2007-10-15

"Citizen Journalism"

About 5 or 6 years ago, Metro International launched a newspaper here in Boston, "written and designed for young and ambitious professionals." In point of fact, it's written and designed for people who take public transportation: small enough to read on the train without disturbing your fellow journeymen. News you can use in fewer than 2 sentences per article. Compact enough so that you're not juggling your bagel and latte while reading your horoscope.

Over the past few years, Boston's version of the Metro has grown into a fairly decent publication. The Boston edition employs a number of good writers, like Luke O'Neil and Nick Dussault. You could do worse than get your daily news from the Boston Metro. You could read the Herald, and have to PAY for it, to boot.

Not too long ago, another publisher came along and decided that commuters deserved a CHOICE. And so now we must decide between the practically-venerable Metro, and the upstart whelp of a daily known as Boston NOW, which purports to incorporate "both traditional and citizen journalism."

"Citizen journalism," comrades! Do you hear the people sing?

In all sincerity, this is all well and good. I confess that it makes my cold, bitter heart sing just a tiny bit to see kids reading a newspaper on the train. Personally, I'm one of those self-righteous assholes that listen to NPR in the morning, as I'm drinking my free trade coffee and preparing to go to my nonprofit arts administration job. By the time I'm on the train, I am fairly awash in self-righteousness, with my keen awareness of the day's issues, and as such I don't NEED to read a "free daily." But I will allow that the presence of such publications is a fine thing, a useful thing.

But we must talk about the distributors of these publications.

Never have I seen a more aggressive bunch of yahoos than these smock-clad paper pushers. It matters not that I am holding a book or another newspaper -- their job is to make sure that every commuter has a copy of that paper and by God, you're going to take that paper even if they have to pry open your clenched fists.

Like the Hounds of Hell, they are, waiting at the gaping maw of Forest Hills Station every morning. Two at each set of escalators. Two or three more in front of the banks of Charlie Card machines.

Many's the time I've held my book up like a talisman, yelling, "No! No! For the love of God, no! Do what you will with your wretched blurb-fest, you vampiric toady! Can you not see that I have something else to read?!" Yet they persist, rattling it in my face: "Free daily Metro, ma'am? Free Boston NOW? It's FREE!"

(I am reminded of an exchange overheard at Forest Hills a few years ago, when the Metro first appeared. A young lad, eager to get his hands on a copy, was perturbed when his mother refused the one offered by one of the aforementioned lackeys: "Why dint you take it, Mama? It's FREE!" His mother responded, "That pile'a dogshit back on the kawnah's free, too.")

When we moved from the general Forest Hills vicinity to the somewhat more genteel Green Street area, I happily believed that my days of dodging the swarm of free paper locusts were over.

I was wrong.

True enough, there's only one of them at Green Street Station -- an aggressive young buck working for Boston NOW -- but he's RUTHLESS. Just this morning, I stood to the right of the gates, fumbling wildly through my bag as I realized with a mild degree of horror that I'd left my wallet -- and my Charlie Card -- at home. And meanwhile, here's Mr. Boston NOW trying to get my attention, parrying and thrusting his paper at me, lunging like a big dumb Golden Retriever who's making a beeline for your crotch. Exasperated, I wailed, "Will you GET AWAY from me?! JESUS."

I'm all for "citizen journalism." Just leave it in a neat pile next to the entrance, okay?

lisamcc at 7:02 p.m.



1 comments so far
Some Assembly Required
2007-10-16 14:39:25
I don't know if this is true where you live, but a lot of these paper-hawker dudes that I see every day look like they've just come from registering as sex offenders.
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