Boston Metro

Metro: Service journalism at its finest

adamg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:25:47 -0400

Boston's largest, most award-winningest newspaper has a handy tip for Beacon Hill parents on Halloween: "Wash any loose rat droppings from your kid's candy before ingesting."

Also alerts us that lots of college students live on Mission Hill and that drug users have been known to frequent Central Square.

Who actually voted the Metro 'Best Newspaper of the Year'?

adamg — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:12:10 -0400

The Weekly Dig reveals: Executives at agencies that buy ads in newspapers, who vote on things such as how eagerly a given newspaper bends over backwards for advertisers.

Read more

Oh, Metro, you're so reliably unreliable

adamg — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:19:13 -0400

Boston Metro gets hep to this whole idea of people using Twitter to broadcast the latest MBTAfail, but see if you can figure out what's wrong with this paragraph:

MBTA Transit Police Lt. Commander Robert Lenehan, who runs transit police Twitter page, posted a message last Thursday for riders to expect large crowds at North station due to a TD Garden event. He hopes to continue to learn about what riders want to hear about.

Well, aside from the missing "the" in there, that is. Yep, unless you happen to know that Lt. Commander Robert Lenehan is posting at MBTAPoliceTPSA5, you're never going to get to see his tweets.

Via Mike Schroll.

Metro's new half-owners Swedish as ever

adamg — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:53:03 -0400

The Herald reports the Swedish company that owned 51% of our ~~scrappy~~ omnipresent tabloid has sold its entire US operations to the guy who used to be its CEO, Pelle Törnberg. Like the other owner of the paper, Metro in the US was a money loser.

Go figure: Foreclosure-help ad in the Metro may not have been legit

adamg — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:50:05 -0400

The state Attorney General's office has gotten a temporary restraining order against a New York firm that allegedly used ads in the Metro to drum up business among homeowners facing foreclosure by promising legal services it couldn't deliver. Among other things, the company demanded $1,500 up front from prospective clients, which is illegal in Massachusetts and also, despite calling itself Loan Mods by Lawyers, it, in fact, employed no lawyers, the Attorney General's office reports, adding the Metro cooperated fully with state investigators.

Have you read the news today, oh boy?

adamg — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:34:54 -0500

Maria Varmazis captures a really sad recession paper in front of Pi Alley downtown.

Copyright Maria Varmazis.

Could anything stun Metro readers?

adamg — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:58:39 -0500

The Herald breathlessly reports on an incident at the Forest Hills T stop on Wednesday:

Scores of Metro readers were stunned when they picked up the free newspaper the other morning and discovered a frightening front page splashed with anti-Israel rantings.

Why no pictures of either the frightening front page (come on, we're Herald readers, we can take it!) or of stunned Metro readers lying prostrate at the bottom of the escalators like pigeons just given electric shocks?

Stop complaining about the Metro's sports coverage and do something about it

adamg — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:59:57 -0500

Become their next sports editor:

Ideal candidate should possess the ability to find ways to lure readers from other sections of the paper into sports and demonstrate the creativity and willingness to break through the standard elements of a sports page.

What? The Globe is worth no more than the Metro?

adamg — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:32:21 -0500

Dan Kennedy has posted a report from Barclays Capital that puts the value of the Boston Globe at just $12 million to $20 million - less even than the value of "the Worchester papers." It also puts the value of the Times' share in Boston Metro (49%, right?) at $5 million to $10 million, which would make the Metro worth as much as the Globe. Which I'm just finding hard to believe, especially given that this valuation comes from a service that can't spell "Worcester" right and hasn't done enough basic research to know that the Telegram & Gazette haven't been separate papers for years and years now (also, Barclays puts a value of $140 million to $166.5 million on the company's stake in "the Boston Red Sox's").

Can you internalize constructive criticism?

adamg — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:35:58 -0400

Then boy does the Boston Metro have an unpaid intership for you!

Interns will be responsible for covering assignments as directed by the City Editor and by the reporters and will have the opportunity to pitch ideas for publication in the newspaper.

And don't worry: Knowledge of local geography is not a requirement.