5Media, who also serves as a member of the Committee for the Advancement of Girls and Women. “As ONE works to give people a voice, B5Media is thrilled to provide the platform and connect them with our loyal readers to stimulate discussion and prompt change.”

Backed by a movement of more than 2.5 million members, ONE achieves change through advocacy. ONE’s campaigns raise public awareness and pressure political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that save lives, put kids in school and improve futures.

“The voice is a very powerful tool,” said Jeff Davidoff, Chief Marketing Officer, ONE. “Tapping into the scale of B5Media’s network, we can effectively communicate the critical problems facing women around the world, give a voice to the powerless and work to hopefully end the AIDS pandemic.” 

About B5Media

As one of the fastest growing media networks devoted to women, B5Media is the publisher of prominent lifestyle blogs Blisstree, Crushable, The Gloss, The Grindstone and Mommyish.  Across the network, women find new places to discover relevant, meaningful content as their lives move from one phase to the next. With more than 3 million unique visitors per month, B5Media sites span the topics of entertainment, career, fashion, beauty relationships, parenting, health and wellness. For more information, visit www.b5media.com.

About ONE

ONE is a global advocacy and campaigning organization backed by more than 2.5 million people from around the world dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. For more information please visit www.ONE.org.

Elaine Kunda, CEO of B5Media appeared on FOXNews talking about the increased number of women leading the large Fortune 500 companies.

Elaine Kunda, CEO of B5Media appeared on FOXNews talking about the increased number of women leading the large Fortune 500 companies.

New York and Toronto (May 10, 2011) — B5Media today added two new websites to its expanding network of female focused blogs, bringing parenting and career to the company’s stable of topics. The new sites, Mommyish and TheGrindstone, feature an entirely new design that will expand to B5’s current sites later this month. The launch marks a significant expansion for B5Media’s women’s network and the first new blogs launched under Editorial Director Meghan Keane.

“Mommyish and The Grindstone stay true to our mission of offering genuine dialogue for our community of readers, with a focus on producing highly original content,” says B5Media CEO, Elaine Kunda. “We have honed in on a model that has been proven successful by our existing properties. Each site has its own unique personality and voice and targets a very specific female audience. We are excited to add these two sites to our growing family.”

Magazine veteran Shawna Cohen has been tapped as Editor In Chief of Mommyish and Meredith Lepore, formerly of LearnVest and Business Insider, has been hired as Editor in Chief of TheGrindstone.

“Our existing sites are known for delivering honest, funny content for women,” says Meghan Keane, B5Media’s Editorial Director. “The Grindstone and Mommyish will continue along that same path by creating original content that focuses on both the harsh realities and hilarious minutiae of work and family life, all with our characteristic B5 bent.”

www.Mommyish.com — Parenting Imperfect — Many adults starting a family after the age of 30 approach parenting the same way they tackle careers: as a project. And while women’s lives may change drastically after they have a little one (or ones) running around, they don’t stop having opinions and caring about their adult relationships, job choices and peers. Mommyish will focus on women aged 30-45 who want to maintain a positive work-life balance, regardless of how much of their work takes place in a room littered with toys.

www.TheGrindstone.com — Where Work Comes to Play — The oddities and inanities of office life don’t stop after you move beyond your first job. But there aren’t many publications available today that tackle workplace issues beyond the entry level. And the options become even scarcer when you search for a publication aimed at women. As women move up in their careers, begin to find success and make traction in the workplace, they still need a place to go to vent their frustrations, share their amusements and learn how to survive as they move up the ladder. And that’s where The Grindstone will come in.

B5Media — B5Media is the publisher of prominent lifestyle blogs with a focus on women’s interest. We aim to grow with our audiences and give women new places to discover relevant, meaningful content as their lives move from once phase to the next. Sites span entertainment, career, fashion, beauty relationships, parenting, health, and wellness. The brand-new sites Mommyish and TheGrindstone bring new voices and perspective on parenting and career to both the B5 Network and the web.

Media Contact:
Lindsey Green
lindsey@b5media.com

TheGloss.com Editor-in-Chief Lilit Marcus to Lead Crushable.com

NEW YORK, February 10, 2011 – B5Media Inc., the publisher of lifestyle sites Crushable.com, TheGloss.com, and Blisstree.com, announced today that Meghan Keane has been named Editorial Director of B5Media. Keane joined B5Media in September 2010 as editor-in-chief of Crushable.

In her new role, Keane will take over many of the responsibilities held by Elizabeth Spiers, who has worked as Editorial Director at B5Media for the past year. She left her position last week to become editor-in-chief of The New York Observer. “Elizabeth has been an indispensible resource for B5Media as we launched our network early last year and she will always remain a close friend of the company,” said B5Media CEO Elaine Kunda. “But as we move forward with plans to launch two new women’s sites this spring, we are looking to Meghan to lead the growing editorial team in 2011.”

While at B5Media, Keane has proven her ability to increase traffic and engage the community at Crushable. Under her leadership, Crushable has grown from just under 1 million monthly unique visitors to over 1.5 million in four months.

Lilit Marcus will be replacing Keane as the editor-in-chief of Crushable. Marcus was hired as the founding editor-in-chief of TheGloss in February 2010, and has helped the site grow from inception to over 1 million monthly unique visitors. She was also named a Rising Star of Gossip Blogs by The New York Times in March 2010. Marcus will be working to increase engagement at Crushable while expanding its coverage and social media reach.

Jennifer Wright, the deputy editor of TheGloss, will replace Marcus as the editor of TheGloss. Wright has worked side by side with Marcus at TheGloss from the start and will continue to build on the strengths of this maturing property.

“B5Media is a fast-growing digital media company with a long term vision,” Kunda said. “We aim to invest in our talented staff members and provide them with the mobility needed to advance their experience and careers. We’re excited about these changes and many more that are about to come.”

About B5Media

B5Media’s women’s sites, launched in early 2010, represent the natural progression of three important stages in a woman’s life. Crushable connects with pop culture savvy young women, TheGloss speaks to sophisticated and cultured women in their 20s and 30s and Blisstree reaches women in their 30s and 40s whose priorities include health, wellness and overall balance. B5Media also publishes men’s lifestyle site EveryJoe.com. The network currently receives over 3.5 million unique visitors monthly.

About Meghan Keane

Before taking over as editor-in-chief of Crushable, Meghan helped launch established British digital marketing firm Econsultancy in the US. She has been on staff at Wired and the New York Sun. She’s also written for publications from New York magazine to Portfolio and The New York Press.

About Lilit Marcus

Lilit Marcus is the founder and editor in chief of Save the Assistants, a career website that provides support, advice, and humor for entry-level employees. Her first book, Save the Assistants: A Guide for Surviving and Thriving in the Workplace, was published by Hyperion in September 2010. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Post, Newsweek, and Cosmopolitan. Prior to TheGloss, she was the editor of Jewcy.com.

Media contact: Amanda Ernst, amanda@b5media.com, 646-502-6989

(January 31, 2011 – New York and Toronto) Corus Entertainment Inc. (TSX: CJR.B), a leading integrated media and entertainment company, and B5Media Inc., a prominent online media publisher of lifestyle properties, announced today that Corus has taken a minority stake in the digital publishing company.

“We are excited about Corus’ investment in our company,” said Elaine Kunda, CEO, B5Media. “This partnership enables us to leverage the expertise and reach of Corus as we continue to develop our digital content and grow our business. With this infusion of capital, we can nearly double our network of online lifestyle offerings in 2011, as well as create original video and mobile content.”

Among B5Media’s assets, the company owns three women’s lifestyle websites targeted to all stages of a woman’s life: Crushable.com, TheGloss.com and Blisstree.com. Corus Entertainment has its own portfolio of uniquely defined brands targeted to women that include W Network, Cosmopolitan TV, VIVA, W Movies and the company’s most recent addition in Canada, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

“B5Media offers an impressive range of high quality digital content that aligns well with our lifestyle brands,” said John Cassaday, President and CEO, Corus Entertainment. “This strategic investment in B5Media gives us an opportunity to extend our reach and expand our knowledge-base in the online and mobile digital space.”

About B5Media

B5Media’s women’s sites, launched in early 2010 represent the natural progression of three important stages in a woman’s life. Crushable connects with pop culture savvy young women, TheGloss speaks to sophisticated and cultured women in their 20s and 30s and Blisstree reaches women in their 30s and 40s whose priorities include health, wellness and overall balance. B5Media also publishes men’s lifestyle site EveryJoe.com. The network currently receives over 3.5 million unique visitors monthly.

About Corus Entertainment Inc.

Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. The Company’s multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, Nickelodeon (Canada), W Network, CosmoTV, VIVA, Sundance Channel (Canada), Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW, CFOX, Q107 and 102.1 the Edge. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (CJR.B). Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

For further information, please contact:

Amanda Ernst
B5Media
Media Contact
646.502.6989

Sally Tindal
Corus Entertainment
416.479.6107
sally.tindal@corusent.com

B5Media in the news…

The recent Fast Company feature “The Most Influential Women In Technology 2010” highlights Media Consultant Elizabeth Spiers and B5Media. more

B5Media in the news…

The recent Financial Post article “Blogosphere is Morphing” by Karen Mazurkewich examines networks such as b5media who are moving into professional online publishing. more

B5Media in the news…

The recent Marketing Magazine article “B5Media Reinvents Itself To Reinvent Women’s Blogs” takes a look at the Canadian web publisher who launched new properties and boldly joins the Big Apple blogoshere. more