pr-media-blog.co.uk

Associated Newspapers has announced that the London Lite – part of its free division which also includes Metro – has entered a period of review which could place 36 jobs at risk. 

The announcement follows the closure of rival evening free-sheet TheLondonPaper. The possible closure places the whole concept of the free newspapers in the balance as Steve Auckland, Managing Director of Associated Newspapers admitted concerns of ‘commercial viability’ – the same reason TheLondonPaper closed its doors. 

The London Lite, however, does not seem to have suffered any decline in popularity. It distributes 400,000 copies a day and appears to be widely liked – the mix of short, light news, gossip and sports, along with popular sections such as ‘Get if off our text’ have proved popular with commuters who want to switch off from a hard news agenda and unwind on the journey home from work. The short and snappy approach lends itself very well to those with a short journey as you can read most if it in about 20 minutes. 

This is quite different from the Evening Standard where one may struggle to read more than a couple of articles in 20 minutes. It is simply a different concept and although great if you have an hour to spare, it is hard to get through it in a short period of time. It is also far more opinionated, the stories are far more drawn-out and analytical and there is a stronger focus on hard news such as politics and finance. While I’m not criticising the paper itself, it simply appeals to a very different demographic than the London Lite. 

While those at the Evening Standard may indeed be rubbing their hands together at the thought of a monopoly on London evening newspapers, it is worth pointing out that if two evening free-sheets have already proved to not be financially viable, how will the Evening Standard fair?  

Perhaps more interestingly from a consumer perspective, how will it move forward? Will it adapt itself in order to satisfy those of a more ‘London Lite’ persuasion and risk alienating its main readership or, due to its monopoly, will it bank on Lite readers switching to its harder news agenda because there is really no alternative? 

I believe red-top newspapers such as The Sun or The Mirror could stand to benefit from this. The Sun in particular has recently dropped its price to a paltry 20p and those in search of a softer news agenda may be happy to actually pay for a newspaper again. That said, these are obviously morning papers which go to press earlier, so they are not as up-to-date in the evenings.  

The possible closure of the London Lite, as you can probably see, appears to pose more questions than answers. One thing is sure though: with TheLondonPaper gone and The London Lite looking like it will go the same way, opportunities for PR people with London-based stores are certainly going to become more limited.

I’ve been taking a close interest in the extent to which Eastern European leaders, especially Dimitry Medvedev, have been making attempts to position themselves strategically in the UK media - an FT comment piece here, an interview on Today programme there.

Why bother? Well, the likes of Medvedev need to work their international audience in order to get things done globally, so explaining their actions and pitching a more positive narrative that challenges the old KGB villain-type image will help.

They’ve gone a stage further now with a social media strategy, an interactive video blog that enables Medvedev to give something of his personality (we’ll see whether that’s a good thing or not!) and get into a dialogue. Full marks for trying.

Pulling back, its fascinating to see how international figures use foreign media to play back into their homeland. US globetrotting political consultants like Sawyer Miller were masters of this. Check out how the firm used the US media in the Philippines to unseat Ferdinand Marcos.

They figured that the domestic TV channels, being state controlled, were unlikely to play fair so they used the US TV networks and the likes of the New York Times, which were recieved along with so much US culture, out in the Philippines, and to influence the White House, who at the time were protecting Marcos.

Currently there’s a mini-power game taking place amongst Russian political officials and exiled oligarchs. Whether its billionaires ingratiating themselves into Western society or looking to expose dodgy dealings in their home nation.

In this spirit its fascinating to see the bid for the Evening Standard by ex-KGB agent and Russian billionaire, Alexander Lebedev. He’s known to be an opposition figure in Moscow, a critic of the regime.

It was thought that the days of a rich man looking to own a national newspaper, funding large losses, in return for access and prestige was ebbing away as multi-media strips away the power of the old brands. Perhaps there’s now a new generation of rich men seeking that sort of trophy?

Guido makes an amusing comparison with a figure from years gone by.

‘Stand by for Black Monday’ screamed the front page of tonight’s London Evening Standard.  Then it hit me.  My mental image of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 is a newspaper front page.   

The market has been in need of a correction, of that there is no doubt.  Long term demand for oil is also a significant underlying factor.  But, the maelstrom in which we are enveloped is a massive over correction and one fuelled by fear and drained confidence.  We need to think about how the plug was pulled.   The ‘Credit Crunch’ is a newspaper headline; squeezing a profusion of complex economic causes and effects into a two word bawling banner.  

More than likely by the time you read this we will know if the markets have ignored the doom prophets or if we are in free-fall once again and the US Senate sees that the Paulson plan is the best worst option.  And what of this plan?  The media have called it a ‘$700 billion bail out’, more headlines, but it is really an attempt to put confidence back into the markets and underwrite the ‘toxic debt’, oh there goes another one.  This isn’t putting taxpayers cash into bank bonuses it is a plan for putting the confidence back into the system from someone that understands the financial markets as well as anyone can.   If it works it won’t cost the US taxpayer a dime, some commentators have even suggested the treasury could profit from the swap. 

If we have hit the bottom, and let’s hope we have,  it is time we put aside the big font fear forecasts in favour of cautious and considered copy.