| Product: |
The Evening Standard |
| Date: |
25/01/01 (141 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Zoe Williams, Jeremy Hardy, the supplements
Disadvantages: bit of a trek to get a copy if you don't live in London
For anyone who has ever lived or worked in London, "Standard!" is a familiar sound. So too is "Staaaaaaaaaaaa!" which is what a lot of vendors actually shout, saving valuable millilitres of breath. (If breath is measured in millilitres, which it probably isn't). Anyway, by way of explanation for those who have never had the pleasure of calling our capital home: these crazed salespeople are referring to the Evening Standard, which is London's 'local' paper and an excellent one at that.
“The Evening Standard is a truly marvellous publication. Discuss.”
One of the Standard’s most impressive abilities is to publish itself three times a day, five days a week (Mon-Fri). Technically no, it doesn’t publish itself, but you know what I mean. The first issue (‘News Extra’) comes out at 10:00, the second (‘City Prices’) around lunchtime and the final copy (‘West End Final’) mid-afternoon. The content is not entirely different of course, but the first few pages are updated – so if you buy a City Prices or West End Final edition there will be cover stories relating to stuff that happened only an hour or so previously. Keen as mustard, they are.
A copy of the Standard will set you back a measly 35 English pence, and is approximately 90 pages long. On four out of five days you also receive a supplement – not just some crappy advertising leaflet but a mini-paper with real information in it.
MONDAY: ‘Just the Job’
This is an employment supplement of around 50 pages. It lists a wide range of non-specialist London-based vacancies under sections such as ‘Accountancy’ or ‘Public and Community’ – although its largest section is definitely for secretarial positions.
TUESDAY: They can’t be bothered on Tuesdays. Oh come on, everybody hates Tuesdays.
WEDNESDAY: ‘Homes an
d Property’
Another sizeable supplement listing flats and houses to let and buy in greater London (and slightly beyond). It also has articles on subjects such as interior design and gardening, and an excellent rentals section at the back (for independent landlords to advertise, rather than estate agents). The only problem with this is that, like Loot, you need to ring early – all the best places are gone by lunchtime.
THURSDAY: ‘Hot Tickets’
This is not exactly going to give Time Out a run for its money, but it certainly does its job. Hot Tickets is a very comprehensive London listings magazine – it covers cinema, theatre, clubs etc and provides generally accurate contact information for everywhere listed.
FRIDAY: ‘ES’
I love this magazine. ES is semi-glossy, although much thinner, and has lots of gossip-based lifestyle and celebrity articles, and features on London life in general. Jeremy Hardy also writes a column for them every fortnight and he kicks ass. I read his first ever ES column on the train home and had to put it down because I was crying with laughter and people were staring. I’m not exaggerating either.
On the matter of their regular feature writers, both Zoe Williams and Victor Lewis-Smith are also regular contributors. Miss Williams appears once or twice a week, making hilarious comments about nothing in particular, and Victor L-S (regrettably) shows his face on a daily basis to slag off last night’s telly. I can’t stand him personally, but quite a lot of people have been quick to defend him against my wrath, so who knows? Maybe he’s your cup of tea. Maybe he’s your dad. If he is your dad, I know I ought to apologise, but I’m not sorry. He gets on my tits.
The Standard is published by the same people who chuck out the Daily Mail, but try not to be put off. I find the Mail tedious at best and downright bigoted at worst, but
the Standard is not like this. It shows very little support for Labour, but then it’s hardly kissing the ass of the Tories. Just for good measure, it seems to have decided that it doesn’t like Red Ken Livingstone either, but yah-boo-sucks to them. He’s doing a grand job. (But this is another op altogether). It was quite kind to Charles Kennedy during the election, but I doubt it’ll last.
The reports are mostly about all things London-related, although national and even international news gets a look-in. Its style of reporting is very straightforward – it has been accused of being too ‘tabloidy’ but personally I don’t see this. It doesn’t sensationalise, but it does conduct a lot of reader research on such burning issues as “There aren’t enough public loos in London, are there?” and prints the results, along with pictures of Elsie of Leyton in funny hat, saying yes, isn’t it appalling that there aren’t enough public loos in London? And so on. I think the tabloid accusation might have a lot to do with the fact that you can actually read the Standard, ie. it isn’t published in broadsheet format, so you can skim through it on the tube without having someone’s eye out. And unlike the Sun it doesn’t insult your intelligence / tell you who to vote for / insinuate that it might be a good idea to set alight the car of someone who *might* be a paedophile, and if you're not sure, then just to go for a paediatrician. (Nope, not a fan of the Sun).
In the name of providing all-encompassing information: there is also a business section in the middle (the pink pages) which I don’t understand or wish to, and therefore cannot pass comment upon, and a sports section which I am sure is more than adequate but sport bores the pants off me so again, I daren’t suggest whether it is good or bad.
I think I have all but exhausted my praise for th
e Standard now, as it’s only a newspaper after all, but I warmly recommend that you arrange to have this paper delivered to your house on a daily basis. Yep, even if you live in the Cotswolds. One last thing, for those who may not yet have been swayed: its daily cartoon is The Far Side by Gary Larson, which I defy anyone not to enjoy.
Get your Standard at any London newsagent, or listen out for a booming man, probably wearing some kind of Cockney hat.
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