the spec - biggest joke in the newspaper industry

coalminecanary · #1 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 2:49 PM**

wow. just - wow. half the front page is a used car ad today.

STOP
denying

the spec is the
BIGGEST
JOKE
in the media world

they even covered their own nameplate

raisethehammer · #2 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 2:50 PM**

hahaha! Wow. hilarious.

I've been getting it for free for the past 2 weeks for some reason, and so far I've read one paper.
It's amazing to think that I used to pay for this crap and I used to read them ALL!! Geez, what a waste of my time.

flar · #3 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 2:57 PM**

They have those half page cover ads at least once a week.

highwater · #4 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 2:58 PM**

That's nothing. At least it's a wrap that you can remove if you don't want to look at it. I'll never forget a few years ago when a new adidas running shoe was the FRONT PAGE STORY. Half page colour photo ABOVE THE FOLD. A flipping running shoe ad presented as a news story, and not just any news story, but THE news story of the day. Truly the lowest depths of journalism.

I still pay for this god-forsaken rag, but then I've always had self-esteem issues.

FairHamilton · #5 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 3:42 PM**

Haven't read The Spec this week because it keeps arriving after I've left for work.

On a good note I played 1+ hours of uniterrupted 'Polar Bowling' on the GO Train this morning. Maybe that was more productive use of my time

raisethehammer · #6 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 3:52 PM**

haha...'polar bowling'?? what's that? sounds interesting.

Millstone · #7 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 3:55 PM**

You're supposed to remove that before reading the paper. It's not like it's printed over the front page. Besides, who pays for a Hamilton Spectator?

Jon Dalton · #8 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 5:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millstone

Besides, who pays for a Hamilton Spectator?

Exactly. This is the domain of free newspapers, funded 100% by ads. The Metro has ad covers every other day and noone cares, it's free. But people do pay for the Spectator and expect some semblance of quality.

MsMe · #9 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 5:13 PM**

I don't get the spec but I do read it online.

vid · #10 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 5:24 PM**

Wow. That makes the Chronicle-Journal look high class! They never run ads above the fold from what I've seen, and the bottom ad is just a horizontal strip. They occasionally stick an ad above the nameplate, but that's usually just something promoting an upcoming news paper segment or some charity lottery.

I guess the competition from the freebies is getting stiff down there.

FairHamilton · #11 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 5:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

haha...'polar bowling'?? what's that? sounds interesting.

http://www.wildgames.com/games/polar-bowler

vid · #12 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 8:47 PM**

I was picturing Polar Bowling as something you would do on the train with something, like bowling something down the aisle?

But, I'm weird. I don't have a cell phone so I forget that people can play games on them now.

FairHamilton · #13 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 8:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vid

I was picturing Polar Bowling as something you would do on the train with something, like bowling something down the aisle?

But, I'm weird. I don't have a cell phone so I forget that people can play games on them now.

lol, I'm sure you weren't alone with that picture. Hey that would be fun, but I can't see the people riding the GO Train getting into something too fun.

It was a laptop I was playing on.

vid · #14 Posted **Oct 16, 2008, 10:53 PM**

Yeah, I forgot about laptops, uh, existing. I've seen them on the bus a few times. Last place I'd want to bring a laptop, really.

go_leafs_go02 · #15 Posted **Oct 17, 2008, 12:17 AM**

I grab a copy usually some mornings before school. I flip through it within 5 minutes. Nothing good in there.

SteelTown · #16 Posted **Oct 17, 2008, 12:29 AM**

haha I used to always grab the spec since it's free and go to class and read the paper during the lecture.

go_leafs_go02 · #17 Posted **Oct 17, 2008, 1:43 AM**

i spend more time looking at the ads or flyers than the paper content.

highwater · #18 Posted **Oct 17, 2008, 4:12 PM**

I think you may have struck a nerve, coalmine. Today's adwrap was buried inside the front section.

hamtransithistory · #19 Posted **Oct 18, 2008, 7:30 PM**

my 2 cents on the Spec.

I subscribe to the online version, mostly as a resource for local Hamilton news and for transit related items for my website.

My favourite thing about the Spec is Paul Wilson's Streetbeat column, its a great mix of local interest and history.

What I dislike the most is the Spec's website. There are some design issues that have given me a lot of aggravation. Namely:
-occasionally the webpage with the links to each pdf page has a design flaw. The links are placed so that Adobe opens in the webpage on top of the links, making them inaccessible.
-It would be nice (and faster) if you could view an entire section at once as a multi-page document, rather than viewing 14-24 pages individually.
-And bring back the 'view this page in pdf' links that used to be with each news article
-Finally, some quality control is badly needed at either the Spec or at Torstar. Get this. Yesterday (Oct 17) I clicked on the link for pg A10. I got pg R10-of the Oct 18 Kitchener-Waterloo Record!

FairHamilton · #20 Posted **Oct 19, 2008, 12:10 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamtransithistory

-Finally, some quality control is badly needed at either the Spec or at Torstar. Get this. Yesterday (Oct 17) I clicked on the link for pg A10. I got pg R10-of the Oct 18 Kitchener-Waterloo Record!

lol, I lived in K-W back in the days when The Record was independently owned by the Motz family. Ah, the good old days of local ownership.