London faces war of the free newspapers

From tomorrow the capital will have four free papers targeted at affluent commuters. Can they all survive, asks Mark Kleinman

THE crowded street outside Moorgate Tube station in the City hardly seemed like an obvious place to witness the opening shots in Britain’s latest media war.
As hundreds of commuters inched their way through the ticket barriers last Wednesday evening, many would have barely noticed an enthusiastic young woman handing out copies of a hitherto-unseen newspaper called London Lite.

“Take a copy. Go on, you know you want to,” she yelled at passers-by.

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News International's London paper launches today

News International's free newspaper, the London Paper, hits the streets for the first time today at 4.30pm, with its website launching at the same time.
TheLondonPaper.com will go live as 400,000 copies of the free newspaper are handed out by 700 distributors, clad in purple to match the paper's masthead, in central London.

News International's title will compete for readers with Associated Newspapers' rival freesheet London Lite, and its 50p London Evening Standard.

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