By Rosalie Tirella

I’ve been walking about Worcester and seeing all those Worcester Mags … just hanging around! Languishing in their stands! So … I was right! A few months ago, I had blogged that Worcester Mag had jumped the shark. It has! It’s glory days are over.

No one seems to be picking up the free paper. Readers don’t seem to care.

Every where I go, there they are – Worcetser Mags! Sitting in their stands! Sitting on ledges! Sitting on tables! Unread! Unloved! Worcester readers seem to be telling Kirk Davis, the new Metro West owner of Blow Mag: We don’t give a shit.

This is why the losers at WoMag are stealing everyone’s ideas. A local paper showcases up and comers. Next week, Worcester Mag showcases up and comers. Last week I blogged about the Canal District’s new sidewalks being torn up for more new sidewalks. This week WoMag’s kiddie reporter Jeremy Skulk-in steals the story idea and puts it in Blow Mag.

The writers at Worcester Mag troll the blogs and steal ideas/story lines from all of us because 1. they are sneaky and 2. they have no ideas of their own.

This should be of no surprise, since the pres (Kirk Davis) and publisher (Gareth Charter) of the company don’t come from Worcester. Dorren Manning, the arts editor, also doesn’t come from Wormtown. (FYI: Gareth wrote all about the wonderful NEEDHAM school to which he sends his kid. Just what the parents of WPS students need!)

These new people don’t get Worcester, and Worcesterites see their cluelessness. So they’ve stopped reading it. Also, all the turnover at Worcester Mag – a new reporter quits once a year now – has left the paper without any strong voices – writers readers want to read.

A few months ago, I blogged about the two-person turnout for Worcester Mag’s annual Turtle Boy music event. We guessed that all the former (fired) WoMag staffers (a few of whom are busy Worcester County musicians with lots of pals and connections), with the help of their supporters, decided to boycott the event. (We think lots of folks now boycott Worcester Mag.)

I commented on how new doofus puss editor Jim Keogh, who always looks droopy and arrogant when I see him walking about Water Street, double-crossed all the staff writers whom he promised he’d retain after A. Fletcher sold the mag to Kirk Davis. Davis is a big gun at a metro west paper chain (the one that owns the Tabs, etc). A few folks have told me they worked for him – and he is an asshole. Well, you know what they say: Davis (like all company owners) sets the tone for his company: arrogant asshole-ness rules.

But the writers and readers of Wormtown aren’t the only ones Davis and Company have screwed. They abruptly changed printers. To save money. But now WoMag’s pages are flimsier, thinner and the photos look crappy. And a few other biz folks are grumbling about their sleazoid biz sense.

But it doesn’t really matter. No one cares enough to miss the point.