View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
September 14, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 9:01pm

The Acceptor: the London girl who can’t say no

By Press Gazette

I started my quest outside the glamorous HQ of Press Gazette on Fleet Street and ended up at Waterloo station, picking up any free papers I was offered along the way.

Pickings were poorer this week, with noticeably fewer distributors scattered along my route down the Strand and over Hungerford Bridge.

It could be that after an initial flooding of the marketplace distributors have decided to concentrate their energies on the most rewarding spots.

In contrast to last week there was no aggressive selling, no shouting or shoving the newspaper in my face. Distributors were cheery and enthusiastic but relatively unobtrusive.

Surprisingly, I reached Charing Cross station without encountering one London Lite distributor and with six copies of thelondonpaper stuffed in my bag.

However, London Lite caught up, with throngs of distributors outside Charing Cross and Embankment stations.

Distributors of both descriptions dotted the approach to Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo station.

Content from our partners
Free journalism awards for journalists under 30: Deadline today
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition

No one offered me a free paper outside the front entrance to Waterloo or on the station's main concourse, which was surprising.

An Evening Standard vendor outside Charing Cross station commented on falling sales: "Tell me about it! I've been standing here for two hours and I've only sold two papers."

Another vendor at Waterloo station, Andrew Beasley, said: "Sales are quite a bit slower. They're down by 150 or 200 copies a night."

"If it's a really good headline, it doesn't matter what they're giving away," he added, "People are still going to buy the Standard."

I boarded the train at Waterloo with my bag significantly lighter than last week. London Lite had scored a slender victory.

Score: 11 London Lites, 10 thelondonpapers

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network