We Also Read the Weeklies
Both weeklies published Valentine's Day issues this week, with The Stranger deviating most from what Seattlest considers a normal issue. The Weekly straight up never deviates from what Seattlest considers their normal issue.
The Stranger is huge this week, packed full of Valentine's Day sweet nothings (which, despite being easier to search online, seem a little more special in print). The much-anticipated (by Seattlest, anyway) Seattle's Sexiest People results are also in there and, meh, they're ok. As is typical with The Stranger, the guys are more obviously good-looking than the girls. They advertise two cover flavors this week ("Collect all 2!") but Seattlest only got the one with the guy from Marcus's on the front, which did not include a table of contents. C'mon guys, it's a big book with a lot of crap in there--we need a guide to get through that thing. That and the 10 or so of the promised 43 bars Seattlest received a few weeks ago makes us wonder if The Stranger is having trouble meeting deadlines.
The Weekly had a few informative articles about Eyman and the monorail and some of their Valentine's-related content was fantastic, especially the dessert reviews. Why is the interview with Seattle "sex blogger" Pagan Moss buried in the Books section, though? That's feature material! The same writer produced both the Pagan Moss bit and the huge Chocolate Company piece, but the Weekly failed to recognize which story was more appropriate for an alternative weekly. The Chocolate Company story is Seattle Magazine territory.
The Stranger gets the win from Seattlest this week for knowing what it is and putting out a great Valentine's Day issue despite their obvious disdain for the holiday itself.
As an aside, The Weekly's website is crying out for a makeover. You can't just throw everything in our face like that. Might Seattlest suggest one center content column with new material appearing at the top and older stories disappearing from the bottom, never to be seen again?
