Freesheet London Weekly is here

The London Weekly hopes to fill the gap left by the closure of the capital's previous freesheets, the London Paper and the London Lite, with around 250,000 copies distributed every Friday and Saturday.

Although some media commentators believe London's free newspaper scene is too crowded for another title - the London Evening Standard, the Metro, the Shortlist, already storm the capital - the London Weekly's website maintains that it is a "unique weekly newspaper which bridges the gap between national newspapers, Sunday tabloids, and dailies."

Despite company claims that it had raised a substantial £10.5 million investment, the freesheet's rather unpolished website, updated by just two users registered from a German server, and the inability of other news outlets to contact the journalists from the London Weekly led Guardian to wonder if the freesheet would launch at all.

Guardian pointed out that searching for way's to contact the paper's management or journalists had been very difficult, if not impossible. Guardian also found that its staff lists were inaccurate, with freelance fashion journalist, Simon Galzin, being listed as a staff member on the site, even though he had never been paid for work he submitted. Other journalists have come forward, saying that they have not heard from the paper in months.

An investigation led by Journalism.co.uk's Judith Townend and James Ball of Jamesrb.co.uk to find more information about the paper revealed that the newspaper's offices which were previously unknown are listed as Invincible Radio of the Invincible Group, a dubious media outlet with fictititious credentials.

Even though the National Union of Journalists was said to be investigating the case, London Weekly's launch has shut down rumors that claimed the freesheet would not launch at all.

Guardian reports that the newspaper seems to focus on entertainment news. Guardian's Steve Busfield had less than positive remarks to describe the new freesheet. To explain what he felt about the introduction on the splash, he blogged that "journalism students would be ridiculed for that sort of intro. It is without doubt the worst front page lead I have ever seen in any newspaper of any format/shape/size/distribution."

Busfield also points out that some names of celebrities have been misspelled. A later update on his blog points to the possibility of The London Weekly being a mere PR stunt for the Invicible Group.

So, the London Weekly finally launched and proved it exists, but will its appearance on the freesheet London scene last?



Photos: Guardian