Madison’s alt-biweekly free newspaper, the Wisconsinite, folded up shop last month after a scant dozen issues. The group that founded and produced the paper included members of the Madison IMC collective (but was most definitely not a print project of the IMC itself). It was positioned to the left of the city’s tired alt-weekly, which now targets “affluent hipsters” compelled to spawn. Very respectably progressive, the Wisconsinite had some meaty stories on interesting stuff, was fairly well-laid out, and was even printed on higher-quality newsprint stock than the Isthmus.
Then Madison’s dominant daily announced it would be starting a free “alt-weekly” of its own, and the state’s largest paper shortly followed suit. It is apparently a growing trend in the mainstream newspaper marketplace to use the “alt-weekly” trick in hopes of luring a younger demographic – both for their disposable income and to entice them into the habit of reading a paper, something going lost on the under-25 crowd. Continue reading “Farewell, Fair Wisconsinite: We Hardly Knew Ye”
Month: August 2004
The Voice of Media Reform?
Many activists (especially those involved in progressive/radical causes) are intimately familiar with doing hard work for little or no money or recognition. I’ve unfortunately watched friends burn out on causes for change because of this. However, my hiatus of late has taught me an important lesson: people do notice your work and, if you keep plugging away at it, you will reap rewards (above and beyond altruistic satisfaction, which still unfortunately is not yet considered a form of currency).
When I decided to move to Urbana-Champaign, Illinois from Madison several months ago, I had little idea what I’d be doing when I got here (outside of the higher-learning thing). It was the first time I’d apartment-hunted with no clue as to how I’d manage the rent, an experience I’d recommend to nobody. Continue reading “The Voice of Media Reform?”