Steve Bailey of the Boston Globe looks at the impending battle between Boston Phoenix and Boston's Weekly Dig. He writes that "others have tried to take on [Phoenix publisher Stephen] Mindich and failed," and that the owners of Boston and Philadelphia magazines "have bought the five-year-old Weekly Dig with plans to pour in the resources and turn up the heat on the Phoenix." Bailey paints a picture of Old Guard vs. Youth Movement, of Champion vs. Challenger, before surmising, "More newspapers are better than fewer newspapers."
When the Boston Red Sox won the American League Division Series last year, rioters burned newspaper sidewalk distribution boxes near Fenway Park. Anticipating similar activity during this year's AL Championship Series, police asked papers to remove the boxes. "We are in full compliance," says Boston Globe spokesman Maynard Scarborough. "This is larger than the sale of our newspaper -- it's a safety issue." Boston's Weekly Dig is also in full compliance, although publisher Jeff Lawrence supports "an organized riot where fans can be allowed to burn the street boxes in special areas." He maintains the Dig would gladly allow fans to destroy the boxes if it would help the team. "The least we can do is lose money for the Red Sox to win," he says.
Craig Kapilow is a busy man. By day, he's a senior account executive and associate music editor at Boston's Weekly Dig. By night, he spins at highly marketable DJ nights, thus building relationships with venues around town -- many of which are clients of the paper. One of the longest running events, taking place each Saturday night, was profiled in the Aug. 19 edition of the Boston Globe (see below). Here Kapilow answers a few questions about his multiple roles at the alt-weekly and his side-career behind the turntables.
The alt-weekly rolled out an alternative to the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night with a progressive multimedia art and political event called The Sideshow. The paper's convention coverage includes tongue-in-cheek interviews with stars of The Daily Show, which is taping all week in Boston. Dig editor Joe Keohane is quoted in TIME Magazine saying he doesn't think John Kerry ever mastered the political dialect of Boston, a city that likes talkers.
