With changes to the local media landscape in Madison, Thursday is the epicenter for publication releases. Within 24 hours, The Cap Times, Onion, Isthmus, and 77 Square are released into the Madison wild. This week we caught our first glimpse of the two CapTimes.com weeklies. Here are thoughts on each paper for this week.

The Onion. Wow, with the headlines in the Onion, it seems they never left Madison. The “Dying Newspaper Trend” article is ripped right from local media (including this site), while the “‘Get the fuck outta the road’ program” should be directed towards the students at the UW. The Onion also provided a great summer movie preview, that helps me hate Hollywood even more.

77 Square. Yes, we’ve all heard numerous jokes about the name. However, when I first moved to Madison from Milwaukee, I was extremely disappointed in the “Rhythm” section compared to the Journal’s “Weekend Cue.” It was absolutely pathetic to have a weekend paper that devoted at most two paragraphs to the cover story each week. While I admit I may be slightly bias (since my article appeared in the first issue), 77 Square is the best weekend section I’ve seen in a long time. Packed with a ton of articles on everything from music to cloths; food to sports, 77 Square has quickly become my favorite of the local weekly. Well played Cap Times.

Isthmus. I will leave my take on the Isthmus overall for another day. Two articles jump out this week as exceptional. The Zimmerman – 911 article had every other news organization in the city scrambling to catch up. Also, the “Are you ready for digital TV” article is well written and provides needed information about the transition to HD next year. I did find it curious that the Isthmus started begging for demographic information in their “readership survey” the same week that The Cap Times launched their new weeklies. Hum…a little worried?

The Cap Times. I’m guessing it’s partially because I didn’t know what to expect from this magazine, but I reserve judgment on The Cap Times for another day.

I hope to do this again soon, possibly every week