The London freesheets and the web - Part 5: Messageboards and comments

Last week I started looking at a bunch of the free London newspapers I picked up as a commuter in July. I've been highlighting the areas like music reviews, voting and sport where they have been using the web and user-generated content to enhance their print editions.

Most newspapers have a "Letters to the Editor" page, but the 3 London freesheets also enjoy publishing TXTs and emails to the editor as well.

London Lite goes as far as to call its print letters page London's messageboard, and it incorporates longer missives sent electronically, with short 160 character bursts as reader's are invited to "Get it off your txt".

SMS messaging is an attractive communication medium for this type of paper which is generally read whilst people are on the move - although I assume the messages they get disproportionately represent those who use buses rather than those on the sub-surface and mobile-signal free Tube.

The London Paper meanwhile boasts The London Talk. It is similarly a mix of reader's emails and TXT messages.

Curiously, they still award a 'letter' of the day, even if it might not have arrived via snail mail.

As well as their letters page, Metro try to utilise the audience for newsgathering and getting 'real-life' stories, with a box-out appealing for mail from readers.

I can't say I'm convinced by MiniCosm and Metro's attempts to source science stories from the average London commuter - that seems a sure way to get straight into Ben Goldacre's Bad Science column elsewhere in the press.

In the next part of this series of posts I'll be looking at how Metro, London Lite and The London Paper incorporate online video content into their web sites and print editions.