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The Georgia Straight Magazine
Category: Mass Media Print Media Print Media [Edit]
1701 Broadway WVancouver, BC V6J 1Y3
Neighbourhood: Fairview Slopes
(604) 730-7000
12 reviews for The Georgia Straight Magazine
12 reviews in English
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Review from Mathieu Y.
Vancouver, BC
11/12/2009
The Georgia Strait is a Vancouver staple! As one of the longest running periodicals this side of the fraser river, the Strait is about local news and art, movies, books, and music. They also have a weekly syndicated Savage Love column (love advice to the quirky and curious) and I Saw You ads posted by Vancouver, for Vancouver. My favorite comic read in this paper is the Midnight Inquirer.
The majority of this paper is local news and politics, movie reviews, and music. The music column is mostly dedicated to local shows and performances, and the reviews are very biased. To make up for it, they also have a feature where you can write to them if you have a complaint you can put in to paragraph format, and get yourself two tickets to any LiveNation show. They also list new CD releases (with reviews) and local shows in their advertisement, from the dive bar entertainment to the Granville strip DJs Mon-Sun
Once a year they publish a Best of Vancouver edition, which is significantly bulkier because of the lists and reviews of the best places to go, as voted by our citizens, and do... just about anything! Kinda reminds you of a certain interactive review website...
The paper is the largest distributed on the streets, and most of it is advertisement, so it may seem disappointing that youre finished with this read in an hour every week. However, I've saved a few clippings from this paper and used it to pack on moving day, so it's not entirely useless. Go pick one up today! Theyre distributed every Thursday -
Review from Linn L.
10/25/2010
I agree with BB H.
They need to spice up the articles a bit. New info, new stories, new jazzy music columns, would all help make this magazine more interesting. -
Review from shain r.
Vancouver, BC
10/10/2008
So your out and about in the wilds of Vancouver with nothing to do.... your hungry, you want to take in a show, and maybe check out the nightlife. Well you do one of two things.
1) consult yelp
2) Find a newspaper dispenser on almost every majour street in vancouver and grab yourself a copy of the straight. Great source for dining solutions conveniently listed by type, they list all first run, second run, and independent films playing around the city, a listing of all thing nightlife in vancouver, and if your feeling particularly lost emotionally you can always read the horoscopes. -
Review from Simon R.
BC
12/12/2008
This is kind of like Vancouver's version of the left-wing rag, a subversive and challenging free weekly paper that has way more ads than content. Some of the writers do a good job of reporting on city events that don't get coverage elsewhere, notably writers Charlie Smith and Matthew Burrows, but a lot of the news is dedicated to whichever celebrity happens to be in town, and articles structured around health tips.
In fact, it is mostly an arts paper, covering many of the local plays, bands, and galleries and giving much needed exposure to some of the talented artists living in the city. The paper also has the biggest listing of arts events as well as restaurants, and the resourceful reader will enjoy the wide variety of "2 for 1" dinner coupons located in the foods section.
Most people only pick it up to read specific sections, but there are a few consistently good items that should have you reading it every week. This includes Savage Love, a sex column that aims to make people feel better about being perverts, and the "I Saw You" section, a series of random shots in the dark written by people who locked eyes with someone on the bus but never got up the nerve to say anything at the time. These can be found at the very back of the paper, right along with ads for every single Escort Agency in the city. -
Review from Alisa B.
1/12/2010
Yes its your average weekly liberal magazine you find in every major city with the usual weird classifieds, adult help wanted, band info, cool articles, music news, movie schedules and advertisments....
Its my go to for what's going on in vancouver when i get there (right behind yelp that is)... and It helped me find some great consignment stores... other than that its pretty basic.
The covers like all others are pretty cool too -
Review from BB H.
Burnaby, BC
5/27/2010
If it wasn't free, I'd never pick it up. I only ever get it to see what is playing at the movie theatres and what is happening concert-wise. The artices are mainly junk--typical bleeding heart lefty nonsense. Hey, nothing wrong with heart in the PC place but so many of them are borefests. Only the Gwynne Dyer geopolitical pieces I would consider thought provoking.
The Straight has been around for ages and it doesn't get any better or worse. It is what it is--typical Vancouver--all fury without much in the way of solutions on local issues. -
Review from Sheila W.
BC
1/16/2009
This is the major freebie in Van that will keep you in touch with what's happening. Need plans for the weekend? Pick up the Straight. Want to check out a new restaurant? Grab the Straight. Want to find out if that movie's worth $15 to see at the theatre? You guessed it -- the Straight.
The paper's a lot weightier than the other free reading material in the city, with around 80 pages of news, opinion, arts, features, travel, movies, music, classifieds and commentary. I always read the Uncorked column by Jurgen Gothe for his clever and unpretentious wine reviews. I miss Angela Murrills' writing in the "Best Eats" section, but I'm getting used to Carolyn Ali, Matthew Burrows or whoever happens to be writing it any given week.
Sure there's a lot of ads -- it's a free paper! They have to pay for it somehow. But it still manages to get it a fair amount of news, often focusing on social problems facing Vancouver. The style of the Straight is a nice change from the hard-news of the biggies.
Picking up a Straight is a lot cheaper and easier than buying a full Vancouver guidebook, so tourists should snap up a copy as soon as they hit the streets to plan their days and nights in the city. -
Review from Cameron M.
Toronto, ON
11/6/2008 1 photo
Hands down Vancouver's best general indie news magazine. It doesn't necessarily fill all the niche demographics like other publications and it definitely isn't as artsy and independent as it was in its heyday but it still manages to be pretty on point when it comes to scoping out the Vancouver scene.
Personally I also enjoy a lot of the writers. Lots of good columnists and reviewers are still at The Straight, something which tends to be lacking in mainstream publications in town.
Lately I've loved Dave Watson's column "Rambling into Eternity" where he outlines his struggles with cancer and reveals a side of dealing with a terminal illness nobody else thinks of. Like why he refuses to watch Lost so he doesn't die without knowing how it ends. great stuff. -
Review from Dani B.
4/28/2009
I dig this periodical on any day where I have a moment to read it. Long bus rides and waiting for friends or food is a good time to check out what's hot (and what's not) in Vancouver.
Check out the "upcoming events" section to see what's coming to town, or just check out what's going on that week.
Savage love will keep you on your toes and their featured articles are ususally very interesting.
Every city has to have 1 good paper to go to for the local "scene" and in my humble opinion, this one is it. -
Review from Lauren N.
11/6/2008
Ohhh, how I miss you, Georgia Straight!! This news magazine used to provide me much needed entertainment and amusement on my long rides home on the infamous 99 bus route. Some of Vancouver's best columnists, and they cover everything from local current events to fashion and of course, food. Another bonus is that you can usually find some coupon deals towards the back in the food/eating section, for some really good restaurants in town.
And let's not forget the "I saw you's" in the personals section! I love reading through these, because some of them are really sweet, but most of them are hilarious! People trying to track down their one-minute soulmates, or trying to tell their neighbours to close their blinds (cause nobody needs to see that) in this personal ads section, you won't find anything like this in other news prints in Vancouver. -
Review from Megan S.
1/9/2009
Every town has one- and here it's the Georgia Straight (or just the Straight). This is the place to read about upcoming entertainment: movies, music, community events, and more. It has classifieds, horoscopes, and love advice.
It has some color pages, but mostly black and white. The articles have local information as well as more general knowledge type stuff. I find it to be a good read when sitting on a transit. -
Review from Luisa S.
Vancouver, BC
11/20/2008 1 photo
Ah, the Georgia Straight. My favourite alternative weekly. In a town that is now overridden with bad journalism (if you can even call 24 journalism), the Georgia Straight continues to uphold the same values and standards it first set out to do. Especially in comparison to the "competition", where features typically run 500 words or less. Their stories continue to interest readers with topics that are current and yet appeal the varied tastes and interests of Vancouverites. Stories span from local to more international, keeping the content focused but with enough range that it doesn't become too insular.
