Monday, July 13, 2009

Repent Ye Heathens, Cin No More!

Last week marked the end of CinWeekly. Cin had been around for about six years. I was a faithful reader from even before the start when I got leaked peak of their website and paper. Early on, one of the names being considered for CinWeekly was "Barge." That didn't last. Cin was born and flourished.

From the beginning I wanted Cin to be something more than it was. Cin never was CityBeat. They competed for business, but rarely on content. From Cin I wanted more hard news about issues that "YPs" would be concerned about. Part of the original concept was to appeal to people, generally youngerish, who were not reading the Enquirer. What that meant to me, was that you served the reader with some "real" news and helped that wash down with a whole shitload of lifestyle. Cin never really was about "real" news and was all lifestyle. It had it's own voice and it knew what it was. Over the years I felt its appeal leaned far too much to mainstream culture, kind of the traditionalism that brings to mind numbness of taste. Lately, I was actually pleased with an increase in the coverage of the City. It wasn't to last with the layoffs of CinWeekly's entire staff last Wednesday. Was that the wisest choice? I am sure no one laid off would say so. It wouldn't have been any better to keep them and lay off others. What ever the situation it sucks. Cincinnati loses coverage. Yes, Metromix will replace CinWeekly, and that actually wasn't new news either, according to one former Cin staffer, but on Thursday as I checked out Metromix's website I didn't see places for much of the lifestyle that Cin provided. Where is the stream of Arts and Theatre articles? Where is the stream for volunteer effort articles? Where is the stream for health and fitness articles? These may all be coming in next week's issue, but who is going to write those articles? National stories about the latest pop band or newest Hollywood block buster is just not going to do much that readers can't already get from the web. I really hope the Enquirer/Gannett management have provided the local Metromix editors/producers with the resources to create something other than an events calendar. I will be reading this week to find out. I hope the readers don't get less.

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