DMGT Has Last Laugh, as Murdoch’s Londonpaper Crows at the Lebedev-Evening Standard Takeover

Welcome to the world of London newspapers Mr. Lebedev!

Yesterday Paul Dacre confirmed to his staff that ex-KGB man turned plutocrat Alexander Lebedev had taken over the Evening Standard for a nominal sum, believed to be £1, and by the afternoon Rupert Murdoch’s afternoon freesheet thelondonpaper was crowing about the sale in a full-page editorial by editor Stefano Hatfield.

“It is not for us at thelondonpaper to comment on why the Standard’s owners have given up the fight for the price of a chocolate bar, nor to question Mr Lebedev’s ownership credentials. Lord Mandelson, the business secretary is doing that.”

Miaow! In a direct address to the londonpaper’s readers, Hatfield goes on to chastise the Daily Mail General Trust (DGMT) chairman Lord Rothermere for running a “negative, reactionary” paper that had “abused its monopoly,” and claims that “readers and advertisers were deserting the title.”

Then, perhaps inspired by the soaring rhetoric of Barack Obama, Hatfield appealed to the better angels of a newly defined generation:

“We are optimistic and confident because we have you, Generation Free, a million urban Londoners, on our side. For that we thank you, and look forward to a bright future together in the run up to the Olympic Games and beyond, navigating our way together through the credit crunch and the gathering economic storm.”

Bravo Stefano. But on the day his rag pushed on with its usual diet of lifestyle fluff features and celebrity tripe (“Tom: A Move Here Would Be a Cruise,” “Lily Resorts to Life in Jamaica,” etc., etc., ad infinitum) Lebedev gave a press conference in Moscow after two employees of his Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta –journalist Anastasia Baburova and lawyer Stanislav Markelov (pictured below) – were shot dead by a masked killer in central Moscow. Markelov, who gave legal advice to investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta, had just given a press conference condemning the early release of a former member of the Russian army, who had been jailed for murdering a Chechen woman. There were also suspicions that Baburova may have been targeted for her reports on Russian neo-nazi groups.

Lebedev said that his journalists were being targeted for violent reprisals, and given little protection from the state.

“I think that the FSB [Federal Security Service] and other law enforcement agencies are not carrying out their responsibilities regarding what is happening with Novaya Gazeta, So we have officially submitted documents requesting the right to carry weapons.”

Lebedev stated he believed the journalists were targeted because of their work at Novaya Gazeta, and that his staff had been working on an investigative story that they have yet to publish for fear of what could happen to the reporters. 

“The editors feel personal responsibility for people dying and are saying that perhaps we just have to close it [Novaya Gazeta]. I understand their position, I too feel a responsibility personally that people are dying.”

All of this adds further credence to Lebedev’s recent comments that the British have no idea how lucky they are to have a free press, however flawed, and it should be pointed out that such a commitment to real journalism is a far cry from thelondonpaper’s powder-puff imitation of the form.

Stefano Hatfield’s tub-thumping could hide wider fears though. As Private Eye revealed this week, Lebedev’s takeover of the Standard was heavily influenced by his friend Geordie Greig, editor of Tatler, and also PR svengali Matthew Freud, who is the son in law of… Rupert Murdoch.

Freud’s hope was that by taking over the Standard, Lebedev would ditch its freesheet spin-off London Lite, which is locked in a war of attrition with thelondonpaper that has seen both titles haemorrhage money in an attempt to see off the other (while striving to discredit their rival’s circulation figures – see the video below), and so help the Dirty Digger make good on a costly venture that is losing News International approximately £20 million a year.

Instead, London Lite has been transferred to a different division of Associated Newspapers (owned by DGMT) and looks likely to be incorporated into their morning freesheet Metro, which has fared rather better than London Lite or thelondonpaper, on account of having an exclusive distribution deal with Transport for London, that sees copies of the paper stacked in tube stations. Practically, this is likely to lead to ‘Metro AM’ and ‘Metro PM’ newspapers, with the latter being a huge threat to thelondonpaper’s future success. 

Assuming the print advertising market doesn’t collapse completely (a very big if at this moment in time), DMGT’s sale of the Standard puts them in a strong strategic position to assert themselves as the dominant force in free newspapers, not only in London but across the country.

If that happens, ‘Generation Free’ will have done for Stefano Hatfield’s thelondonpaper, and DMGT will be rubbing their hands with glee. 

Posted by Jack Roberts in Creative Economy | January 23, 2009 2:27PM |