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The London Paper
by Trishajs
I always pick up The London Paper when I am in town. It's free and I will need something to do on my journey home- so great. Would I buy it if it wasn't free?- no- absolutely not. It is what it is- a free paper which is financed by advertising.
So let's have a look at the latest issue:-
Well there is the main news- ... certainly not in depth news-the main points and that's your lot. There is a story in the edition I am looking at about 75 dead in bombings and that warranted only 12 very weeny paragraphs. It is a London paper so understandably any regional stories are London based.
Then there is the celebrity news- nine stories in the first 5 pages alone and they escalate thru the paper, so that should tell you that this is the paper for you to pick up if you like what I would call typical celebrity gossip. Personally I am not interested- hence I guess another reason why I wouldn't pay for this paper if it wasn't free.
There are the usual readers letters and texts together with opinion polls.
Also a few feature articles, you know those articles that could go into a paper any day -as they are not news specific - some examples in my copy being..."Does Age Matter?....My night with a supermodel. (Yawn).
There is an eating out review- be it a pub or a restaurant and naturally this is in or around London.
You have the London TV guide as well as a London Theatre and cinema listings.
There is half a page on property related issues- so that could be property itself or gardening or beekeeping at home or any vague connection.
The classified section is jobs, training courses and new homes.
As always there are the obligatory horoscopes.
There are five pages on sport.
Then to the reason I always grab the paper when offered- because none of the above would entice me to do so. The puzzles -a good crossword giving you the choice of cryptic or general knowledge clues, a word search, a small London quiz- e.g Where in London is the Crimean War Memorial? and last but by now means least 3 Sudoko puzzles of differing stress levels.
London trains are packed and I find it difficult to read, nor enjoyable to read anything worthwhile with someones' elbow stuck in my back, with a heavy briefcase resting on my foot, whilst hearing the words " I am on the train" yelled into a mobile for the 768th time in 15mins. So The London Paper serves a purpose, it aids my time from A-B with reading for which I require no brain cells, and as we head further out of London and breathing once again becomes an option, the journey from B to C can be passed doing the puzzles.
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London Lite
by shuttlex
A few years ago there were no free newspapers in London. One would buy a copy of the evening standard for around 40p. However recently in London several free newspapers are distrubuted. Anyone who walks down the streets of Central London will see people dressed in London Lite t-shirts
waving newspapers in front of anyone who passes ... by. In areas with high traffic such as Oxford Street this can be a problem. Streets are already over capacity, the last thing needed is three people blocking a busy street handing out newspapers.
On to the newspaper itself, London Lite is free but the content doesn't compare to that of a newspaper that one pays for. The style of writing and quality of journalism is poor, comparable to that of the level of writing on dooyoo. Some times I wonder if those employed to write London Lite are paid real wages or maybe they receive miles that can be cashed in for amazon vouchers everytime they submit an article. There's just no real depth to anything written in the London Lite but then again there's nothing interesting to read about going on in London. If you really want to read a London newspaper buy the Evening Standard.
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Isle of Wight Beacon Magazine
by newby2
The Beacon.....
The Beacon is a monthly A5 sized colourful magazine that is absolutely free of charge and widely available across the Isle of Wight. The magazine itself is for people on the island as the information given is only relative to this area. There are different magazines for each area of the Isle of Wight such as ... South Wight (the magazine is called The Bay and this is the magazine I would get), East Wight, West Wight, Newport, Ryde, and Cowes. The only difference in the magazines from different areas is the advertisements as these are specialised to certain areas.
The magazine does have some useful information in that perhaps people would not be aware of if they hadn't of read this. It gives information on activities that are coming up in the local area such as boot sales and live music and the like.
The magazine promotes a "community" spirit type vibe and this comes across well. They have a section at the back of the magazine that always retells a story from the history of the island and this is probably my favourite section because it is always rather interesting.
The magazine talks of peoples achievements in the local community and it has an overly positive feel to it that you wouldn't get from the local newspaper, "The County Press".
The majority of the small magazine however is taken up with advertisements for local shops, restaurants and the like. This is somewhat annoying but I guess these places have to be promoted and a local magazine like this is an ideal place to do so. I also think that if these advertisements were not here then perhaps the magazine itself would not be free.
Most people get the Beacon delivered to their house but if this is not the case there are many other places to pick up one of these magazine. The Heights Leisure Centre always has a large pile (which is where I get mine) and also local shops seem to be given a stack for people to take home with them.
The magazine layout is rather good and looks top quality. The pages are that of a high gloss coloured finish which makes the magazine look professional and appealing at the same time.
All in all I would say this is a brilliant free local magazine for the people of the isle of Wight. You can find lots of information about what is coming up in the next few weeks or indeed what has happened in the weeks gone by. I think it would be a shame if this was ever stopped being made as it really is a valuable source of information.
5 star freebie magazine. I hope this has been of some help/interest to you.
Thanks for taking the time to read.
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