In about six weeks, The Dallas Morning News is expected to announce that its free weekday paper, Quick, will change formats and switch to a weekly. Quick was created about five years ago to capture the young demographic (ages 21 to 34) by offering repackaged news summaries with minimal original content – a, um, quick way to read a newspaper. However, that demographic apparently doesn’t want real news clogging its MTV-saturated brain arteries, and Quick evolved into an entertainment and lifestyle guide with much more original content, as well as an interesting online presence at www.quickdfw.com.
“We’ve built a significant brand, and we’ve been very strategic about moving to a younger audience,” Publisher Alison Draper said.
A rumor is floating around that Quick is about to infiltrate Tarrant County and be available in stand-alone boxes next to the Fort Worth Weekly and Star-Telegram. Untrue, Draper said. Quick has been available for about a year at a couple of dozen locations in Sundance Square, but there are no plans to expand its Tarrant County distribution beyond that, she said.
Actually, now would be the perfect time. When the Morning News created an Arlington edition about 12 years ago, a newspaper war of epic proportions ensued. The Star-Telegram hired a slew of reporters, put green army helmets on top of their computers, and told reporters to kick the crap out of the Dallas-based competition every day. Several years later, the Morning News tucked tail and ran, soundly drummed. But nowadays the Star-T is lopping heads, morale is abysmal, and the paper’s soft underbelly is exposed and waiting to be kicked. Meanwhile, the Star-T entertainment guide, go!, is steadily shrinking in size – and relevance.
Hear the Public Art
In the average mid-size city, a public art hearing is just a formality, another hoop through which a local government must jump to satisfy the pesky strictures of its Sunshine Law. Not so in Fort Worth, and not only because our public art program is relatively new. It is also exciting. At 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, the Fort Worth Public Art Program is holding a public hearing to discuss the 2009 Annual Public Work Plan at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center (1300 Gendy St. in the Cultural District).
Contact Static at static@fwweekly.com.
