Do you read those free "newspapers"?

[Hostile_Dialect]

I don’t know about Madison, but the San Diego Reader and San Diego CityBeat are pretty awesome mags. They’re both great for finding something to do over the weekend. The Night & Day section that comes with the Union-Tribune on Thursdays is a winner for that too, but it’s more expensive and less expansive; and although it covers niches to an appreciable extent, it’s more focused on interviewing whatever rock star happens to be in town that week. Thankfully, they had enough good taste to keep mum on the Billy Corgan tour–er, excuse me, the Smashing Pumpkins tour–that was in town tonight. But I digress. The Reader delves much further into the realm of niche markets, free events, and local oddities (like the state barbecue championship on the beach a few weeks ago). CityBeat is a hipster’s paradise, especially its annual Best of San Diego issue which, unlike the U-T, doesn’t claim that Olive Garden is the best Italian restaurant in San Diego.

The Reader also delivers hard-hitting and fairly objective analyses of the innumerable political scandals, big and small, that rock this county on a weekly basis; whereas CityBeat is the voice of the angry young left-winger in this right-wing town. The difference is subtle, but significant–the Reader will run a citywide prose contest where the winner tells a heartwarming story of her neighbors teaching her tolerance after a move down the social ladder, while CityBeat will interview illegal immigrants and share their success stories about how they jumped the border. They’re both good reads and I would argue that they’re necessary, along with the Union-Tribune, for a young San Diegan who wants to stay informed. The one irritating thing is that the San Diego Reader runs “Straight from the Hip”, which is pretty much like the Straight Dope on sedatives.

Neighborhood papers though? Yup, they’re trash. We used to get them all the time when we lived near UCSD. A lot of those folks would fit in in an episode of Frasier, and it showed in the neighborhood rag. The worst part was, I think people actually did read them.

I think the neighborhood rag in Ocean Beach is actually pretty decent, from the standpoint of uniting the neighborhood in community projects, etc. But OB is just that kind of place.

@chappachula

My mother used to carefully look at the ads – it was an easy way to save money.

In image-conscious Southern California, they’re a great way to save money…

… on plastic surgery and medical marijuana consultations.

@An Gadaí

Seeing The Onion in print edition blew my mind.

And it actually doubles as a local rag if you happen to live in Milwaukee, it seems.

@fluiddruid

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.

The local paper there isn’t worth writing home about, either. Although I got the impression that it was chock full of useful information, if you happened to be a farmer.

[Sleeps_With_Butterflies]

I’ll grab one occasionally to see what events might be going on in the area, or if I need a good laugh by reading the “situations wanted” type personals where people are looking for some odd things.

[Yorikke]

I lived in San Fran for 6 years (and am moving back in 2 days, YAY!), and there are approximately 4 zillion free newspapers there. They aren’t delivered to your home, but are readily available, and, yes, I read many of them. The standard, corporate-ish Guardian and Weekly, as well as the Mission Times, COH newsletter, and whatever else passes the time while having a cup or waiting for a movie to start…

Joe

[Yorikke]

@Otto

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.

Well, now that I see this post, I NEVER got these papers in San Francisco, or at least never noticed them. There wasn’t ever anything but grocery store circulars on my doorstep…

Joe

[Lunar_Saltlick]

@Otto

…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 it. There’s lots of good community stuff in there. Local free concerts, street festivals, stuff like that. Just recently, our community paper informed me that a new Thai restaurant was opening a few blocks over (on a street I never use). Never woulda known otherwise!

Gotta read the free, delivered-to-your-door newspaper. Also, the writing and editing is sometimes unintentionally hilarious.

[Marley23]

I read amNew York most mornings (if there isn’t a new Onion) because they give it out for free at the stairs of my subway stop. It’s a lousy paper, but I can usually read the whole thing 15 minutes it takes me to get to work. But now there’s also a guy giving away the Metro, which I think is an even worse paper. So sometimes I end up with two papers, neither of which is really worth reading. Maybe I’ll start doing two crosswords a day.

[control-z]

There are a couple good ones in Charlottesville VA; The Cville Weekly and The Hook. The Hook is good enough that I’d pay for it, rather than just find it in a restaurant somewhere like I do now.

[Swallowed_My_Cellphone]

I also read the free (alternative) weeklies because they have the most comprehensive listing of culture and arts events. Far, FAR more so than the regular newspaper. Everything from rock bands to opera, alternative theatre to big broadway-type shows.

The crappy freebies that sometimes get delivered to my door? No. They have no appreciable content.

[Kevbo]

In Albuquerque, the Alibi weekly is perhaps the best source for entertainment (local bands, movies, resteraunt) reviews and such. It also includes “The Straight Dope” and “Ask the Mexican” so you know it must be good. 20+ years ago when I lived in Denver, WestWord filled approximatly the same role. Now if the Alibi will stop refering to this city as 'burque <twitch> I’d be happier.

[back_before_irony]

I only look in them when I need a local contractor for cement work or power washing, etc.

[bouv]

@Anaamika

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.)

I read that all the time (well…once a week ) when I was living down there. In VT, there is “Seven Days,” which is basically the same thing, but for our region (and from what I understand, all of these “alternative” papers (not the cruddy free ones that are often very politically or religiously slanted,) are part of a large alternative papers community, all following a standard format for layout, classifieds, etc…

[Captain_Socks]

The DC City Paper is good too.

[Lunar_Saltlick]

Otto, you should tally up the posts and see how many people actually responded to your question about free, delivered-to-your-door newspapers, and how many ignored your question and wrote about free alt weeklies.

For what it’s worth, as I noted above, I find the free, delivered-to-your-door newspaper to be quite useful.

[Annie-Xmas]

Our daily paper covers the entire County. The free weekly covers our little area of the county. Of course I read it.

[MsRobyn]

We get a free mailer from the local paper. Normally, I throw them out because I have no interest in anything they cover. But I went to college with one of their reporters who is genuinely lousy, so when I see her name on the front page, I have to read it to see just how bad the article is. Sad thing is, I’m never disappointed. And people wonder why I have the stomach for Left Behind.

Robin

[Guinastasia]

Here at work, everyone reads the Pittsburgh City Paper-it’s hysterical. To give an example of what kind of paper it is, there are ads for exotic dancing clubs and they run “Savage Love”.

[Miss_Mapp]

I get two of these a week, the Montgomery County Gazette which is a pretty thick thing, and some little fold-over local paper. I might look at the headlines on the Gazette as I carry it from the front door to the recycling stack of papers in the laundry room (if I didn’t get these papers, I wouldn’t have much of a newspaper-recycling stack) and I think I tried to look up local movie times in it once and couldn’t find any info. Otherwise, I’ve never read them.

[DMark]

We get one delivered every week in our driveway. I have actually taken it into the house about four times in the last year.

Usually, the articles are inane tidbits about Mary Jones and her wonderful garden, an article about the new parking spaces at the local church, a picture of some local politician eating chicken at the local retirement home and a bunch of ads for local businesses for which I have no particular need.

So yeah, they go straight into the recycle bin, but I do sometimes take the rubber band wrapped around the paper and put it in the junk drawer for future use.

[Cunctator]

I read the free daily commuter rag in Sydney. It has just enough material to keep me occupied during my train ride home.

[kambuckta]

@Cunctator

I read the free daily commuter rag in Sydney. It has just enough material to keep me occupied during my train ride home.

The crosswords and the sudoku puzzles in those papers are righteous bastards…I live just one stop from the end of the train line, and I’m pushing it to get either one finished. Bugger the newsie bits.