Review: Cheap Rag Shootout - Boston Edition

May 31, 2007 | By Jared Howard | 854 Views

Who can lay claim to being Boston’s best cheap rag (and by cheap I mean free)? Although there were a plethora of options, the three I decided to throw into the blender were old favorite - the Phoenix, the Metro - with its Swedish backing, and new kid on the block – Boston Now.  I ran these rags through their paces for a week. Who reigned supreme?

Are looks everything?

The Metro utilizes a “tabloid style” layout, making it easier to manage and read, especially on a crowded train.  The fact that it was in full color, pictures included, was a nice surprise considering it’s a free paper.  Size-wise this porridge was just right as I found it to be the perfect size between Boston Now, which was the smallest and the Phoenix which was the largest. The Metro can also lay claim to having the flashiest graphics and most colorful layout (which was very reminiscent of USA Today.)


Boston Now utilizes a “tabloid style” layout as well and like the Metro is in full color (all pictures included.) Boston Now uses a more subdued color scheme than that of the Metro and the Phoenix and averages around 23 pages per issue compared to the average 25 page count of the Metro and average 38 page count of the Phoenix. Boston Now does not run a front page story, opting instead to use a full page image/graphic (the more shocking/controversial the better it seemed.) I found this an interesting design choice as that is a tactic tabloids generally employ.

The Phoenix is the largest (size-wise) of the three papers but again utilizes the increasingly popular “tabloid or magazine style” format.  Unlike the Metro and Boston Now, the Phoenix is only partially in color.  Generally only the leading section pages were in color and a random picture here and there. A majority of the advertisements were in color however. The Phoenix, like Boston Now, opts to use a full page picture for its front page. I found the design of the Phoenix’s front page to be more akin to that of a magazine however than that of Boston Now.


Winner:

Meat and Potatoes (Content)

This is where the differences between the three papers really started to show. First and foremost the Metro and Boston Now are both dailies and thus have a content setup very similar to that of most national newspapers. The Phoenix is a weekly publication and predominately focused around music, the arts and entertainment. It does not feature a traditional sports section, national and world news section or business section. So I’ll be comparing the Metro and Boston Now here head-to-head and toss the Phoenix into the mix when applicable.

Local
Metro vs. Boston Now: Typically Boston Now averaged 3 pages of “local” news content while the Metro averaged around 2 pages (one day they did have 4 pages however, so it seems their page format is a little more flexible.) Unfortunately I found a majority of the local news stories to be culled from newswire services which means I’d often times see the same exact stories in both papers. This was more than a little disappointing as I was hoping to see more “unique” stories that may have been missed or not covered by the major players in town (the Boston Globe and Boston Herald.)

The Phoenix: Of the three papers I found the Phoenix’s selection of local (Boston area) stories to be the best. The Phoenix however does have what you could call some what of an advantage over the other two as it is not trying to be a newspaper in the literal sense of the term which allows them more freedom to report on anything they want. They don’t have to worry about reporting on little Timmy that fell in the well. The Phoenix stories had more of an “article” feel than a “news story” feel.

National/World
Metro vs. Boston Now: Both papers dedicate around 2 pages for national and world/international news. Stories from both papers were almost 100% pulled from the AP which is fine since they are more focused on local news, as they should be I feel.

Business
Metro vs. Boston Now: Business is lightly covered in both papers, each dedicating 1 page. Again a majority of the stories were from the AP. I would have preferred to see more Boston related business coverage although Boston Now does run an index periodically of Boston based businesses which was nice.

Sports
Metro vs. Boston Now: This is an area where I felt both papers fell short. With the rabid sports fan base in this area I would have thought the sports section would be beefier in both papers but like other sections, most of the stories were from newswire services. The Metro does have a section called “The Buzz” which gives a brief synopsis of the daily happenings of all the area’s professional sports teams (including soccer and lacrosse). This is definitely a nice addition that makes the Metro’s sports section really stand out from Boston Now’s.

A&E
Metro vs. Boston Now vs. The Phoenix: This is where the Phoenix blew the other two out of the water. A good half of the Phoenix is dedicated to the arts, music, movies and dining. You can find plenty of reviews on each and a very comprehensive “what’s happening” directory. The Metro has a similar directory although not nearly as extensive. The Metro does not list local movie times which I found strange as both Boston Now and the Phoenix do. Boston Now offers a “Dinner and a Movie” feature where they recommend, like the title implies, a dinner and a movie. It’s a good concept; however I found the restaurant recommendations to be uninspiring. Some examples during my review period were “Top of the Hub,” “Dick’s Last Resort,” and “McCormick and Schmick’s” which are fine eating establishments but I would have preferred recommendations of places more off the beaten path.

Misc
Metro vs. Boston Now vs. The Phoenix: All three papers offer a crossword puzzle and both Boston Now and the Metro offer a Sudoku puzzle. Boston Now has a cool feature called “Outbound” where you can learn what’s in people’s NetFlix queues, iTunes playlists and other random snippets, displaying the papers tight integration with BostonNow.com (see comments under “Best Feature”). The Phoenix was the only paper to include both a personals and classified section which is a big hit I feel for the Phoenix and a big miss for the Metro and Boston Now. The Phoenix also includes an “adult” section if that’s what you’re in to.

Overall I found the content in the Phoenix to be the most compelling and unique. I found the writing to be tight and easily digestible. Even though the Phoenix has the benefit of only being a weekly, thus giving the writers and editors more time to compile stories and the freedom to not have to report the daily news, the level of original content was just so much higher than that of the Metro and Boston Now.

Winner:

But My Mom Always Told Me I was Special (Best Feature)

The Metro has a couple of features I liked and thought were unique. First is a section they run every Wednesday called “Metro Moments with the Mayor” where people can write (or email) questions or complaints into Mayor Menio and then have them addressed and answered in the column. Now if the responses are actually from Mayor Menio is questionable but the main reason I liked the feature is it shows a strong local connection between the paper and the city. Another feature I really liked was “T time.” This is a map of the public transportation system in Boston with events happening that day marked off at the T stop to get there. I think this is an ingenius feature and would love to see it integrated not only into more sections (for instance utilize “T time” for restaurant reviews, movie theater locations, etc) but in other papers.

Boston Now also had a couple of features I liked. They run a section called “Novelette” which takes a short story written by a local author (the story running during my review period was written by a Boston College student) breaks it up into 7 or 8 chunks and then prints 1 chunk a day. I think it is a great way for local authors to gain exposure and if the story draws you in, is a great way to retain readers as they’ll definitely get the next day’s issue to continue reading the story. Boston Now’s best feature is its tight integration with its website BostonNow.com. The paper is littered with what it calls “Blog Now” boxes which are comments and opinions from readers posted to their website. I really like this feature as it gives readers both incentive to go and spend time on the website and also a feeling of being part of the creation of the paper itself.

The Phoenix provides one of the most comprehensive guides to local happenings currently available and that’s including the major newspapers. If you are looking for something to do over the week whether it be a concert, art gallery, comedy show or club, the Phoenix has you covered. I also liked the fact that they include a free classifieds section. As evidenced by Craig’s List, people love free places to hawk their junk.

Winner:

Hit me with it! I’ve come a long way to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. (Final Word)

So which cheap rag reigns supreme? Although they all offer unique features, each paper is not without areas in which they could improve. I felt at times both the Metro and Boston Now relied too much on newswire services. I think it is totally understandable to utilize the AP for national/international and even business stories but I would have preferred to see more original content pertaining to the local coverage and sports. Boston Now has a great concept of tightly integrating the print paper with their website but I would love to see them take the concept one step further and start printing whole editorials and stories from their readership off of the website. Instead of seeing so many AP stories I would rather see people’s reactions and thoughts to those stories. Boston Now touts their website as an extension of the print paper; I think they should take the opposite approach and utilize the print paper as an extension of the website. Use the print paper to publish more in-depth articles and stories and more user created content and use the website as a portal to all the AP stories. The Phoenix had the best original content of the three and its A&E section is second to none. Being only a weekly publication though puts it at a disadvantage over the other two as I wouldn’t pick up the Phoenix everyday. In the end the Metro’s unique features like “T time” and “Metro Moments with the Mayor,” and its format, both in terms of layout and content, take home the cake. I liken reading the Metro to watching a newscast on MTV, very flashy, a lot of fluff, but just enough substance and originality to keep my attention for my hour train ride home every night.


Winner (Overall):

Posted in News, Reviews