Recent posts in my Evening Standard Category
March 29, 2010
Damned if they did, damned if they didn't. Russian owned Standard doesn't lead with Moscow bombing story.
Today's Russian owned London Evening Standard opted not to lead with the suicide bombings in Moscow - a case of being damned if they did, and damned if they didn't.
March 10, 2010
Whatever Paul Waugh thinks, The Guardian's MPs Expenses crowd-sourcing experiment was no "total failure"
In describing The Guardian's MPs Expenses crowd-sourcing experiment as a "total failure", the Evening Standard's Paul Waugh gives us a glimpse of one of the reasons the traditional media industry finds it hard to innovate with technology.
February 10, 2010
Evening Standard's Richard Godwin can't stand IT - even for fact-checking NASA's "space pen"
Richard Godwin's argument that schools should use pencils rather than the latest technology would be a lot more convincing if he didn't back it up with the tired old urban myth about NASA's "Space Pen".
January 5, 2010
Evening Standard fails African Cup Of Nations geography test
Whilst the Evening Standard gets confused about whether the African Cup Of Nations is being held in Angola or Ghana, The Guardian is making available an open public sporting events calendar which knows for sure.
September 9, 2009
Mail homepage goes indigo - well, 'Indigo Collection' anyway
When I first saw this homepage advertising campaign last week from Marks & Spencers on the Daily Mail website, my initial reaction was to tweet that it had burned my eyes. Aesthetics aside, I did think it merited further mention. It is very interesting to see a British newspaper experimenting with advertising formats like this. For the Daily Mail's online audience it seemed likely to be totally 'on brand', perhaps much more so than the Evening Standard giving pages 2...
May 21, 2009
The (sometimes) free London Evening Standard
Last night I went to a fascinating round table panel session put on by MTM London at One Alfred Place with the title 'Do online newspapers have a future in a Digital Britain'. The evening was under Chatham House Rules, which means I need to work a little bit harder on how I'm going to blog about the event itself. Whilst I'm wrestling with that conundrum, I was struck by something on the way home that seemed to sum up...
August 21, 2006
Evening Standard using Muslim anger to sell newspapers in Walthamstow
In the West End on Friday Evening Standard billboards were leading on the Heather Mills divorce saga. In Walthamstow it was a different story. The fact that Jack Lefley's "Community leaders blame foreign policy for anger" article was only ~250 words long, and was buried on page 10 of the paper, didn't stop the Evening Standard using it as their main sales thrust in E17....
August 18, 2006
Do boys even take A-Levels these days?
Time for my annual A-Level joust with the British media. There was a shot across the bows last week, but over the last couple of days I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on the way the press portrays the results process. Across print and the web it was pretty much the same old, same old - lots of pictures of very successful girls, and not a hint that boys can achieve academic success. The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily...
August 11, 2006
It must be nearly A-Level time again
As luck would have it I am back in the UK for one of my favourite British events of the year - the mainstream media A-Level results frenzy. Or as I've come to think of it - a load of journalists who haven't had to sit an academic exam for years denigrating the hard efforts of a load of children who are emotionally at the age where they are probably least equipped to deal with failure in front of their...
June 30, 2006
Searching 'This Is London' from The Evening Standard
I've recently been doing a survey of how well search works, or doesn't, across a number of British newspaper web sites. I've already looked at a couple of News International Titles - The Times and The Sun - and one of Associated New Media's properties - The Daily Mail. Today I'm going to look at another Associated New Media site, This Is London, the online presence of the Evening Standard. Although the Evening Standard is not a national newspaper I...
December 7, 2005
Konnie Huq's briefs in the Daily Brief
Every day at the BBC subscribers can get an email called the 'Daily Brief'. It is a great little source of information, with a simple premise of providing a snapshot of useful information about the business to any area that is likely to have to be reactive. I get it because it is useful for the homepage team. It normally carries details of any known schedule changes from the major network, or details of which shows may be moved or...
November 24, 2005
The Evening Standard's Vanishing Booze Vote
For a long time one of the things that has really bugged me about living in London is England's archaic licensing laws, that mean that after watching a film on a Sunday night the missus and I can't retire to the pub next door to discuss the finer details of the plot over a pint, in case we are too hung-over to work in the munitions factory the next day. In fact I'd go as far as to say it...
October 5, 2005
London Transport Fare Rises
Yesterday marked one of my annual blog rituals, when the Evening Standard spins the announcement of fare rises on London's transport system into a story of economic doom'n'gloom that even the pessimistic Daily Express would be envious of. (I'd apologise for repeating myself, but due to the great currybetdotnet server disaster of 2005 none of the earlier posts are currently online.) Today the Standard screamed: KEN'S HUGE FARE RISE Usually the trick on these occasions is to use the percentage...
September 19, 2005
It's Not The Disability That Is The Problem, It's The Sex
The temporary statue of Alison Lapper in Trafalgar Square has generated plenty of comment, but this item in the Londoner's Diary in tonight's Evening Standard particularly caught my eye - "Monumental Row". It quotes David Whiting who felt his war-hero stepfather should be on display in the square as saying: I have nothing against Alison Lapper and certainly nothing against disabled people However he goes on to say: That a naked woman should be filling the empty plinth in Trafalgar...
September 16, 2005
England Soccer World Cup Bid
Soccer World Cup Bid? Soccer??? Has the Evening Standard transformed itself into the local paper for London, Texas?...
September 7, 2005
"Citizen Journalist" Photo On The Standard's Front Page
I'm quick enough to criticise the Evening Standard when I disagree with it, but I thought for a bit of balance I ought to give praise when it is due. The Standard yesterday did a great job in getting Wasim Maqsood's photographs of an incident on the Central Line onto the front page so quickly. The article goes on to use Maqsood as the main source: Mr Maqsood, a photographer, who took pictures as the police arrived, said he had...
September 1, 2005
Someone Gets Their Point Of View In Print
I posted yesterday about BBC News using comments from the Points of View messageboard in an article. Well this evening The London Evening Standard picked up the story and used one of the same quotes in an article on page 3. BBC brought to heel over 'sexist' show The BBC has apologised over the programme Bring Your Husband To Heel after complaints it was sexist towards men. The BBC 2 show featured dog trainer Annie Clayton teaching women how to...
June 22, 2005
Now In Our Time shows the BBC is "ignorant as well as biased"
The In Our Time Greatest Philosopher vote gained more press coverage on Monday, with an article in Peter Oborne's column for the Evening Standard entitled "Marx is so overrated": Long-term students of the BBC will not have been surprised to learn that Karl Marx looks set to be voted the world's greatest philosopher by Radio Four listeners. The decision shows the BBC is ignorant as well as biased. Marx was not a philosopher, he was a journalist with a deep...
June 16, 2005
Evening Standard Reconsiders Gipsy Camp Pun?
Both the Evening Standard and the Standard Lite contained a feature today by fashion editor Laura Craik about skirts. Not being a fashionista the thing that caught my eye was the difference in the editorial treatment. The later edition has clearly benefitted from a re-write, but what was most noticeable was the alternative headlines. The Evening Standard went for a quite sober: Girls will wear swirls this summer The gipsy skirt is the surprise smash hit of the season -...
May 11, 2005
Listening to iPods can make you deaf
A wonderfully sensationalist front page splash from the Standard today to point out what man has known since the invention of the headphones, that listening to music loudly for a long time damages your hearing. It wasn't quite clear from the article what was so product specific about this type of hearing damage to warrant billboards proclaiming "IPOD HEALTH ALERT". Maybe the Standard knows that the AAC compression recommended by Apple emits additional ear-destroying sonic frequencies which other mp3...
March 10, 2005
A warped sense of loyalty
Tonight's Evening Standard printed a letter from a London Assembly Member, Labour's Cllr Murad Qureshi: I see that French Arsenal and Chelsea players have aligned themselves with the Paris bid to host the 2012 Olympics I would have thought Londoners who pay £40 a match to watch footballers who are paid £20,000 a week would expect a little more loyalty. Hmm, I wonder what the public reaction would be if a certain David Beckham and Michael Owen showed the kind...
November 23, 2004
The Queen's Speech announces the introduction of ID Cards from 2008
It is a rare day that finds me agreeing with not only the main opinion feature in the Evening Standard, but the editorial itself - as well as agreeing with a spokesman from the Shadow Cabinet during a two-way on Radio Five Live this evening. However, the announcement today that the government intend to push through legislation to allow for biometric ID cards in the UK before the next election makes it such a day. As the Evening Standard editorial...
November 15, 2004
The worst train stations in London
Tonight the Evening Standard published a feature on the worst train stations in London, naming North Sheen, Hanwell, Clapham High Street and Maryland. They are asking readers to contact them about the dangers of their local stations by emailing stations@standard.co.uk. They didn't forget to mention Wood Street Station in the text - after all like Walthamstow Central it is practically unmanned in the evening, and the CCTV isn't guaranteed to work if you become a victim of a crime there...
October 22, 2004
"Boots plans new range of sex toys". Glass houses. Stones. Make up your own Evening Standard Punchline.
My eye was caught by an article in tonight's Evening Standard Londoner's Diary: "Odd that the Today programme trailled so heavily the news that Boots is considering sex toys in some of its shops. Given that the 155-year old chemist is merely "in talks" with condom manufacturer Durex to market sex aids, both companies must be delighted by the oodles of free publicity they have been given." "This was a significant story which broke overnight, was covered in other media...
August 11, 2004
Congestion Charge expansion in West London
The Mayor of London has today published a revision to his Transport Strategy - one which allows for the expansion of the Congestion Charge into West London. The public consultation on this involved over 100,000 people responding to TfL. Predictably you-know-who was not amused, despite the fact that implementation is still two years away, and subject to further consultation....
July 14, 2004
"Whitewash (Part Two)"
Well, as the first newspaper in London to get to put into print a post-publication analysis of the Butler Report, the Evening Standard was pretty damned unequivocal in its response: Whitewash (Part Two)...
June 10, 2004
The reporting of Internet polls during elections
Well, the voting is over - so I can come out of hiding. There is something as yet unresolved about identifiable BBC staff writing about an election camapign. Within the BBC, for the duration of an election campaign we go into "special conditions of operation" mode. This is less exciting than it sounds - but it means that we are extra careful about the user generated content we publish and the opinions expressed on bbc.co.uk pages. At no time...
May 20, 2004
Lazy Evening Standard Internet journalism (Number #36 in a seemingly never-ending series)
There was a great Evening Standard 'Internet' feature splashed over page 3 of the paper today. Revolution online will change way we buy music It is the hi-tech music revolution about to take Britain by storm. And it could mean the end of the record shops and change the way we buy music forever. Napster, the company that pioneered illegal music downloading, today launched a service in Britain that will operate inside the law. That's right, a legal Napster...
May 15, 2004
Another one bites the dust
First Greg, and now Piers. Another Editor-in-Chief in the UK loses their jobs for allowing allegations of mis-doings in the "War-in-Iraq-affair" to be broadcast or published without sufficient fact checking to prove the stories are correct. Without wanting to rake up old ground, it's just a shame the same standard of fact checking doesn't seem to apply if you publish front page stories supporting the official line on the war. For example, The Evening Standard on 24 September 2002...
April 16, 2004
Congestion Charging Expansion consultation
Until the 23rd of April 2004 TFL are running a consultation exercise about the proposed expansion of the Congestion Charge into West London. Until then you can read the proposal, and offer your comments. I'd love to think we could have a sensible public debate about transport in London, but we appear to be dealing with one motor lobby powered voice as the dominant press outlet. If I could just point out what TFL has been forced to issue...
April 14, 2004
The truth about Becks and her and The Evening Standard
I had a free Evening Standard thrust into my hand outside Holborn tonight as part of a mobile phone advertising promotion. Thankfully they didn't let the fact that the paper was being given away for nothing this evening affect their editorial quality: "Ms Loos, whose facial expressions in the interview are reminiscent of those used by Princess Diana during her interview with Martin Bashir" Brilliant! An astonishing journalistic insight on the part of Paul Sims in his front page...
April 1, 2004
A positive Internet story? Gmail cometh
In a turnaround for the UK press, a story about the Internet has made the front page of the Evening Standard - the beta launch of Google's Gmail - and it isn't couched in negative terms!...
March 24, 2004
The London Standard, David Beckham and the Madrid Bomber
A simply incredible front-page story from the Evening Standard tonight. It took three journalists, Bill Bond, Patrick Sawer and Charles Reiss to reveal that: "One of the Madrid bombing suspects is obsessed with David Beckham, it was revealed today. The England captain came face to face with Moroccan Mohammed Bekkali two weeks before the rushhour carnage. Bekkali, 31, who calls himself Bekks after his hero, waited outside Real Madrid's training ground and got the player to sign his birthday...
February 18, 2004
Congestion Charging one year on: "The sky did not fall on London's head"
Yesterday it was the first anniversary of the Congestion Charge arriving in London. The Evening Standard published a news piece that quoted the Mayor's research that the first 11 months Congestion Charging have: Cut delays by 30 per cent Reduced the number of cars entering the zone by 30 per cent Slashed [the Evening Standard's word not mine] delays by 60 per cent on buses serving the zone Seen 110,000 a day pay the charge Resulted in only "some...
January 13, 2004
'New Fines War On Bus Lane Drivers' cries Evening Standard
Before the death of Harold Shipman knocked it off the front page for later editions, today's Evening Standard was leading with the headline "New Fines War On Bus Lane Drivers". The article, dubbed an exclusive, by the paper's Local Government Correspondent Ross Lydall, revealed that: Fine for drivers caught in London bus lanes have soared by almost 50 per cent in 12 months By which, judging from the figures quoted, I believe he means that the volume of fines...
December 2, 2003
Five Live Sporting Century vote in the Evening Standard
You may have guessed from my paucity of comment about it recently that I am no longer working on the search project within the BBC. I am currently producing / project managing a disparate group of products that I haven't felt comfortable writing about. Until now. One of the projects I have been working on - the Radio Five Live Sporting Century - made a full-page splash in the Evening Standard today as they managed to blow the embargo...
February 24, 2003
London Congestion Charge: "Thousands are fined by mistake" claims Evening Standard
"Thousands are fined by mistake" screamed the headlines and billboards of the London Evening Standard on Thursday 20th February. Fact. But let us have a look at what was in the actual front page story: Thousands of motorists may have been wrongly sent congestion charge fines because of flaws with the scheme's spy vans Oh, I thought the headline said "Thousands are fined by mistake", not that thousands of motorists "may have been wrongly sent" Congestion Charge fines. And...
February 23, 2003
Contact the Evening Standard about the London Congestion Charge
The Evening Standard, London's evening newspaper, has provided an email address, charging@standard.co.uk to contact them about Londons congestion charge. I suggest you email them with your positive experiences, like I have done. Dear Editor, Thank you for your in-depth coverage of the introduction of the London Congestion Charge over the last week, and I am delighted that you have provided an opportunity for the people of London to write and explain their experiences of the Congestion Charge. I work...
February 13, 2003
London Evening Standard reaction to Congestion Charging - a prediction
Congestion Charging starts in London on Monday. It is the most ambitious congestion charging scheme in a capital city in Europe. I cannot wait I work in central London, at the junction between Kingsway and High Holborn. I cross that junction as a pedestrian every day. It is a box junction. I know rule 150 of the UK Highway code. I understand that a box junction means that you do not cross until your way is clear if you are...