Capital Newspapers has refused to comment about its latest offspring, a free weekly publication (Watchdog, 1/5/07). But a source close to the company says the new pub, to be called Post, is set to launch Feb. 15.
The initial print run will be 15,000 copies, with distribution centered in downtown Madison. It will include downtown classifieds plucked from Cap Newspaper's dailies, and weigh in at about two dozen tabloid pages.
As previously reported, the new paper will consist primarily of recycled blog postings from Madison.com's "Post" page. Bloggers will still post for free but, the source says, will get 16 cents a word -- a pretty good rate -- for copy used in the paper. The paper will be edited by blogger S.J. Barlament, who will work as a consultant, and will have a full-time graphic designer.
But Jay Rath, one of the Madison.com bloggers whose work is being eyed for inclusion, says no one has contacted him about the new print product and he's not sure he wants to participate.
"I'd rather have a column somewhere," says Rath, a contributor to Isthmus and veteran of the Cap Newspapers' last failed weekly venture, CoreWeekly. "The blog is certainly not my best stuff, but you get what you pay for, and right now they don't pay me anything."
News of the new paper has made its way to the "Post" page, thanks to Rath writing on the Isthmus item. This drew a typically blog-like comment from someone calling himself "Superman":
I'm not sure where [Isthmus] got this tidbit of info, but it's true. I'm an ex-madison.com employee and some people there believe that republishing blogs in a print format is a good idea. I don't. ...[I]f a paper version of Post ever becomes reality, I'm certain it will fail even worse than the Boreweakly did and will ultimately result in the firing of the einstein's that came up with this idea.
Hmm, wonder if the new paper will deem the post fit to print....
