I can not believe that I am the first to review the local paper, In Newsweekly!!…read moreThe weekly free gay mag found all over New England and Quebec, has some great news articles and stories written by talented reporters from all around New England and the US that appeals to all queers of all backgrounds. In News has always let me know what fun and trashy event is happening when and where. Even when I want to be out of the loop, In News keeps me in the loop just enough.

2 star SAT review…read more the IB is to boston : the Phantom gourmet is to dining out. there you go, if you advertise in IB you are the best, if not, your not worth the ink its printed with. hey its free amusing and always worth picking up to read ezra article (maybe the 2 stars itself) and the sometimes witty improper personals. from time to time the articles are worth a read, but its either that or look at the twitching person father down the t car. i hate the cut out pictures& montages that look like the emerson's senior project.

A question for those who have been an owner or manager of a business: Do you ever have the fear…read morethat one of your employees will do something so stupid or act very rudely? And the sad thing thing is managers can't be everywhere at all times to watch out for the idiocy of their employees. I'll get to the point now. I love the magazine as it used to make my plans each week. Even Ezra made sense every now and then. I even sent a photo of me posing with an issue in Melbourne (Boston's sister city). It was a great publication to find out about events as well as new eating establishments and stomping grounds. So when a friend of mine from San Francisco was planning to open a sushi restaurant in Boston, I said I would looking to advertising rates at certain publications. I called up the Improper and spoke to the ad exec. I explained that the restaurant is still in the business plan phase and I am helping make a budget and Idon't know anything else. She kept asking for the owners' names plus chefs, investors. I told her I didn't know and reiterated that it is still in the planning phase. She then asks where is it going to be? What style of decor? Can I fax a menu to her? I politely explained that I didn't know while here tone was condescending, aggressive, and she used some profanity. At this point I hung up. Don't people realize that you get more bees with honey and vinegar? I think that there is a certain respect you have for people in general. But I feel bad for the management/owner of the Improper as one of the uncouth rogue employees acted idiotically. I don't see why she was so rude there was no point in it and I am less likely to give money to someone who is rude.

Awesome local. Newspaper Great editor with great written stories....Maureen Doherty is the best !…read more The rest of the crew there do a nice job....They have been in business for years and cover the stories fairly and to the point. Great community newspaper every Thursday....

Remember that show that was on TV where some people would intentionally watch a movie they didn't…read morelike, then complain to one another that they were watching a movie they didn't like, making jokes to one another so they felt like they were funny? Now there's a newspaper version. The Weekly Dig used to have at least one article each issue -- several, usually -- that actually *added* something to the world, rather than simply comment on, complained about, or advertised it. But no, actual original content has fallen far down the ladder behind "personality" pieces -- articles in which the real subject is the author him/herself, and the purported topic is just the vehicle for this person to showcase their idea of how funny/annoyed/cool they want you to know they are. In fact it's sort of like this one web site that's popular nowadays, you know the one... Seriously, it goes out of its way to make Stuff at Night look sincere. Is that really worth the trouble?

I'm looking at this star-rating thing wondering what to say needs improving on The Dig to justify…read moreonly giving in 4 out of 5, and I'm drawing a blank. Too many adverts? Not really - compared to other freebie magazines it's far more reasonable. Too short? Nope - that's a bonus for me - a svelte tome is much more up my street than a hefty wad. Too immature and snarky? Come on, we're on Yelp here - that's our style too. So 5 out of 5 it is. Keep up the great work and the great artwork. Now give me a job please.

Thank you TBP for dubbing our band Witch Baby one of the "Best New Bands of 2012"!…read more http://contests.thephoenix.com/50States/2012/Hawaii/ I especially love the fact that the writer picked up on our musical influences! I guess she is on the same page we are. We recently went into the studio to record a song for a Flux magazine compilation: Flux Hawaii Summer Mixtape 2012 (http://fluxhawaii.com/mixtape/). In the end, I guess it's one of those things where you just never know who will be listening to your music. In our case, The Boston Phoenix.

I wish this were an encomium, and if I'd written this 10 or 15 years ago it surely would've been…read more Then the Phoenix was at the top of its game, a robust alternative weekly with exceptional arts writing, vital listings for clubs and local cinemas, and essential investigative reporting nonpareil (everyone forgets that they lit the long fuse on the Catholic Church scandal in Boston that the Globe got to take all the credit for). These days its a moribund shell of its former self - actually, that might be too generous, since hardly any remaining indicators of its former self are evident aside from the name. Gone is any semblance of actual journalism, the arts sections has shriveled down to what are essentially blurbs and tweets, and the listing have all but vanished. I'm not sure if any of it is salvageable. I can tell you that, when I was exiled briefly to the suburbia in the late 90s, and wasn't able to pick up a free copy on a college campus, I would actually pay for this out at a local newsstand in the sticks. I think it was 2 dollars. Best 2 dollars I spent every week. Now that it is actually free (and has been free everywhere for some time), it's not even worth spending the time or calories to open the bin by the T stop and pull one out. Not even to use as accelerant for my charcoal chimney, which requires newspaper in the bottom to ignite it. Turns out even the ink they use to print the Phoenix these days is piss poor quality, not even fit to be burned. I'd put the Phoenix on the media death watch for 2012, but it's apparent that it's already died, and no one told it, and its animated corpse is just lurching around waiting for a headshot to put it down.

Full disclosure: I do some part-time work for the newswire…read more Regardless, it's a cool and useful site Any consumer of news ought to expose him/herself to a variety of perspectives. This website makes that effort easier - aggregating news from New England's ethnic media and putting it all in one place. Unlike the big papers, the people who run and write for these publications actually spend time in the communities they cover. The site's data base matches ethnic groups with publications catering to those populations and is a really good resource for recent immigrants or anyone new to the area. The newswire is a non-profit, it's only been around for about a year, and is run completely by a part-time staff. Although it's still in the upstart stages, plans are underway to support local broadcast and print publications in Boston and beyond with staff education, training, networking and workshop opportunities, as well as free original content. The more traffic on the site, the more resources the newswire has access to - so taking a look is a good way to not only support the newswire and keep abreast of whats going on locally, but also to help ensure that small community newspapers maintain a presence in a climate dominated by giant media conglomerates. Only 4 stars because the site is about to be upgraded. www.go-newz.com

Delivered high quality maps for years in communities throughout Massachusetts and beyond…read more Affordable local advertising. Did business with them a number of times. Sad to see a few negative reviews but print advertising did obviously change with the advent of smartphones and search. And GPS turn by turn directions in our pockets made printed maps less relevant. Times change.

**UPDATE 7/9/09** I FILED A SMALL CLAIMS AGAINST MAP GUYS/ANDREW FRIEND AND WON DUE TO HIM NOT…read moreSHOWING UP. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE OUT THERE. IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME THEN AT LEAST FILE WITH BBB. THE MORE COMPLAINTS THE BBB GETS AGAINST THEM THEY CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THANK YOU. BUYER BEWARE! If you own a small business and The Map Guys call you to Advertise on their maps, be very very wary! They will accept your payment, cash your check then never print the maps!! They did this in Franklin, MA and claimed the maps would be available in hotels and the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce has never even heard of them ! The Chamber gets their tourist maps produced by a company in PA. And Maps of Franklin have yet to be produced over a year later! They scammed me due to my own naivety, and I will never get my money back but instead I will make it my mission that I save someone else from falling for it. p.s. I personally use the word scam and not "falling on hard times" because they are STILL continuing to go town-to-town taking people's money and not producing a product and that IS premeditated. It's called Larceny under False pretenses.

Edible Boston is the New England equivalent to Edible Wine Country (Marin/Sonoma/Napa) and Edible…read moreSan Francisco. Edible Boston, unsurprisingly, has a West Coast vibe for an East Coast publication. It's like running into a granola-munching Berkeley hippie in Braintree. Slightly bizarre, and you may think you are trippin'. Edible Boston does great profiles on local businesses, sustainable farming--I grabbed a copy at Tougas Family Farm in Northborough. How fitting, where you can pick Empire, Honeycrisp and Fuji apples, and enjoy apple cider doughnuts. Edible Boston gives a refreshingly different perspective on the urbanized East. Dig in!

Ditto..yes all reviewers!…read more Except that of course ..ahem .it's not really a magazine - it's a commercial leaflet for product and local service providers.....Ostensibly many an interesting editorial article indeed, until you look at the bylines and quickly realize that almost EVERY editorial submission is posted by: A: someone who owns an expensive restaurant B: someone who owns a food related business or service C: someone who uses the publication as a platform to buttress or support marketing for their own entreprise(s) So if the term "editorial" can be applied even loosely to the articles and general contents found therein - I must admit myself a new convert to the English language and have yet to be baptized to this new found ideal... Edible Boston appears to be fundamentally a published conduit for people to post articles and pictures exclusive to a few well placed people and/or those properly anointed who then are duly granted singular unfettered access to a correspondingly rarefied and well heeled audience that will and do in turn hire them...The publishers apparently, by the most opportune turn of happenstance, adore placing their product close to the cash registers of any Whole Foods; planted there in the most affluent of communities where customers might by chance then buy the goods magnanimously displayed therein and advertised in the back for their consideration. The pictures, although germane enough, are either unsharp, lackluster, uninspiring or a bit too cliched for most palettes. Take a careful look...and savor this with or without seasoning....There are no less than four professional photography schools in the Boston area with no doubt grads with personal enterprise, merit and real talent - but not to worry...Here in this magazine the same names almost apologetically appear again and again like a Groundhog's Day version of a Chicken noodle soup from the Greek deli that you remember -but this time without the chicken -the aftertaste permanently burnished into the menu of photo credits from month to month... Boston, the well known overpriced haven of exclusive tony schools for the spawn of privilege whose tuition price tags can typically exceed the price for a modest home - can and should expect better for that which passes as a magazine.... This magazine is simply an advertisement vehicle for a few people allowed access who submit mainly in order to promote themselves and their services.....not really a food magazine...Even if the emperor has no clothes one need not resort to joining a nudist colony...