Urban Media: new [here]

I was anxiously awaiting the new issue of [here], eagerly anticipating I would be able to hate it and dismiss it once an for all.

I was reading online that the freelance restaurant reviewers were turfed, and expected a further retreat from local content.  Years after being bought from its independent publishers, [here] has become thin on content, and I figured the trend was set to continue.

The new issue actually has a lot of local content and lots of stuff about Moncton and Fredericton.

While the paper is better than I expected, there are a few things I question. 

First, there is no web edition.  I find this odd as the [here] market is supposed to be young and connected.  It’s also odd considering the Brunswick News seems to be embarking on an effort to monetize it’s canadaeast.com website. 

My second issue is that the paper has stuck with its format of featuring non-local stories on the front.  I know that an urban publication that is supposed to be youthful and alternative has to feature indie and alt music articles – you know, for cred – but I think putting the local stories up front would move more copies than a picture of Tegan and Sara.  That leads to a criticism I can direct at the local daily newspaper as well – are people really looking to print media to read about entertainment when TV, radio and especially the internet have covered these acts repeatedly and with greater immediacy? It seems unlikely that I’m so starved for stories about the Canadian sister band that I will pick up [here] to find out more.

It’s valuable that Saint John has multiple media outlets and its great that [here] covers local culture - local artists and bands might not get covered at all if not for [here].  Still, this outlet could be better and I hope it’s moving in that direction.

Edit: I was flipping through this issue again (I’m having a lazy day and doing some procrastinating) and realized that one article was printed twice.  This is the sort of thing that left us kicking ourselves when I was involved in student media.