Does anyone actually read those papers? I mean, I suppose someone must because they keep printing them, but why? In my young and callow days I had a summer job delivering them to every house in a particular neighborhood and when I missed houses (because generally I’d find a dumpster and chuck the papers in it) people would actually call the company and complain about not getting it. I’ve glanced through a few out of desperation when I ran out of my own reading material at the laundromat and I can’t imagine anyone finding any value in them whatsoever.
I’ll occasionally pick up the Hour or the Metro or whatever other free paper is lying around the metro stations; they do tend to give a good idea of what is happening in the city (events, festivals, etc), but for the most part, they aren’t very high quality and I don’t read them completely.
I’ll occasionally flip through the borough paper that comes on the weekends with the rest of the junk mail, but only if I take the time to look through the junk before tossing it into the recycling bin. Again, it gives me an idea of how the neighbourhood is doing, and sometimes clears up questions about construction or other weird things I see going on around town, but again, for the most part, I’m not very interested in the articles.
So I guess my answer is “sometimes yes, mostly no”.
It’s like looking at Playboy magazine, but in reverse.
(You know the old excuse: “I’m not looking at the pictures, I’m reading the articles…”)
Nobody reads those freebie neighborhood newspapers for the articles. But they do like to look at the “pictures”–i.e. the coupons for the local supermarket.
My mother used to carefully look at the ads – it was an easy way to save money.
I like the Metroland, which is a free alternative newspaper around here. It’s the only one, and it’s a little different than most of the same-old crap that we get (Times Union, Gazette, etc.)
You mean like the Boston Phoenix? That one is good except for a general interest question and answer column by this old, cocky guy. I have seen it referenced here many times.
I will read damned near anything. I have enjoyed, Jehovahs Witnesses Watchtowers, Chick Tracks, event listings, personal ads, and used car advertisements even when I didn’t need a car. I can spend an hour or maybe more reading any of those things.
Boston has a truly good free magazine called the Improper Bostonian and I am always thrilled to find one because they don’t put them out in my suburban area. I also like the Boston Phoenix and Stuff-At-Night.
The Boston Metro just fills in the bus ride to work. Grants a vague familiarity with current events, and if I see anything that deserves more than a sound bite I’ll look it up on the web. My old lab had a subscription to the New York Times, which used to be my major news source, but around here they settle for leaving CNN on in the lunchroom.
We have a free community local paper delivered to our home weekly whether we want it or not. Since it comes the same day the recycling goes to the curb, most days it goes straight to the bin. I have glanced through it from time to time, particularly if I’m looking for a local service, like lawn care or new neighborhood restaurants. I wouldn’t go so far to say I read it, though. Seems mostly for people with kids in local schools or who attend a lot of church activities.
Hell no. I will open it up and there used to be a traffic part that I would read but that’s it. I can’t stand having them on my doorstep when I come home. They get in the way and once became stuck and I couldn’t pick it up because I was carrying the baby. I think it’s litter to have it in my yard, that includes all the handbills that get stuck on my car and door.
I don’t mind free newspapers, but they need to be placed where I can pick them up if I want them, not forced on me. It’s no wonder all the trees are gone with all the unwanted crap we get.
One thing I love in the United States is that there seems to be a thriving enough free press. Every town I’ve visited of a certain size had an arts/culture/local affairs freesheet or paper with everything I’d need to know about local events and also quite well written thoughtful articles. This has been true at least in Charlottesville, VA, Cleveland, OH and Chicago. Seeing The Onion in print edition blew my mind.
In my locality we get one or two free newspapers with very little actual local news/views and more “There will be a bakesale on the 27th in aid this or that charity” type articles or advertorials for local stores. For a local paper with solid editorial you need to pay a euro or two. I get given free literature by Jehovah’s Witnesses sometimes and Hare Krishnas, I usually read them too.
I would guess that the Reader isn’t. I’m not talking about the alternative weeklies like the Reader or Madison’s Isthmus, that are left in stacks at various stores or in boxes around town. I’m talking about the stuff that’s delivered to your doorstep every week whether you want it or not.
Sure, I read’em! We get 2 of them here, the News Democrat Journal and the Jefferson County Leader. They have pretty good news coverage of local government/schools, businesses and social activities, plus ads and coupons for local businesses.
And I’d hate to miss the annual stop the fireworks/we love our freedom controversy or the hate letters to the editor after the yearly youth hunting season protesting the photo of “12-year old Naomi Smith shows off her first 10-point buck” (name made up).
The only one like that I get is an insert in the paper, and I read it from time to time. Sometimes the articles are interesting, currently they’re running a history of Alberta type thing for the next few weeks as well as the usual weekly insert. I find out interesting events I might have missed otherwise, since they do a list of festivals toward the start of the season.
The other ones are scattered in boxes around town, and I get the daily ones to read on my way to work since I don’t always have time to read the paper at home. The weekly ones I usually forget about until the day before the new one comes out, which would be no good to me (though one does carry The Straight Dope column…)
We get the West Des Moines version of the Des Moines Register once a week whether we like it or not. It is immediately discarded. It does not even make it into the house, I toss it in the garage. I looked at it a few times but it had absolutely nothing of interest, not even any coupons.
When I lived in a small town, we had a weekly paper that came out that covered us and the surrounding towns, and I read it. It covered things like local politics, who got married and who died, stuff that the bigger cities papers wouldn’t cover, or would cover with just a quick blurb. Basically, it had everything a local paper should have.
What he said, except that I still live there. If I didn’t read it, I’d never know the dates of the library book sale, electronics day at the dump, or the wild game supper at the church (though I’ve not gotten up the guts to try the last one yet).
