Free news dailies (Dose, 24 Hours, Metro)

Submitted by Brooks on Wed, 05/04/2005 - 9:56pm.

Here are my thoughts after the BC Election debate last night, which seems to be a reasonable test of a Vancouver daily:

Metro: Front page is a full page story about the debate, along with a followup on the inside about DR-BC's protest over not being included. 3 pages of local coverage on a decent range of topics, a full page of Canada coverage, only a half page of Business coverage. Big Entertainment section and one page for Sports. Definitely the most "newspapery" of the 3 with I think the most local coverage.

Dose: Definitely the slickest of the 3 with the most attractive covers. Front page is a mention of the (possible) Federal election in the summer. Very brief mention of the Provincial debate in a sidebar on page 9 (nice). Big news section but almost zero Vancouver coverage which to be honest has always been my deal-breaker for the paper. The last straw for me was when they had a story about how Toronto has a new police chief. Why would I care about that in a Vancouver daily? Good entertainment section.

24 Hours: Front page is two stylish looking BC Lions in their new uniforms. The debate is covered on page 3. 24 Hours always starts weakly with their pink Entertainment section on the first page, with its always-brutal Laugh of the Day and hard-hitting coverage about how Tom Cruise is enamoured with Katie Holmes. I have nothing against celebrity news but the stories they pick for this section are bad even for my low standards. The rest of the paper is good though, I have enjoyed their election coverage and they always have a decent amount of Vancouver news. They could make the Business section longer, but I guess that's not really their target market.

Despite my griping above, I find myself reading 24 Hours the most. The only time I read these is on the Skytrain (or "Skyte" as Roland Tanglao calls it) and I find 24 Hours is the perfect length for my Joyce-to-Burrard ride and has the best balance of local/Canadian/World news.

Which is your favourite and why?

» Brooks's questions

My vote goes for Metro. Dose

Submitted by vangobel on Thu, 05/05/2005 - 12:13am.

My vote goes for Metro. Dose is supposed to be a younger demographic (19-30) but I fit the demograp and it is like reading People magazine. No real news just puff writing.
I imagine one of these three will sink.

24 is kewl cause it is so small.And it seems pretty balanced so they come in 2nd.

Guess we'll see what happens in two months eh Brooke.

» reply

Oh I forgot to mention: I

Submitted by Brooks on Thu, 05/05/2005 - 7:11am.

Oh I forgot to mention: I can't believe how many people they have handing these things out! Every time I go to Skytrain, I feel like I'm in Vegas having to run the gauntlet of people handing out flyers.

» reply

UrbanVancouver is clearly

Submitted by Guest on Thu, 05/05/2005 - 9:17am.

UrbanVancouver is clearly the best. No agenda, user contributed, fun.

Dose is pretty dope and comes in 2nd. Its the only one with anything that resembles a modern website.

Metro is next best and for a lil while I liked some parts of it better.

24 a distant third.

The Georgia Straight is still probably better than all the them comined though (yeah, i know the focus is a bit different).

Cool commentary Brooks.

» reply

Yeah, from a Web perspective

Submitted by Brooks on Thu, 05/05/2005 - 9:32am.

Yeah, from a Web perspective I would absolutely agree with you. I was mostly focussing on the dead tree version, since unfortunately that and my iPod is all I have on Skytrain at the moment!

» reply

I'm not a regular reader of

Submitted by Todd on Thu, 05/05/2005 - 2:52pm.

I'm not a regular reader of any of the free dailies, but here are some impressions just the same:
Dose
* lots of content from actual writers, not just wire services
* typical CanWest smug and right-leaning attitude

Metro
* pretty reasonable, content and design are inoffensive

24
* the worst of the lot. The cover page is a designer's nightmare and looks like a Word '97 template with bad colours
* content is the Jim Pattison newsletter, so calling it a newspaper of any kind is likely wrong. Definitely shooting for the ages above which Dose is targetting

Overall, I'm not too impressed. I did notice that Translink felt compelled to put a half-page ad into Dose to ask people to recycle their copy of Dose instead of leaving it strewn across the bus or skytrain. Nice.

» reply

Yes, I read them, but Dose

Submitted by Guest on Thu, 05/12/2005 - 4:32am.

Yes, I read them, but Dose most often. Metro is just another paper to me.

Read my full-length analysis at http://4ntonio.blogspot.com/2005/05/24-hours-dose-and-metro-reviews.html

» reply

Of all the dallies, 24 has

Submitted by Guest on Thu, 05/12/2005 - 10:36pm.

Of all the dallies, 24 has the best crossword puzzle.

» reply

Mmm, I'd say Dose, for

Submitted by Guest on Tue, 06/06/2006 - 12:43pm.

Mmm, I'd say Dose, for design credit only. I can't help but distrust anything that looks as shady as 24 Hours, or as generic as Metro. I just started skytraining last week, and thus it was my first encounter with these dailies. It compelled me to do some research, and write a little bit about these papers. You can read it if you'd like: http://www.xanga.com/kevanwho/493867452/the-bizarre-religion-of-vancouvers-free-dailies.html

» reply

Hi, sport it's my life!

Submitted by Guest on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 7:33am.

Hi, sport it's my life!
[url=http://hair-treatments.supag.info/hair-loss-in-woman-treatment.html]hair loss in woman treatment[/url] [url=http://back-massagers.supag.info/electric-back-massager.html]electric back massager[/url] [url=http://styling-tools.supag.info/styling-tool.html]styling tool[/url] [url=http://hairpieces.supag.info/woman-hairpieces.html]woman hairpieces[/url] [url=http://body-powder.supag.info/body-powder-puff.html]body powder puff[/url]
wahl electric shaver serum amylase build a massage table bath bathroom bedroom foot number hair removal surgi wax female hair loss treatment
http://tanning-beds.supag.info/tanning-bed-pillow.html http://bubble-baths.supag.info/bath-bubble-make.html http://back-massagers.supag.info/shiatsu-back-massager.html

» reply