Black Wednesday?

Bostonians, take note: When I get time next week, I'll be assessing the to-be-seen fate of Boston's Weekly Dig and the new look it will sport by next Wednesday. Given how I thought them being bought by Boston Magazine (the local Vanity Fair wannabe) had to be a sick joke when I first read it, I have nothing but a sad dread. While Boston might rival Vanity Fair in its number of ads, I can count one hand the number of useful and relevant articles I've read over the course of nearly ten years. Sadly, even before announcement of it's sale, their good to stupid article ratio was pretty similar. I was already worried when former editor Joe Bonni left under odd circumstances (immediately following an April Fool's type issue that announced--supposedly jokingly--that he was going and the Dig was going to go mainstream, then that kinda happened).

I came to respect Joe a lot during the short time I contributed to the Dig. A former Phoenix staff member, he wanted to offer an alternative to what even his former employer wouldn't touch. The Dig did a lot it's first couple of years and was the only paper to address what actually happened at the 2000 debates (partly because of me, I'll admit). It really gave a new voice frustrated with the two-party system which was all but absent last year. Relevant articles abot the Democrats' ineffectiveness to rally interested youth were replaced by Bush daughter jokes. It's sad when the only relevant columnist was a conservative one that did what all conservative artists do and give up after the status quo has been established.

I'm gritting my teeth and hoping that the few remaining voices at the Dig that really do stand out (most of which being cartoonists) will still have a voice after next Wednesday.