Talk The Talk: Dorothy Robinson
Dorothy Robinson is the Arts & Entertainment editor for The Metro in Philly. Now, we know what you’re thinking: Big friggin’ deal, right? Wrong. In part on Robinson’s watch, the Philly franchise of the Swedish chain of daily, commuter-fied, on-the-go newspapers has gone from being one of the weirdest, lamest media products ever to be hoisted upon the Philly audience (cue Clog/PhiladelphiaWillDo/Phillyist jokes here) to being a panopoly of actual Philly voices. At its root: a cast of columnists, sassy gossip, and increasingly youth-directed news coverage ‚Äî somehow, the Pointless Fest debacle made it onto the front page ‚Äî and suddenly, the Metro’s got a fire in the belly. In short, the Metro has been trying to do what no one here ever really thought it would do or could: Be a real newspaper with, like, a real personality. We collared Dorothy, because we had to know: Is the Philly Metro the Delaware Avenue Ikea of newspapers? Jesus Christ, we don’t even know what that means.
Funny things about Swedes, and why you can’t fire Clark DeLeon, after the jump.
Hi Dorothy! OK, so right up front, we have to ask: When did the Metro turn from being an AP wire messy mess and turn into this kind of crazy youthquake paper where you have writers, like, interviewing Jenny Balls and shit?
Hmmm…I might have to check with the Swedes who own this paper to make sure this is totally PC but I am going to say, right when I stepped off the Amtrak from New York City to the lovely shores of Philadelphia. ONE DAY before the Jessica Pressler article came out, which, like all of you in Philadelphia, haunts me to this day. But I would be nowhere without my editor in chief Ron Varrial who brought me here. We worked together in the New York City office when I was just a lowly music writer and he knew I could handle the panic and stress that comes from editing 400 word articles. So I got to pretend like Philadelphia was Dorothyland and put what I wanted in the paper. But only really tiny-like.
Yes, this is something we have much experience with. What has the response to the switch been like?
Well, it’s still constantly evolving. It’s going to take a lot of time to change the rep we have in Philly. When Ron and I first came on board, we both said it would just be easier to start a new newspaper than change people’s perception of us. Ron has hired a completely new editorial staff–young writers who are on board with the new METRO. We have a great new publisher and marketing director, both of whom are the most visionary people I have ever worked with. When I first started, I would get complaints from old ladies that we stopped running “Celebrity Birthdays” and now people write in to either tell me I’m funny or request that I die of stomach cancer. So that’s something. I figure if Christina Aguilera can change her image from a dirty tramp to a soulful, classy blues singer, we can get people to read us and like us.
You do realize this is Philly, right?
Yes. It’s not a mini-Sweden by any means (although how magical would that be?) so we are working with the higher-ups to make them realize how particular you are and how we can make this as gentle and tiny-news filled as possible.
Now that paper is not on every SEPTA platform, what is circulation like?
It’s still around the same. We were audited around 155,000. The papers that were at the SEPTA platforms are now distributed in coffee shops, apartment buildings, and in more boxes in the city.
Please tell me that Clark DeLeon’s column has been discontinued.
We are trying to rock the boat–not tip it over. To get rid of Clark would mean getting rid of that classic pic with his fist resting on his chin. Sacrilege. Philadelphia would never forgive us.
You do have a point there. But dude has definitely been staking lots of ground in the Byko/Crazy Old Coot territory for gosh, like at least 15 years now. But maybe we should stop that right here; we hear he carries an Australian hunting knife that is THIS BIG. Next inevitable question: Tell us about your involvement with The Poverty Jet Set.
I was writing for The Poverty Jet Set when it first launched. My awesome friend Mark, who is the site’s founder, always liked my stupid little blog on MySpace so he invited me to write for it. I posted a few drunken ramblings on there but then I started working on a book proposal for an agent and between that and my duties here I started having panic attacks with all of the demands. Plus, I’m not poverty jet set–I’m coach all the way, baby. So I resigned. It works out well. People can now just enjoy my fuck-ups in METRO and we can get Mark in the paper with no ethical problems. I hightly suggest everyone check it out. You can read it after the twenty delicious minutes it takes you to read METRO.
Ha, OK. Last question: What is the one thing about Philly that is utterly impossible to explain to your Swedish bosses?
Everything. They come from a land that doesn’t know the meaning of the word “bike lock.” Whereas I can’t walk down the street without seeing barren leg stumps. They do like the cheesesteaks, however. We always get them when they come to the city. And then go to the Ikea. Okay, kidding about the Ikea part. I’ve been making that joke since, like, the day I got this job. But now I finally get to use its lameness in a public forum. Thanks for that, Philebrity.
