Covering Uncovered

A while back the Metro ran a set of ads calling for advertisers to buy into a new "Uncovered" section. Apparently it was coming August 3. Bostonist was curious. The Corporate Headquarters has mentioned the collaboration back in June. Last Wednesday the Metro was scoured, front to back, on the ride from Ruggles to Mass Ave on the Orange Line. Any evidence of Uncovered? Nope. Explanation: Postponed.

Bostonist has been moaning about the stake the Boston Globe has in the Metro for a while now. Boston Uncovered should prove to be the first example of an entirely new creation coming from the collaborative endeavor. Editorial content, pictures, and copy have made their way to the Metro from the Globe in past weeks. Boston Uncovered, as a magazine, will display the Metro, Globe, and Boston.com branding.

The free annual publication (as currently planned) will target Boston’s college crowd. What does this mean? It might be slightly different from the Stuff@Night and Improper Bostonian; it targets the 18+ audience and has no specific feature on bars. Bostonist was told that, as one might expect, "the magazine will feature articles on everything from clubs, restaurants and shopping to places to go for late night photocopying and tips on getting around town." Bostonist has one tip to give on getting around town, geared specifically to the BU crowd, don’t take the B-Line trolleys. Walk, it’s faster. Bostonist calls them trolleys on purpose, they're not trains.

On August 19 the Boston Globe spearheads the distribution mechanism for Boston Uncovered. Unlike the Metro being passed out in the T, the Boston Uncovered annual will be distributed in student unions, mailrooms, apartment buildings (Bostonist fully expects a blanketing of Allston), and special events like the Head of the Charles. Metro's Entertainment Editor, Michael Freidson, has compiled the publication, mostly from freelancers and student writers. The Metro will launch a weekly feature (on Wednesdays) on August 24. Bostonist anticipates a re-run of content from the magazine supplemented with opening night reviews for late night copy joints. Boston.com will replicate the content of Uncovered on a website, which seems to be sitting in a state of development in an open directory.