Walk around Chicago for 15 minutes and you can pick up a shopping bag’s worth of free papers, and not just coupon books and shopping guides — actual periodicals. Tampa Bay looks to be heading in a similar direction. TBT is practically the grand dame. Then there’s Reax (a few of us affectionately call it “Reeks”), a credible freebie that concentrates on local music doings. There’s Tampa Bay Scene, which debuted in mid-June with one of the most unsightly, off-putting covers we’ve ever come across (which we proudly reprint for you here). And what about the new/old kid: this thing called Creative Loafing? Wazzup widdat? Oh, and let’s not forget a brand-new arrival Orange. Sheee-it. We heard print was dead.
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2006.