Two Shall Become One

The BBC reported yesterday that the London Paper has been proposed for closure. This is a free daily evening publication which targeted the commuter audience and provided competition to the AP's London Lite edition. The London Paper reported the general news of the day, sports, celebrity info, and other just weird stuff in addition to the numerous advertisements. Their website proports interesting statistics in the growth of their unique users doubling from January to May of this year and currently holding at just under 600,000. Physical distribution has been about 500,000 copies each month this year.

The paper has been run by News International a UK subsidiary of News Corporation (think Rupert Murdoch). Mr. Murdoch has been in the media of late for his statements related to charging for the news. The London Paper has a 30 day window for discussion during which time the paper will still be published.

What will happen with the printed newspaper? It's such a large question, yet unanswered, muddled with the development of products like the Kindle and our desire for free news quickly contrasted with our nostalgia for the familiarity of the daily paper and the practicality of reading on the trains. For those in smaller markets accustomed to the daily purchased paper, this closure might not be be of interest, but I think these types of events could be an open window to the changes to come in the way we receive our news.