The Metro Weekly - Revision history

AzraelBrown: /* Contact Information */

2011-02-02T18:58:23Z

Contact Information

AzraelBrown at 18:57, 2 February 2011

2011-02-02T18:57:48Z

AzraelBrown: /* The Midweek */

2011-02-02T18:57:10Z

The Midweek

AzraelBrown: /* Relaunch as The Metro Weekly */

2011-02-02T18:48:47Z

Relaunch as The Metro Weekly

AzraelBrown at 18:35, 2 February 2011

2011-02-02T18:35:41Z

AzraelBrown: /* Relaunch as The Metro Weekly */

2011-02-02T18:32:16Z

Relaunch as The Metro Weekly

AzraelBrown: /* Disclaimer */

2011-02-02T18:31:48Z

Disclaimer

AzraelBrown at 18:30, 2 February 2011

2011-02-02T18:30:03Z

AzraelBrown at 18:29, 2 February 2011

2011-02-02T18:29:22Z

AzraelBrown at 18:28, 2 February 2011

2011-02-02T18:28:40Z

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 <tr><td valign="top">Email: </td><td valign="top">[mailto:lstoneburner@forumcomm.com Editor Laura Stoneburner: lstoneburner@forumcomm.com]</td></tr>
 <tr><td valign="top">Postal Address:</td><td valign="top">
-'''Valley Metro Weekly'''<br />
+'''The Metro Weekly'''<br />
 5th St N<br />
 Fargo, ND 58102</td></tr>

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 In May or June 2006<ref name="doorstepmedia">[http://www.areavoices.com/azraelbrown/?blog=2553 Fargophilia, "Doorstep Media"], 16 June 2006</ref> the Midweek was revised from a tabloid to a broadsheet size, included the same Classified categories as the Fargo Forum, and the advertisements had cross-over possibility from the Forum's classifieds.
-==Editorial Control==
+===Editorial Control===
 The editor of the Valley Midweek Marketplace was originally Alicia Strnad, who wrote a column for the VMM and mirrored the column at her blog, the [http://www.areavoices.com/concierge/ Blog Concierge].  For part of 2007, however, there did not appear to be any editorial column or byline in the VMM, and the sparse masthead listed no employees in any sort of control of the VMM's content.  As of August, 2007, Carrie Carney Joyce and Laura Stoneburner are listed as contacts for the VMM, but neither are identified specifically as an editor.

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ==The Midweek==
 [[Image:Delivering-The-Midweek-1981-Binford-Guide-Cover.jpg|left|thumb|220px|Delivering the Midweek in the 80s]]
-The Valley Midweek Marketplace directly originated from the Midweek Eagle, a tabloid-sized free shopper published by Pioneer Press in West Fargo, North Dakota.
+The Metro Weekly directly originated from the Midweek Eagle, a tabloid-sized free shopper published by Pioneer Press in West Fargo, North Dakota.
 First printed in 1971 as the Midweek, it became the Midweek Eagle in 1972 when the namesake bird was added to the masthead.  In 1979, the Midweek Eagle was joined by the Midweek Plus (the 'plus' being television listings, if I remember correctly), making the "midweek" a twice-weekly shopper.   On 4 January 2000, the two papers were reconsolidated back into the Midweek, whose distribution date was moved to Friday, still not-quite living up to its name.<ref>[http://www.nd.gov/hist/sal/nsp/final04.htm Newspapers, Page 4], North Dakota State Historical Society, as of 4 May 2007.</ref>

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 The current crop of editors and writers seem to be bringing the VMM around as a 'city guide'.  Recent issues have featured interviews and profiles of local businesses, as well as local business ''owners'', the tone of which is very reminiscent of [[Howard Binford's Guide]] and the pre-Forumcomm Midweek.   Less content has been coming from news-wires and 'content farms', which gives the newspaper a better local flavor and results in higher readability.  The newspaper, however, still lacks a website -- which reduces the potential audience and scope for the VMM's articles.  As a proponent of free/registration-free content, I think the VMM would be an excellent place for [[The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead|The Forum]] to lead readers to the full newspaper site by offering these non-news community-interest articles, short and perfect for internet reading, for free on the internet like the Midweek did before.
-==Relaunch as The Metro Weekly==
+==The Metro Weekly==
 In late January 2011, the Valley Midweek Marketplace name was dropped, and the title of the publication was changed to The Metro Weekly.  The first issue continued with the same content as the VMM.  The Metro Weekly still has no website presence.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 * Total: '''50,591'''
-==Ancestry==
+==The Midweek==
 [[Image:Delivering-The-Midweek-1981-Binford-Guide-Cover.jpg|left|thumb|220px|Delivering the Midweek in the 80s]]
 The Valley Midweek Marketplace directly originated from the Midweek Eagle, a tabloid-sized free shopper published by Pioneer Press in West Fargo, North Dakota.

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 ==Disclaimer==
-I delivered the Midweek Eagle in the mid-1980s.
+I delivered the Midweek Eagle in the mid-1980s, and in the 2000s an article I wrote appeared in the Valley Midweek Marketplace.
 ==References==

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 In 2005 the Midweek was purchased, along with other Pioneer Press assets, by Forum Communications<ref>[http://www.forumcomm.com/history/ Forum Communications Company - History]</ref>.   After the purchase, the Midweek continued to be published and distributed without much change until the summer of 2006.
-==Integration with the Fargo Forum==
+==Valley Midweek Marketplace==
 In May or June 2006<ref name="doorstepmedia">[http://www.areavoices.com/azraelbrown/?blog=2553 Fargophilia, "Doorstep Media"], 16 June 2006</ref> the Midweek was revised from a tabloid to a broadsheet size, included the same Classified categories as the Fargo Forum, and the advertisements had cross-over possibility from the Forum's classifieds.
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 The editor of the Valley Midweek Marketplace was originally Alicia Strnad, who wrote a column for the VMM and mirrored the column at her blog, the [http://www.areavoices.com/concierge/ Blog Concierge].  For part of 2007, however, there did not appear to be any editorial column or byline in the VMM, and the sparse masthead listed no employees in any sort of control of the VMM's content.  As of August, 2007, Carrie Carney Joyce and Laura Stoneburner are listed as contacts for the VMM, but neither are identified specifically as an editor.
-==Opinion: Lacking Local Content and Poor Internet Integration==
+===Opinion: Lacking Local Content and Poor Internet Integration===
-===Summer 2007===
+====Summer 2007====
 While Strnad's columns once appeared as blog articles on [http://www.areavoices.com/ AreaVoices.com], her column was apparently pulled sometime in April, 2007.   Unlike most free shoppers -- which depend on the community's support and knowledge to survive -- the Valley Midweek Marketplace has no internet presence whatsoever.  This Infomercantile page, and an article I wrote a year ago<ref name="doorstepmedia"/>, are the only results in Google directly related to the VMM as of October 2007.   When I added the phone numbers to this page for Stoneburner and Carney-Joyce in August, I had accidentally mistyped one number; within six weeks, the owner of that incorrect phone number tracked me down and asked me to fix the typo so that people would stop calling.   I admit I appreciate the web-traffic, but it is obscene that a large regional news organization, with so many interested parties, would ignore the benefit of the internet in reaching customers.
@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 Holds significant potential for a profitable combination of website and newspaper.  It's too bad that Forum Communications ignores all of the above.
-===Spring 2008===
+====Spring 2008====
 The current crop of editors and writers seem to be bringing the VMM around as a 'city guide'.  Recent issues have featured interviews and profiles of local businesses, as well as local business ''owners'', the tone of which is very reminiscent of [[Howard Binford's Guide]] and the pre-Forumcomm Midweek.   Less content has been coming from news-wires and 'content farms', which gives the newspaper a better local flavor and results in higher readability.  The newspaper, however, still lacks a website -- which reduces the potential audience and scope for the VMM's articles.  As a proponent of free/registration-free content, I think the VMM would be an excellent place for [[The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead|The Forum]] to lead readers to the full newspaper site by offering these non-news community-interest articles, short and perfect for internet reading, for free on the internet like the Midweek did before.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:29, 2 February 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The ~~Valley Midweek Marketplace~~ is a free weekly shopper published in affiliation with the [[The_Forum_of_Fargo-Moorhead\|Fargo Forum]].	+	The The Metro Weekly is a free weekly shopper published in affiliation with the [[The_Forum_of_Fargo-Moorhead\|Fargo Forum]].

	==Contact Information==		==Contact Information==

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 ==Contact Information==
 <table border="0">
-<tr><td valign="top">Email: </td><td valign="top">[mailto:vmm@forumcomm.com vmm@forumcomm.com]</td></tr>
+<tr><td valign="top">Email: </td><td valign="top">[mailto:lstoneburner@forumcomm.com Editor Laura Stoneburner: lstoneburner@forumcomm.com]</td></tr>
 <tr><td valign="top">Postal Address:</td><td valign="top">
 '''Valley Metro Weekly'''<br />
 5th St N<br />
 Fargo, ND 58102</td></tr>
-<tr><td valign="top">Phone:</td><td valign="top">701-451-5774</td></tr>
+<tr><td valign="top">Phone:</td><td valign="top">701-451-5774 or 701-241-5539</td></tr>
 <tr><td valign="top">Fax:</td><td valign="top">701-241-5497</td></tr></table>
@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 The current crop of editors and writers seem to be bringing the VMM around as a 'city guide'.  Recent issues have featured interviews and profiles of local businesses, as well as local business ''owners'', the tone of which is very reminiscent of [[Howard Binford's Guide]] and the pre-Forumcomm Midweek.   Less content has been coming from news-wires and 'content farms', which gives the newspaper a better local flavor and results in higher readability.  The newspaper, however, still lacks a website -- which reduces the potential audience and scope for the VMM's articles.  As a proponent of free/registration-free content, I think the VMM would be an excellent place for [[The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead|The Forum]] to lead readers to the full newspaper site by offering these non-news community-interest articles, short and perfect for internet reading, for free on the internet like the Midweek did before.