Newsflash.. or rather I should say ADFLASH! Metro News, the Metro, whatever you want to call ‘em, we love them for the local coverage they provide of our events. The public transit riders in the city read the daily free newspaper intently since it sure beats conversing with the guy next to you, right? (Watch CityTV, Sunday the 17th, 11am for insight on that comment.)

So what gives?

Metro, apparently has decided to sink to new levels with their ad on the front page. Yup, Metro News (I use that term loosely) is no longer about the news, it’s about the ad. Maybe they should rename themselves to be Metro Ads.

I wonder how many people actually looked at Metro this morning and went, hmm.. no news today, just a bunch of fucking ads. Yup, no integrity.

Glenn Stevenson of Citytv in Calgary mentioned to me, a similar stunt that DOSE pulled in Calgary around the time close to their demise. Is this a telltale sign that Metro in Vancouver is going down the tubes?

Okay, well, that’s my rant for the day.

Serendipitiously, Poynter ran something which closely relates (albeit in the online world) in their roundup yesterday:

Poynter E-Media Tidbits – Sunday, September 10, 2006

Posted by Steffen Fjaervik 10:45:20 PM
Online Advertising Extravaganza in Norway

In Norway, several news sites are experimenting with new formats for advertising. Today’s online business model is not strong enough, so they want to try new strategies. How far are they willing to go?

Norwegian news site VG.net is experimenting with “wallpaper” ads as a backdrop to news.

Take a look at VG Nett from last Thursday (left). The blue ad for pills that surrounds the editorial text works as a kind of wallpaper ad, sure to get the attention that the company behind the pill would pay a lot for. My guess is that most journalists would accept this ad.

But what happens when you “crank it up to 11?”

… read the rest here: A110210