i think that has less to do with their nature as weekly papers and more to do with the kinds of advertising that they carry. for example, the weekly dig in bost

i think that has less to do with their nature as weekly papers and more to do with the kinds of advertising that they carry. for example, the weekly dig in boston probably runs 75% or higher of advertisers that either wouldn't or couldn't advertise in the globe. this may also relate to the pervasiveness of the large newspaper conglomerates. it seems like there is a lot of opportunity to outserve the larger papers when it comes to local or niche customers. (edit: either i'm going crazy or you edited your post a little, so i am now replying to a rather minor point)