The green energy entrepreneur and Labour donor Dale Vince is planning to launch a London-wide news operation, as part of a “rescue” of one of the capital’s most highly regarded local newspapers.
asserted
entrepreneur → plan → newspapers
Vince, who has vowed to take on what he sees as rightwing bias in the UK media, said he would invest “whatever it takes” to support the loss-making group behind the Camden New Journal (CNJ), Islington Tribune and Westminster Extra.
asserted
it → vow → Journal
He told the Guardian
asserted
He → tell → ?
he was already looking at expanding the Westminster edition to cover London-wide issues, in an attempt to serve a city in which a series of major newsrooms have closed or drastically shrunk over the past 20 years.
asserted
series → look → years
“We’re going to go forward together to put the CNJ on a better financial footing and take it digital – properly digital,” he said.
asserted
he → go → it
“At the same time, [we will] get behind the Westminster edition and make that an edition for the wider London area.
asserted
that → get → area
“I think London is missing a local paper now, with the demise of a couple that have gone before.
asserted
that → think → couple
It’s quite a bold plan, that we might morph the Westminster edition.
uncertain
we → ’ → edition
“We might call it the north, south, east and Westminster edition, in a kind of nod to our intended larger audience.”
Vince’s rescue package for the titles, which has not been formally finalised, is one of several attempts being made to revitalise local journalism in London.
uncertain
which → call → London
Despite its 9m population, media outlets have struggled to support large London-focused newsrooms.
asserted
outlets → struggle → newsrooms
The Evening Standard, which has been published for almost 200 years, shut down its daily newspaper in 2024.
asserted
which → publish → 2024
It was replaced with a weekly edition renamed the London Standard, with a greater focus on arts and culture.
asserted
It → replace → arts
Other attempts to run daily freesheets failed.
asserted
attempts → run → freesheets
The London Paper, launched by Rupert Murdoch’s News International, now News UK, closed in 2009 after just three years.
asserted
Paper → launch → years
Its rival, London Lite, published by the owner of the Daily Mail, closed later that year.
asserted
rival → publish → Mail
Meanwhile, Metro, a national freesheet distributed in UK cities including London, is undergoing major structural changes to put it on a “sustainable footing”.
asserted
Metro → distribute → footing
However, journalism focused on London has been boosted in recent years by the arrival of small, subscription-based operations.
asserted
journalism → focus → operations
Jim Waterson, a former Guardian journalist who founded the London Centric news site that now has more than 5,000 paying subscribers, said Vince had chosen to help a local group that had resisted “the disastrous choice in the 2010s to abandon quality for chasing clicks at all costs”.
asserted
that → found → costs
However, he said the success of his own “back-to-basics local journalism” outlet was still “only enough money to support a tiny operation that’s still run from a kitchen table”.
asserted
that → say → table
“Vince has also realised that London is also one of the UK’s worst local news deserts,” Waterson said.
asserted
Waterson → realise → deserts
“The challenge that we all face is how to get the funding to grow our audience without becoming financially unsustainable.”
asserted
we → face → audience
While not large, the Camden New Journal group still employs 18 people, according to recent financial records.
uncertain
group → employ → records
It spent a chunk of its cash reserves in the last year.
asserted
It → spend → year
Vince said he was not supporting the Camden New Journal and its related titles “for business reasons”.
asserted
he → say → reasons
“I’m motivated by the impact of local journalism,” he said.
asserted
he → motivate → journalism
“I’m motivated by the bias of media in our country more broadly – the rightwing bias – and trying to do something about that.”
asserted
I → motivate → that
Vince has already launched an online publication, Babelfish.
asserted
Vince → launch → publication
He said he would consider writing comment pieces for the London titles, but would generally be a “hands-off” investor.
asserted
he → say → titles
“Big picture-wise, I’ve got a view of the world and how things should be, and the Camden people already fit within that,” he said.
asserted
he → get → that
“There’s no kind of culture clash and I write op-eds for all kinds of people already.
asserted
I → ’ → people
I would absolutely write op-eds for the Camden [New Journal], but it wouldn’t be a requirement.”
asserted
it → write → Journal
The Aporia
