''DigBoston''—formerly known as the ''Weekly Dig'' and colloquially as ''The Dig''—was a free

alternative newspaper An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It covered news in the Greater Boston area and offers commentary on music, arts, politics, business, film, sex, food, drink and more, as well as providing local bar, entertainment and club listings. ''DigBoston'' was distributed Thursdays, free of charge, in self-serve

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

dispensers located throughout the city, as well as in local businesses.

History

The ''Weekly Dig'' was founded in September 1999, by Jeff Lawrence, Joe Bonni and Craig Kapilow. Previously, Lawrence had published a monthly magazine called ''Shovel'' founded in 1997. Bonni had run ''The Pit Report'' a regional monthly rock and roll magazine from 1992 - 1995 and had worked in advertising at ''The Boston Phoenix'' where he was also a freelance writer. ''Shovel'' discontinued publishing in the Spring of 2000, when it became an insert to the ''Weekly Dig''. In September 2003, Lawrence moved to change the editorial direction by dismissing founding Editor Joe Bonni. Assistant Editor (and junior partner) Seth McM. Donlin was named interim editor; Joe Keohane was appointed the replacement editor later in 2003. In October 2004, ''

'' magazine publisher Metrocorp announced that it bought a majority stake in the ''Weekly Dig''. Metrocorp, which had operated

Boston magazine ''Boston'' (also called "''Boston'' magazine" or referred to by the nickname "BoMag") is a regional monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area, which has been in publication since 1962. History Metrocorp Publishing, a Philade ...

since 1971 at the time, was also publishing '' Elegant Wedding'', ''

Concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...

'', '' Home & Garden'' and '' New England Travel and Life''. It had also been operating ''

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

'' since 1946. Three months later, in January 2005, the paper went through a relaunch that offered a new, updated design and broader content. Since then, its circulation has more than doubled to about 70,000 copies distributed weekly. In May, 2007, Lawrence announced that he had purchased the paper back from Metrocorp in what both sides called "an amicable divorce". In 2009, Arts and Entertainment Editor David Day was made editor-in-chief. Shortly thereafter, the name ''Weekly Dig'' was dropped, and the organization was re-branded as ''DigBoston,'' featuring a completely overhauled website, DigBoston.com. Day left in 2012, and the new editor was former Managing Editor J. Patrick Brown. When the ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...

'' folded in March 2013, ''DigBoston'' became the area's only remaining alt-weekly publication. A new staff was installed, including Dan McCarthy (editor), Chris Faraone (news and features editor), Susanna Jackson (arts and entertainment editor), Kris Jenson (associate film editor), Sean Maloney (staff writer), and Marc Shepard (associate publisher). ''DigBoston'' was acquired by Dig Media Group in June 2017. The new owners and top staff were Marc Sneider (publisher), Chris Faraone (editor-in-chief and associate publisher), Jason Pramas (executive editor and associate publisher), and John Loftus (business manager and associate publisher). In September 2018, Dig Media Group announced that Marc Sneider had stepped down as publisher and that its board of directors "elected DigBoston Business Manager (and former Associate Publisher) John Loftus to be the new publisher”. In June 2023, DigBoston stopped publication after being unable to recover from "the pandemic economy."

References

External links

* {{Newspapers in Massachusetts Newspapers published in Boston Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States Newspapers established in 1999 1999 establishments in Massachusetts Weekly newspapers published in Massachusetts