Metrolanded

Back in the Albany Eye days, it was always fun to take a jab at Metroland. They were such an easy target.

Like a lot of media outlets, they took themselves very seriously and were rather thin-skinned. The coolest kid on the block never likes being told he’s not all that.

I think Paul Grondahl summed it up perfectly with one word in his story about the alt weekly’s  financial collapse and closure: Metroland was haughty.

Since we’re talking Albany Eye, I can’t resist sharing a few vintage bits about Metroland:

A Modest Proposal

Alt Weekly Blues

Tube Boob

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Look, I don’t think there’s anything good about Metroland failing. No, their journalism wasn’t to my liking, but this leaves a hole in the media market, especially in terms of arts coverage. And any time jobs are lost at a small local business, that’s a bad thing.

Maybe someone will pick up the reins and Metroland will live on. Love it or hate it, Thursday won’t be the same without it.

7 thoughts on “Metrolanded

  1. There are two things I’ll miss about Metroland: the concert listings (they had event listings from all around the area including downstate and MA, not just the Capital District proper), and James Barrick’s crossword puzzle. Yeah, I’m going to miss that puzzle.

  2. If I had to guess, a year from now, there will be a paper product called “Metroland” that will published as a captive vehicle of one of the local dailies. The Des Moines Register did this with a local paper called “Juice:” it had all of the appearance of being an independent alternative newsweekly, but its content was carefully controlled by the corporate parent.

    My other thoughts on my experiences with Metroland here: http://jericsmith.com/2015/11/05/farewell-metroland/

    1. You’re correct in that the Schenectady Daily Gazette was in talks to buy Metroland itself, but only after it sorts out the tax situation.

  3. One of my favorite Albany rituals over the last decade has been having a sandwich and Cajun fries at Pepper Jack’s while I read Metroland. Even if it’s Wednesday.

  4. I remember Metroland much in the same way as Rob and Eric do. It was once the go-to reference for cultural happenings. I suspect that the factors of its demise are not so different from those faced by many media outlets that have struggled to effectively embrace the internet as its main distribution channel. Print advertising rates, even for adult services, collapsed at a rate that would be hard to cope with for any publication.

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