thelondonpaper: will you miss it?


by Chris Barnyard    
5:00 pm - August 20th 2009

Tweet       Share on Tumblr

New International today announced it was closing thelondonpaper.
Media Guardian story:

The paper will continue publishing for about a month while News International consults with 60 staff members. It is understood that the London Paper’s final day of publication is likely to be Friday 18 September.

Today’s announcement signals an end to the London freesheet wars, which began almost exactly three years ago in August 2006, when News International decided to launch an afternoon freesheet and Associated Newspapers retaliated to protect the London Evening Standard and its morning freesheet Metro by launching London Lite.

Perhaps the impending paywalls made the freesheet a difficult fit within the Murdoch empire. Or perhaps Rupert Murdoch has just given up on throwing money away.

Either way, it marks another recent media failure, especially after the bad investment that myspace turned out to be.

On twitter, most people were fairly ambivalent.

@ChantelleFiddy

all you below par journalists beware – londonpaper staffers are gonna eat ya’ll for dinner.

@andylazybird

The London Paper is set to close – thank f*ck for that, just the pthers to go and the streets will be ours again http://tr.im/wLNt

@jessicabateman

Can’t believe The London paper is closing. How am I gonna find out where Lily Allen went to dinner last night now?

@marmadook

the london paper is no more? what what? Do I have to downgrade to the metro!?

@samranger omg. How will I ever feature in the london paper’s lovestruck section now? Devastated.com

@ZoZoWilko

why would they close The London Paper- everyone knows its so much better than the Lite!

Are you sad or elated London is going to be slightly more cleaner? Or perhaps you’re pissed that Associated Newspapers won the battle?

   Tweet   Share on Tumblr   submit to reddit  


About the author
Chris is a regular contributor to Liberal Conspiracy. He is an aspiring journalist and reports stories for LC.
· Other posts by


Story Filed Under: News


Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.


Reader comments


1. Paul Sagar

Less Murdoch filth littering our tubes?

Can only be a good thing really.

2. Nick

The London Paper always seemed boring compared to London Lite. I am not surprised.

3. Jako

Both are awful. I thought for a while that the London Paper might be slightly better than the Lite, but then I realised that the ink from the LP really does come off on your hands. So I am now loyal to Lite. Quite simply really.

4. Richard

It was always my least favourite of the 3 free papers (the others being LL and the Metro). Seemed to have more celebrity gossip in it.

5. septicisle

No.

6. Kate Belgrave

The London Paper had a place in our lives for a couple of months earlier this year, when I was bringing a few copies home every night for my puppy to piddle on.

He wees outside now, though, so no, we won’t miss it.

7. rantersparadise

Thank god.

Who cares what K Moss and L Allen are doing?? YAWN.

8. Left Outside

This news is so provincial its unreal.

This is the London bias that annoys people, although I partially understand why that bias exists in political matters, this story still doesn’t qualify as news to 90% of the country. Local papers go out of business a lot and it doesn’t get covered in the same way.

9. Simon

Left Outside, but London is about a quarter of the GDP output and the capital – these things matter. To Lily Allen.

I’m just glad Murdoch is losing money

10. Paul Sagar

Left Outside,

You have a point, but also you seem to be missing the wider context: the end of the london freesheet wars indicates a changing of the journalistic landscape and the way that Murdoch views his newspaper ventures and his finances.

That matters to a lot of people outside London.

It matters to people inside London, incidentally, who have only ever picked up the London Paper when pissed as a fart in order to laugh at the stupid celebrity articles but couldn’t give a flying fuckrat if it disappears into financial oblivion. People like me, for example, who are interested in how Murdoch conducts his affairs, given the unjustified power his newspaper empire wields over our politics, and that of the world more generally.

11. roym

wont be missed, but damn the london lite to hell!

12. Guido Fawkes

Myspace was a fabulous trade. Rupe got the whole cost back in one mega ad deal with Google… net cost, nearly zilch.

13. 5cc

Don’t give a monkey’s raas.

14. Daniel Hoffmann-Gill

No.

15. Joseph Edwards

Fuck the freesheets.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Christopher Love

    http://bit.ly/XfIZp
    Now able to get from Fenchurch St. to Tower Hill unaccosted

    [Original tweet]





Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.