Evening Standard
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The Evening Standard is an English tabloid newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas. It is technically a "local" paper, although it carries considerable influence. It is dominant as a London daily paper, with a strong city emphasis as well as carrying national and international news.
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History
The paper was launched as the Standard on May 21, 1827 and for a short period during the 1990s it reverted to its original name (some other local newspapers in the UK have also been named "Evening Standard").
In the beginning of the twentieth century the paper was owned by Canadian tycoon Lord Beaverbrook, who also owned the Daily Express. At this time there were fourteen evening newspapers in London, but one by one they merged until there were three left. The Star merged with the Evening News in 1960, and the two remaining papers were great rivals until they shared ownership in the 1980s. In 1980 the Evening News was incorporated into the Evening Standard, leaving London with one single evening paper. The Evening News name still appears on the Standard's masthead.
Today
The paper is currently published by Associated Newspapers Ltd., a division of Daily Mail and General Trust. Associated Newspapers also publishes the national papers The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, and Metro, a free morning paper distributed at stations. Associated Newspapers is based at Northcliffe House, Derry Street, Kensington.
Max Hastings was editor from 1996 until his retirement in 2002. Veronica Wadley (formerly with the Daily Mail) is the current editor. Although the Standard (as it is commonly referred to) shares the same Editor in Chief, Paul Dacre, as the Daily Mail it has a quite different style from the latter's "middle England" outlook, having to appeal to a cosmopolitan readership. The Standard has a circulation of around 425,000 (c.f The Times national circulation of 640,000) and the Mail around 2,300,000.
The Evening Standard covers national and international news, with an emphasis on London-centred news (especially in its features pages), covering building developments, property prices, traffic schemes, politics, the congestion charge and, in the Londoner's Diary page, gossip on the social scene. It also occasionally runs campaigns centred around local issues that larger national newspapers do not cover in long detail.
It has a tradition of providing quality arts coverage, and is noted for its visual art critic, Brian Sewell, more recently also a television personality, who is renowned for his outspoken dismissal of Britart and the Turner Prize. This accords with the general readership, but was so unpopular with leading figures in the art world that they signed a letter demanding his dismissal (he is still there).
Its headline writers have been accused of having a "doom-and-gloom" agenda [1], and it is quick to boldly announce possible tube and train strikes, which in the event often do not happen as settlement is reached beforehand (which provides the opportunity for another headline). However, it shows every sign of being emotionally attuned to its readership.
It publishes four editions each day, from Monday to Friday excluding Bank holidays. The first of these is officially timed for 8 a.m. and is available around 11 a.m. in shops in London and its more outlying circulation areas (such as Tonbridge, Kent). A second edition is available in the central area, and the third, "West End Edition", circulated more widely to include the suburbs, available from around 3 p.m. The last edition "West End Final" is timed to catch the commuter market, and obviously carries the latest news. There is often considerable variation between the editions, particularly with the front page lead and following few pages, including the Londoner's Diary (which now appears on page 15), though features and reviews stay the same.
The Evening Standard has sponsored the annual Evening Standard Theatre Awards since the 1950s. The newspaper has also awarded the annual Evening Standard Pub of the Year and the Evening Standard British Film Awards since the 1970s.
The paper is currently priced at 40p, sometimes reduced for a day to 20p.
Freesheet and supplements
On 14 December 2004 Associated Newspapers launched a freesheet edition of the Evening Standard called Standard Lite to help boost circulation. This has 48 pages, compared to approximately eighty in the main paper, which also has a supplement on most days. It is designed to be especially attractive to younger female readers, and features a wide range of lifestyle articles but less news and business news than the main paper. It is only available until 2.30 pm and in the central area.
On Fridays, the Evening Standard includeds a free glossy lifestyle magazine, ES. This has moved from more general articles to concentrate on glamour, with features on the rich, powerful and famous. Metro (previously called Hot Tickets) was a what's on guide given away on Thursdays. This was discontinued (without notice) in 2005. A separate property paper with articles on related subjects, as well as estate agents advertisements, is given away on Tuesdays.
A web site thisislondon.co.uk carries some (but by no means all) of the stories from the Evening Standard as well promotions, reviews and competitions. This contrasts with the four daily UK "broadsheets" whose web sites mirror the print content.
Trivia
For many British people the plaintive Cockney cry of the newspaper's street sellers represents an essential part of the London fabric - "Eenin Stannad". This was the subject of a Morecambe and Wise sketch in which Ernie Wise, with some difficulty, managed to get Eric Morecambe to say (the fictional) "Morning Standard" instead of "Morny Stannit", only to find that the paper was in fact called the Morny Stannit.