From FreeTime to NoTime?
ON SEPTEMBER 24, 1999, Star Tribune editor Tim McGuire introduced the paper's readers to FreeTime, touting the Friday section as a "hefty, easy-to-use entertainment tabloid to reflect all that goes on here in music, nightlife, movies, fine arts, and family attractions." (Some thought the new section was an attempt to mimic a certain local weekly, but that's another story entirely, isn't it?) Now Off Beat is picking up Strib scuttlebutt that FreeTime, less than two years old, may not be long for this world. McGuire deflected Off Beat's inquiries about FreeTime's financial health. "We think it's time to take a hard look at it," he says, adding that the most likely scenario will be to roll the stories that now run in FreeTime back into the main paper. "We are exploring the best way to present our entertainment information on the weekends. One possibility is to put the current FreeTime information into a broadsheet weekend Variety section," the editor says. "I'm hoping we can make any decisions by the end of the summer and implement in the fall." Fair enough. What the hey, Off Beat figured, now that we've got him on the phone... How exactly does McGuire think FreeTime has compared with, to pick a purely random example, City Pages? "I think they've got very different missions. I wouldn't really compare and contrast," McGuire responds. "I don't think they've got much in common. I think those comparisons came out of City Pages' paranoia."
At Off Beat our motto is "Staying informed so you don't have to." Call (612) 372-3788 or send an e-mail to offbeat@citypages.com with any poop that's fit to print.
Also in this Issue
- No Reservations For 13 years publisher Bill Lawrence has specialized in tales of graft and greed on the rez. He knows it's a dirty job, but no one else is doing it. (Cover Story)
- Smut Check The issue of dirty pictures at the Minneapolis Public Library is indeed a federal case (City Beat)
- Central Heating A Minneapolis neighborhood association raises the eyebrows of city administrators--and the ire of some of its constituents (City Beat)
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From the Archive
- Off Beat (Off Beat - Jun 13, 2001)
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