[raisethehammer]

??? haven't heard a thing.
has anyone else??
who is doing it? Torstar? haha.

[raisethehammer]

http://bayobserver.ca/

[LikeHamilton]

New newspaper hits Hamilton
CHML 10/9/2008

You may have heard the ads here on CHML, and it's now a reality.

Hamilton's newest newspaper hit the streets today.

The Bay Observer is a weekly.

It describes itself as your weekend read in Hamilton and Burlington.

This is a paper by John Best formally of CHCH. It is an anti-Catch web site that is branching into a newspaper. I really do not care of what its politics are. I just want some competition to the Spec. I hope it becomes a daily!

http://www.bayobserver.ca/

[raisethehammer]

apparently it's John Best....he ran for council before... blah.

[SteelTown]

I like the name of the newspaper, Bay Observer.

[hmagazine]

Anyone heard of this yet: http://bayobserver.ca/

Just found a hard copy in my mailbox at home. I almost confused it with a Brabant Paper...almost.

[hmagazine]

This is a paper by John Best formally of CHCH. It is an anti-Catch web site that is branching into a newspaper. I really do not care of what its politics are. I just want some competition to the Spec. I hope it becomes a daily!

http://www.bayobserver.ca/

I'm not saying this because I run an independent monthly in town - but this won't be competing with the Spec on any level...

[flar]

This paper was in my mailbox today, I haven't looked at it yet.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

I don't know if it will give the Spectator a run for it's money but maybe it will give H-Magazine a run for its money. (nudge nudge wink wink) :)

[highwater]

You got a stake in the BO, Boomtown?

Anyway, highly doubtful it will give Hmag a run for it's money. It's obviously intended for a very different audience. Judging by their lame website, I won't be going out of my way to pick this one up, and it hasn't landed in my mailbox. Guess I have an unfashionable postal code.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Helen,

By the way, you come across very defensive in that last response. Do you have a stake with H-Magazine??? ... Indeed it is intended for a different type of audience.:D

[highwater]

That was irony, not defensiveness. My area code is... well, let's just say it's not too shabby. Just the sort of area a start-up publication might target in fact, if it knew what it was doing.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Helen,

Do you live on the mountain? When I lived on the mountain for 4 years I never saw H-Magazine anywhere....I move back down to the lower city and all of a sudden I see it everywhere in the core...I finally picked up a copy of it when I moved downtown and I really don't know what to say here about it....I'm trying my best not to be rude here BUT....let's just say that it needs some improvement....I find that it lacks substance and even the cartoon they had in there was pretty lame....the only saving grace they had with that particular issue I picked up was a decent write-up on heritage issues by Graham Crawford......Oh well, at least I didn't have to pay a cent for it.

Cheers!

RC

[raisethehammer]

My postal code must be too 'urban', 'downtown', 'slummy', 'violent' as well for this new rag.
Website is crap.
HMag new issue is out and is awesome. Do check it out.

[highwater]

Do you live on the mountain?

Gee, Boomtown. Why would you think that? Are you sayin' there aren't any not-too-shabby 'hoods in the lower city? ;)

I only have a 'stake' in Hmag insofar as I have a stake in Hamilton, and I share their love of Hamilton's history and culture, as well as urban life in general.

If you find their content wanting, by all means fill the void. They welcome contributions.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Helen, quite the opposite, I hated the mountain. I was born and raised in the Lower city west-end near Dundurn Castle, Lower city is where its at....

I've never seen this Bay Observer before to tell you the truth but when someone on this thread mentioned that they were Anti-CATCH I instantly became not a fan but interested in finding out some more about them.

Their web site needs some work yes but after going over it a bit the other day the content was very good so all they need to do now is make themselves more presentable, maybe even add some colour to the site.

H-Magazine would have to pay me to make contributions, I don't work for free which basically means they can't afford me, that's the first thing. The second thing is they would have to distance themselves with CATCH before I even seriously considered making any serious contributions there and I don't think that's about to happen anytime soon. Last but not least, their editor needs a lesson or two with manners and social skills.

Have a good day Helen.

RC

[vid]

The website is similar to NetNewsLedger, a web-only news site up here, but with much less content. The use of serif font for titles and body text and the poor web design are common in these little media startups, I find.

I obviously don't have access to a print copy, but it looks like any small town independent newspaper start up I've seen. I'm sure it will be a great venue for local businesses to advertise. Our weekly paper is about 60% ads these days. Probably won't be very respectable though. Free weeklies peppered with ads never are.

[highwater]

Last but not least, their editor needs a lesson or two with manners and social skills.

:shrug:

[DC83]

Boring!! I couldn't even read more than 3 lines per article.

If RaiseTheHammer were to go into Print, it would def give The Spec a run for it's money... even as a Weekly!

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Even though I don't always agree with what they have to say over at Raisethehammer I respect the fact that at least they advertise who the author(s) of their articles are. With this Bay Observer, just like with the CATCH web site, you never really know who is doing the talking over there because they never credit their writers. In addition to that I e-mailed them more than two days ago and never got a response back so that's already one big strike against the Bay Observer from me.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

:shrug:

A few weeks back Nicole at the Spectator's hallmarks blog decided to talk about the H-Magazine and because up until that time I had been living on the mountain for four years I had never really heard of or seen this H-Magazine so I posted on Nicole's blog and asked her, "H-Magazine, what's that???" ..well I guess the editor of H-Magazine when he read that post of mine on Nicole's blog he may jumped the gun a bit and misunderstood it as a cheap shot against his H-Magazine and quickly followed that up with an e-mail to me where he basically told me that "if I have anything against his H-Magazine to say it straight up" and to "BRING IT!"...well, you know what they say about first impressions Helen, to me that came across as someone who was very insecure....I think that if he had to do it all over again and if I were in his shoes, I would have used that as an opportunity to better introduce myself and the Magazine and possibly even suggest submitting an idea for an article in his publication....but that's just me....

I just think that if you are going to be an editor of something as big as the New York Times or something as tiny as H-Magazine, I don't care how big or small your publication is, I think it's vital that as an edtor you do your best to conduct and present yourself in a professional manner.

RC

[hmagazine]

Hey Rick - sorry you feel that way.

Misunderstandings do happen...the internet is a wacky place and message boards and email convos get lost in translation.

Email me personally next time or talk to me in real life. I think you've made your point - keep reading and hopefully you find something to like about our magazine in the future.

Positively improving is our motto!

[Millstone]

Even though I don't always agree with what they have to say over at Raisethehammer I respect the fact that at least they advertise who the author(s) of their articles are. With this Bay Observer, just like with the CATCH web site, you never really know who is doing the talking over there because they never credit their writers. In addition to that I e-mailed them more than two days ago and never got a response back so that's already one big strike against the Bay Observer from me.

Friday isn't the best day to expect a response to anything.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Hey Rick - sorry you feel that way.

Misunderstandings do happen...the internet is a wacky place and message boards and email convos get lost in translation.

Email me personally next time or talk to me in real life. I think you've made your point - keep reading and hopefully you find something to like about our magazine in the future.

Positively improving is our motto!

Hi David,

Nice motto! I like it...maybe you guys should add it somewhere on the cover this way people reading it will remember it and the ones working on it won't forget it.

[hmagazine]

This motto we tattoo on our foreheads.

Keep reading!

[raisethehammer]

I still haven't seen this new rag yet, although I don't really care.
still, you'd think that a new rag would be pounding the pavement trying to draw new readers.
Maybe I should go hang out at the meadowlands.

[the dude]

I still haven't seen this new rag yet, although I don't really care.
still, you'd think that a new rag would be pounding the pavement trying to draw new readers.
Maybe I should go hang out at the meadowlands.

while you're there, can you drop by linens and things and get me something completely useless and overpriced? thanks.

[raisethehammer]

haha....nice.
i heard on CBC yesterday that they filed for bankruptcy protection. such a shame. Lol.

[SteelTown]

I heard Peggy Chapman is involved with this newspaper as well.

[vid]

haha....nice.
i heard on CBC yesterday that they filed for bankruptcy protection. such a shame. Lol.

Already? Wow.

They shouldn't have gone into print. Our "third choice" for print media isn't into print at all, they're all new media. It even has a guy making news reports and posting them on the site via YouTube. That's the way they should have gone.

Example of what Bay Observer should have done: http://netnewsledger.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1541&Itemid=2

(Though when you think about it, those news reports probably aren't free. Would they be able to afford it?)

[FairHamilton]

Already? Wow.

They shouldn't have gone into print. Our "third choice" for print media isn't into print at all, they're all new media. It even has a guy making news reports and posting them on the site via YouTube. That's the way they should have gone.


I think he was talking about Linens & Things going bankrupt.

They did in the US and are closing all stores, Canadian operations not affected. Though I would expect them to be purchased by someone now they are orphaned.

[raisethehammer]

info on where to buy the Bay Observer:

http://bayobserver.ca/index.php?post_id=41

Notice the lack of central Hamilton stores?

[raisethehammer]

so I found one of these yesterday. I was quite impressed. Good stories, nice layout.
It's a good read.
And apparently they are adding more central city stores to the roster which is good.