London's Evening Standard axes daily print edition(bbc.com)
bbc.com
London's Evening Standard axes daily print edition
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyrr0yex40yo
50 comments
What's more, Evgeny Lebedev sits in the House of Lords. Despite the sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, Britain is still lousy with Russian oligarchs with a worrying amount of influence.
Seems a little unfair? Wikipedia indicates he’s lived in the UK since he was 8, and obtained citizenship in 2010.
There’s probably a case to be made for not allowing any Lords or MPs unless they are British by birth rather than naturalisation or descent.
There’s probably a case to be made for not allowing any Lords or MPs unless they are British by birth rather than naturalisation or descent.
Well, he didn't buy the Evening Standard on his own, but together with his father. The Independent was bought by his father, who then appointed Evgeny as chairman.
It's Alexander who is the main concern really, but it doesn't seem so easy to separate Alexander from Evgeny.
Also someone who just happens to be rich because daddy is perhaps not worth of a peerage, and not entirely how the system is supposed to work. Unless he actually did anything special, which I don't think he did.
It's Alexander who is the main concern really, but it doesn't seem so easy to separate Alexander from Evgeny.
Also someone who just happens to be rich because daddy is perhaps not worth of a peerage, and not entirely how the system is supposed to work. Unless he actually did anything special, which I don't think he did.
> not entirely how the system is supposed to work
Are you sure? I think that’s exactly how it’s supposed to work and is how it’s always worked.
Are you sure? I think that’s exactly how it’s supposed to work and is how it’s always worked.
You are getting down voted unfairly I think, the selling of peerages has been a problem for over 100 years [1], it would be entirely reasonable to conclude that this is exactly how the system works.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Gregory
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Gregory
It’s bad enough that they are sold, but the people they are sold to seem like caricatures of the non-ideal candidate.
Quite how the House of Lords persists in a ‘democracy’ is troubling enough on its own.
Quite how the House of Lords persists in a ‘democracy’ is troubling enough on its own.
That case would be wild, since you don't even need to be a _British_ citizen to be an MP - Ireland or any Commonwealth nation will also do.
You don’t even have to live in the UK
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-party-...
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-party-...
My layman understanding is that Russians own a lot of UK, largely financed by revenues from oil and other natural resources.
That’s Lord Lebedev to you. Almost unbelievably he was given a peerage by Boris Johnson.
It was a big story in the UK for a while, Johnson also attended a party at Lebedev’s villa in Italy after a NATO conference.
It was a big story in the UK for a while, Johnson also attended a party at Lebedev’s villa in Italy after a NATO conference.
I think you mean Baron Lebedev, of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and of Siberia in the Russian Federation.
Monarchy is ridiculous, lol. Lets keep giving these people validation like this.
Monarchy is ridiculous, lol. Lets keep giving these people validation like this.
Taking money for symbolic titles seems good (for Britain). Gets money out of their hands into British hands.
Actually handing out power is more questionable, but I'm not sure whether Britain is worse or better than other countries in this regard.
Eg in Germany or the US you can also get some influence for money, you just won't get a fancy noble title with it.
Actually handing out power is more questionable, but I'm not sure whether Britain is worse or better than other countries in this regard.
Eg in Germany or the US you can also get some influence for money, you just won't get a fancy noble title with it.
He got his peerage nomination whilst Dominic Cummings was Johnson's advisor. I am not sure if the fact that Cummings lived in Russia from his graduation till 1997 has had any bearing on this nomination.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings
As far as I'm aware, he's never participated in a Lord's debate, nor voted on a motion.
So a Russian national was given a peerage by a PM named Boris? That's not sus...
We allow shell companies with unknown owners to own anything. At least this guy is a known quantity
Lebedev is known opositor of Putin. So, it doesn't matter if he is a corrupt oligarch, we put him on the good guys column.
Bit of a deeper dive gives a very different picture..
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/15/lebedev-the-kgb-spy-who-h...
> Britain’s spies were not worried too much about the boy, Evgeny, a seemingly self-obsessed featherweight who once, while freelancing for the BBC, asked Alexander Lukashenko, the strongman of Belarus, what he thought about group sex. Their anxiety focussed on the father, a once and maybe current KGB/FSB actor, who helped put Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. All of Evgeny’s money flows from this single fact, that Putin was grateful to his father for his service as a spy and he was rewarded handsomely for it. And Alexander Lebedev still owes fealty to the master of the Kremlin.
> On the face of it, Alexander Lebedev looks like a model anti-Putin oligarch. He’s big mates with Mikhail Gorbachev with whom he part-owned the now closed Novaya Gazeta, the last good newspaper in Russia. He’s a liberal, or poses as such, and, like his son, he’s thick with the luvvies: friends with Kevin Spacey, John Malkovich, Sir Elton John, Ralph Fiennes who plays M in the Bond movies and Hugh Grant.
> No wonder Boris Johnson ignored warnings from MI6 that the Lebedevs were to be avoided. But look into Alexander Lebedev’s past and the story gets dark, very quickly.
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/15/lebedev-the-kgb-spy-who-h...
> Britain’s spies were not worried too much about the boy, Evgeny, a seemingly self-obsessed featherweight who once, while freelancing for the BBC, asked Alexander Lukashenko, the strongman of Belarus, what he thought about group sex. Their anxiety focussed on the father, a once and maybe current KGB/FSB actor, who helped put Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. All of Evgeny’s money flows from this single fact, that Putin was grateful to his father for his service as a spy and he was rewarded handsomely for it. And Alexander Lebedev still owes fealty to the master of the Kremlin.
> On the face of it, Alexander Lebedev looks like a model anti-Putin oligarch. He’s big mates with Mikhail Gorbachev with whom he part-owned the now closed Novaya Gazeta, the last good newspaper in Russia. He’s a liberal, or poses as such, and, like his son, he’s thick with the luvvies: friends with Kevin Spacey, John Malkovich, Sir Elton John, Ralph Fiennes who plays M in the Bond movies and Hugh Grant.
> No wonder Boris Johnson ignored warnings from MI6 that the Lebedevs were to be avoided. But look into Alexander Lebedev’s past and the story gets dark, very quickly.
Look at the bio of his advisor and your jaw drops fast and hard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings
I haven’t read the Evening Standard, but last year I subscribed to a daily paper delivery of a different one (the Financial Times).
My thoughts on the content are mixed but generally positive, but for the actual delivery of a daily physical newspaper to my mailbox thing, I really enjoy it. There is something much more real about it as compared to scrolling through endless news articles online or going through yet another email newsletter. If I’m in public at a cafe/on the subway etc. I also feel more present and focused vs. using my phone.
I actually think there may be a revival of print media, especially as the Internet gets increasingly crowded and filled with ads. The newspaper has ads of course but they are considerably less distracting. It will likely be more of a niche high quality product, though.
My thoughts on the content are mixed but generally positive, but for the actual delivery of a daily physical newspaper to my mailbox thing, I really enjoy it. There is something much more real about it as compared to scrolling through endless news articles online or going through yet another email newsletter. If I’m in public at a cafe/on the subway etc. I also feel more present and focused vs. using my phone.
I actually think there may be a revival of print media, especially as the Internet gets increasingly crowded and filled with ads. The newspaper has ads of course but they are considerably less distracting. It will likely be more of a niche high quality product, though.
Niche print zines and magazines seem to be surviving. Not sure about newspapers. They literally could not give Evening Standard away for free (it was paid for by advertising).
The Financial Times seems to be doing well. But it’s a premium product for an audience with money.
I think they are probably a good model for future newspapers, whereas the evening standard seems to be a general newspaper without much to distinguish it from the competition.
I think they are probably a good model for future newspapers, whereas the evening standard seems to be a general newspaper without much to distinguish it from the competition.
I never understood the newspaper format. Seems like a paperback would be a better format though I guess that would be a magazine.
They are a great shield from the rest of the people on the Tube. I think of them as portable private spaces for crowded environments. Oh, and you can read them. Also great for wrapping fish and chips in.
> I think of them as portable private spaces for crowded environments.
I used to enjoy opening a broadsheet newspaper while standing on a crowded tube. Nearly as much fun as stabbing fellow commuters with a brolly.
> Also great for wrapping fish and chips in.
Didn't they regulate-away the heavy metals in printer's ink, at around the same time they regulated-away selling fish 'n chips in newspaper?
I used to enjoy opening a broadsheet newspaper while standing on a crowded tube. Nearly as much fun as stabbing fellow commuters with a brolly.
> Also great for wrapping fish and chips in.
Didn't they regulate-away the heavy metals in printer's ink, at around the same time they regulated-away selling fish 'n chips in newspaper?
That regulation was clearly wasted effort--newspapers disappeared once we got decent mobile internet and the fish now come stuffed with micro plastics. I long for the days when you could get some heavy metal with your chips.
> I never understood the newspaper format. Seems like a paperback would be a better format though I guess that would be a magazine.
Define "better." Newspapers don't need staples, and (at least historically) they could be very large and thick. The non-bound aspect allowed them to be easily split and shared between multiple people.
Define "better." Newspapers don't need staples, and (at least historically) they could be very large and thick. The non-bound aspect allowed them to be easily split and shared between multiple people.
The folding paper format itself is a little annoying, especially if it’s windy. I probably wouldn’t mind if they used the same paper but had it folded magazine-style, but I suppose there is some historical tradition in not doing so.
Coupled with deleting my Twitter account, having a newspaper subscription has given me a much more mindful relationship with the news. It’s also just some space carved into my day, and as I’ve grown older I’ve realised how much I value these little physical rituals. I still suck at the cryptic crossword though.
Well, perhaps there will be a small revival, just as there has been with vinyl and film cameras, however compared to the "mainstream" these will likely be very small.
If anything, I think it's more likely that people will invest their news via new means especially AI platforms.
I use chatgpt's voice to hear the latest news instead of staring at a screen but it's clunky -
1. Waiting for the new voice so that we can speed up cadence and interrupt 2. I would prefer to talk to a news service directly with voice rather than relying on an ai platform to give me the news as I can't beg due the platform won't give me less trustworthy sources etc news corp
Ideally, I could log into Reuters or whatever site I want and talk with it about the news, and the same for anything (recipe sites, Reddit, whatever)
If anything, I think it's more likely that people will invest their news via new means especially AI platforms.
I use chatgpt's voice to hear the latest news instead of staring at a screen but it's clunky -
1. Waiting for the new voice so that we can speed up cadence and interrupt 2. I would prefer to talk to a news service directly with voice rather than relying on an ai platform to give me the news as I can't beg due the platform won't give me less trustworthy sources etc news corp
Ideally, I could log into Reuters or whatever site I want and talk with it about the news, and the same for anything (recipe sites, Reddit, whatever)
AI voice + video generation is a really cool (probably in a Marshall Mcluhan sense too) and natural extension of the 24/7 CNN type media/news distribution but amongst other things it lacks a major thing that the printed word has -- immutability.
A newspaper is distinct from the radio / nightly news / 24/7 news network type journalism and that key distinction is that once it's in your hands it's yours until you give it up. It's that piece of the past that you can hold in your hands to let you know that the things that you remember actually happened in the way they happened.
There's something magical about these artifacts, the ones you can hold in your hands, look at with your eyes, smell with your noses, and hear with your ears, it's a physical thing that exists irrespective of the whims of some tin-pot dictator. Possessing this kind of artifact gives the bearer some sort of power -- an ability to resist those tin-pot dictators -- and that's why certain kinds of people want to burn them or trick people into stuffing them into a memory hole.
I wonder what we lose forever if we don't have these sort of physical and immutable mediums for communicating ideas, and I hope we can find a way to maintain them. I acknowledge that it may not be feasible to do so on a large scale, but I hope that we can find a way to keep them alive in some local form.
A newspaper is distinct from the radio / nightly news / 24/7 news network type journalism and that key distinction is that once it's in your hands it's yours until you give it up. It's that piece of the past that you can hold in your hands to let you know that the things that you remember actually happened in the way they happened.
There's something magical about these artifacts, the ones you can hold in your hands, look at with your eyes, smell with your noses, and hear with your ears, it's a physical thing that exists irrespective of the whims of some tin-pot dictator. Possessing this kind of artifact gives the bearer some sort of power -- an ability to resist those tin-pot dictators -- and that's why certain kinds of people want to burn them or trick people into stuffing them into a memory hole.
I wonder what we lose forever if we don't have these sort of physical and immutable mediums for communicating ideas, and I hope we can find a way to maintain them. I acknowledge that it may not be feasible to do so on a large scale, but I hope that we can find a way to keep them alive in some local form.
It sounds like What you're after is good quality radio. radio 4's world at one is rather good, and have a nice mix.
The FT prototyped a way to make podcast/article reading interactive. The problem was that we didn't have an LLM to answer the question, so they were stuck on hacking alex's awful API.
The problem with wire services is that they tend to only have light detail. You need a different service for analysis/investigation. (this is different to opinion, which is really just cheap news replacement.)
The FT prototyped a way to make podcast/article reading interactive. The problem was that we didn't have an LLM to answer the question, so they were stuck on hacking alex's awful API.
The problem with wire services is that they tend to only have light detail. You need a different service for analysis/investigation. (this is different to opinion, which is really just cheap news replacement.)
If you are immersed in a culture outside of the UK, and check in on the current state of the BBC's reporting on it, you realise how poor it is. I am reminded of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmnes...
BBC Radio 4 is also sadly now a shadow of what it used to be.
BBC Radio 4 is also sadly now a shadow of what it used to be.
I'm not quite convinced of how bad it has got. If you listen to only one thing them yes, mistakes will happen.
However I'm fairly close to dutch culture, and the explaining of Gert Wilders wasn't that bad. The first hand reporting of "the youth" seemed to be reasonable from my point of view.
But perhaps thats because I don't use the BBC as my only source? I dunno.
However I'm fairly close to dutch culture, and the explaining of Gert Wilders wasn't that bad. The first hand reporting of "the youth" seemed to be reasonable from my point of view.
But perhaps thats because I don't use the BBC as my only source? I dunno.
That’s all true, but I do think there is a burgeoning “back to physical things” counterculture. It might take a decade or two to not be an obscure thing, but culture does work in cycles.
A couple of weeks ago I subscribed to a newspaper, and opted for print delivery. (delivered digital every day, of which 4 days are also print).
Wow, do I enjoy it, for all the reasons you mentioned. Just the act of folding the page means a natural break to look around, contributing to the "more present" feeling.
Plus, if I take a break from coding I get to stop looking at a screen. And it's a lot easier to recover where I was, since the text has a connection to a physical location.
My spouse also reads it, and sometimes writes commentary to share with me when I read it later.
Wow, do I enjoy it, for all the reasons you mentioned. Just the act of folding the page means a natural break to look around, contributing to the "more present" feeling.
Plus, if I take a break from coding I get to stop looking at a screen. And it's a lot easier to recover where I was, since the text has a connection to a physical location.
My spouse also reads it, and sometimes writes commentary to share with me when I read it later.
The Evening Standard was a newspaper that was available for free pickup at most London train/tube stations.
Many commuters picked up a copy to read on their journey home.
I don't think it was ever intended to compete with newspapers you paid to have delivered to your house.
Many commuters picked up a copy to read on their journey home.
I don't think it was ever intended to compete with newspapers you paid to have delivered to your house.
It wasn’t always free. It did originally compete with other newspapers.
Once Metro went free then it was inevitable the Standard would have to too. It seems even that model is not working for the Oligarch owner.
Once Metro went free then it was inevitable the Standard would have to too. It seems even that model is not working for the Oligarch owner.
It was “the London paper” and “London lite” that both launched in competition as evening papers which were free which killed the standard
Metro hastened the demise of the morning papers.
Metro hastened the demise of the morning papers.
If you are in the spying business, an online edition makes it easier than the print edition.
The truly great thing about online news is that nothing is stopping them from serving different demographics different, conflicting, news.
True, although you could always consider cutting a hole in your newspaper and spying through that. Seems to be a favourite of spies.
That's proper spycraft.
> The Lebedevs also bought the Independent in 2010, and scrapped that paper's print edition entirely six years later.
A Russian intelligence officer owning two major UK newspapers seems like a seriously undercovered story.