I remember it like it was yesterday. SEPTA came up with the idea to launch its own little newspaper. The Metro would be a benign little affair to be distributed only at SEPTA rail stations and bus terminals.
Designed to be read by a commuter during the length of his trip on public transportation, Metro is concise, easy-to-read and filled with lots of color. Today’s premier edition consisted of 23 pages of news, weather, jobs, money, sports and entertainment.
But flash forward 8 years and it seems that distribution has morphed and competes directly with every other Philly rag.
If there can ever be a predatory pricing scheme, this would be it. Not that a lot of people, younger ones in particular, would mind seeing dead-tree newspapers go away, but one cannot help think that SEPTA has a distinct and unfair advantage since the entire organization is a ward of the State and funded at gunpoint largely by taxpayers.
