''Metro'' is a free daily newspaper in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

which began publishing on January 24, 2000. Its main competition is the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

''. In 2004, ''Metro'' surpassed ''The Daily News'' in circulation, 143,798 to 141,868, to move into second behind 372,297 for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. It was the first ''Metro'' edition published in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and the ninth edition since the first in Stockholm in 1995.

Overview

Lawyers representing the publishers of ''

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' filed an action in Federal Court three days before ''Metros first publication to block local transit authority

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

from giving what they considered to be a competitive advantage to ''Metro''. SEPTA signed a five-year contract with TPI Metro. Part of the contract allows SEPTA to produce one page in each edition; however, aside from that page SEPTA has no control over any other aspect of the paper. The contract calls for ''Metro'' to pay $45,000 a month to SEPTA, which they stopped paying in March 2003, claiming SEPTA failed to live up to the terms of the contract. Despite lawsuits and counter-suits, in 2004 TPI Metro PA and SEPTA signed a three-year contract which increased payments to $65,000 a month. The daily is primarily distributed by old-time newspaper hawkers paid to station themselves in areas with high pedestrian traffic, who offer the free paper to anyone who passes by. In addition, ''Metro'' can be found in distinctive green boxes on corners and in train and subway stations, echoing the colorful green and orange template used in all editions. In 2009,

Metro International Metro International is a Swedish global media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the ''Metro'' newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent since launch of the first news ...

sold its US papers to a former executive. In March 2019, the paper eliminated three of its four general news staffers. The paper was bought by

Schneps Media Schneps Media is a 1985-founded media company "that began with The Queens Courier." They own and operate both AM New York Metro, print and online news services. ''The New York Times'' wrote in 2019 that ''Schneps'' publishes "more than 50 newspa ...

from former owner Metro US in December 2019. The paper will continue to publish under its current name, but the entire staff had been laid off during the sale.

References

{{Newspapers published in Pennsylvania Newspapers published in Philadelphia Daily newspapers published in Pennsylvania 2000 establishments in Pennsylvania Free daily newspapers

Overview

See also

References