The free March issue, launched on 12 February to allow extra time for full production, will be followed by monthly editions – all planned at print runs of 100,000, according to Anasudhin Azeez, managing director and executive editor of publisher LDD News.
LDD News has turned to Reach Printing Services to print the paper, and is currently in talks with several distributors to circulate the paper for its first year, after which point LDD News hopes to distribute the paper itself.
Azeez told Printweek that the time was ripe for a new London paper, as City A.M. cut its print editions to three days a week, and the Evening Standard moved to a 150,000-copy weekly print model.
“We thought it was a real opportunity,” he said, adding that the promotional copy had done well, with around 70% of copies taken from distribution points within 48 hours.
“We’ll be distributing through supermarkets and selected places throughout the city with good footfall.”
London Daily’s next edition will go on sale for £5. The paper focuses on local news, covering each borough of the city from its Fleet Street headquarters. Its launch has made it the only remaining print newspaper to work from Fleet Street.
“If the contents are good, people will buy the paper,” Azeez said, comparing the new title to the £6/issue newspapers printed irregularly by upmarket magazine brand Monocle.
“Some of their editions are £8, but they are Berliner size – they’re not a tabloid, but they have some good content. The number of pages is high, so we want to follow what Monocle is doing.”
Azeez has previous form launching titles, having launched the Asian Lite digital newspaper and website in 2007, and prior to that was a news editor at Johnston Press. He has taken on a team of veteran journalists to help launch the London Daily, with former BBC sports editor and Evening Standard columnist Mihir Bose acting as consulting editor.
Bose told Printweek: “It’s a great idea.
“Having been a journalist for half a century, it’s sad to see that London no longer had an evening paper. Azeez has a romantic idea about British Journalism, holding offices on Fleet Street, and I think it’s a great idea to have both a digital and printed edition.
“It’s very important to have a printed presence. Of course digital is important – everything is digital now – but the print edition gives a certain gravitas. It also allows the newspaper to display things properly. Yes, digital is easy and quick to read, but to my mind it is still inferior to the printed edition.”
