Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Blatant Self-Promotion: Your Teacher is a Journalist.

DO YOU READ the Metro? You are their target audience.

Check it out. It is an interesting paper doing interesting things ... writing shorter stories and taking unusual angles. It's a great place to learn about Philly sub-culture: indie bands, obscure theaters, political activists and other random stuff.

But there are rumors that the paper is up for sale. And a sale could change everything.

Learn more by reading this week's cover story of the Philadelphia Weekly, written by your professor.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Metro is a great paper and Temple does a great job with making it available to students.

Not only can you find it on numerous corners and subway stations throughout the city, you can pick it up in many lecture halls.

What I enjoy about it is that it is a quick read to help me learn what's going on in Philly these days.

Additionally, I like their design. It's more modern. It's hip, more colorful and it sticks out at you. To be honest, the reason I picked it up for the first time was because of the way it looked.

I'm also a little obsessed with the Sudoku.

Ariela Rose said...

Your article in Philadelphia Weekly brought a smile to my face, but it also left me feeling a little down.

What are we going to do without a paper like the metro? Where will all the Brenda's go and what will I read on the subway that will remind me of being back home in Boston?

When I am handed a free Metro paper while I'm rushing to get to here or there I can't help but feel a certain connection not only to those who hand me the paper but to those behind the paper. Selling the Metro, especially to some big power hungry company, would put an end to this connection and a great paper that is an outlet for young generations and many many commuters.

Josh Middleton said...

Awesome. I'm new to Philly and appreciate the heads up! Great story.

Joshua Middleton

Anonymous said...

Ah, the Metro. I've only been reading the Metro since I started attending Temple this year, but I've got to say that I really like it. The stories are short and written in a concise manner. It is just a fairly well-rounded, easy and fun paper to read.

I would hate to see the paper sold to another parent company for fear of it being changed or devalued.

Interesting article by the way, very informative.

Anonymous said...

As one of the many commuters that race to their respective Regional Rail stops in the morning, I always make sure to grab a Metro... even when at risk of missing my train.

While it might be slim in size and lack the substantial content of the major circulating papers in Philly, I think that the Metro completes a great service to the community. It is the perfect size for anyone taking that twenty minute ride into school/work.

What it lacks in content, it makes up for in practicality, which I have come to appreciate.

AmbiShawn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AmbiShawn said...

Hopefully the Metro will be able to keep doing what its been doing so well and not become a victim of greed. I didn't even know it existed until I moved to Philadelphia. I was shocked that it was free! If I didn't have so many morning classes I would go and visit Brenda, she sounds like fun. Very good article, it got my attention.

Anonymous said...

I started attending Temple Fall 06, but it wasn't until the summer that I actually began to read the metro. I was interning down in the city (and like the PW story suggests) the Metro sure does go through an interesting way of catching their readers. I mean, how many other publications have people throwing around their papers to people rushing to work at 9am?

I enjoy the Metro and I am actually a photo intern there this semester. It's a easy read, concise and simple. It still has some minor editing, grammar mistakes every so often that I wonder how they missed.

Selling the paper would definitely endanger its "youthfulness."

Anonymous said...

I've never read the Metro, honestly. But after reading this article, I'll definately keep my eyes open for it. It's true that college students are somewhat addicted to the internet (For me, this is basically because one of my major pet peeves is the 'newspaper residue' that paper publications leave behind on my hands). This paper, however, seems to be as my grandmother would say, right up my alley. I'll check it out.

But back to the point of the post, it would definately be disappointing for it to be sold (From what I've read). Not saying they WANT to sell, but a lot of great things have been ruined because of this same reason. I used to love that song 'California' by Phantom Planet, and then came "the OC" and the rest is ear-bleeding history. At least in my case. Hopefully the Metro can be saved from a similar fate than Fall Out Boy or any other clever sell out you can think of.