The London Economic

The London Economic (TLE) is a digital newspaper that rose to prominence during the 2017 United Kingdom general election when it ran the most-shared political story on social media.[2] While it focuses on UK political affairs, it also has Business, Economics, Food, Sport, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Travel and Property pages.[3]

The London Economic
Type of site
News & Media Outlet
OwnerGreencastle Capital Limited (Linton Capital)
EditorJack Peat
URLwww.thelondoneconomic.com
Alexa rank5,044 (UK 05/2018)[1]
Launched2012—2014
Current statusActive

History

The London Economic emerged from a political blog sharing platform created by Jack Peat in 2012.[4] It was developed through to 2014 into an alternative news website in an attempt to redress the "political power of the mainstream media", according to editor-in-chief Jack Peat.[5]

Its scepticism of the mainstream media has given it an alternative media tag, one shared by political blogs such as The Canary, Captain Ska and websites such as Novara Media.[6][5][6]

In June 2017, Peat joined Matt Turner of Evolve Politics, Stephen Glover of the Daily Mail, Aaron Bastani of Novara Media, Michael Heaver of Westmonster, Eve Pollard and David Yelland to discuss whether Britain's newspapers have lost their influence on British politics.[7]

Ownership

In April 2020, The London Economic was taken over by the venture capital firm, Greencastle Capital Limited [8], who now hold a controlling 51% stake in the outlet.[9]

Criticism

Following their takeover, The London Economic encountered criticism after it emerged that Greencastle Capital Limited's owner, David Sefton, has significant links to the fossil fuel industry.[10] Despite the takeover, The London Economic still advertise their organisation as “free independent journalism” and continue to ask their readers for donations and paid subscriptions.

Political standpoint

Speaking about The London Economic to student magazine Kettle Mag editor-in-chief Jack Peat said that "The (London Economic) was established to counter the fact that the mainstream press is run by a handful of powerful corporations" which he believes often have a strong right-wing bias. He added: "Regardless of their political sway it isn't healthy to have a national media run by just a few people. The advent of the internet and social media has liberated publishing and allowed us to loosen that grasp."[11]

The London Economic was generally supportive of Jeremy Corbyn, the last leader of the Labour Party, but has run editorials from anti-Corbyn politicians such as David Blunkett[12] and London Conservative Party councillors.[13]

The website took a pro-Remain standpoint on the 2016 EU referendum.[14]

It was broadly supportive of Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, signalling a move away from the left wing of the Labour Party.

Notable stories

The London Economic has published a number of stories which have been notable enough to be picked up by mainstream media outlets.

NHS capped expenditure process

Following the Conservative–DUP agreement The London Economic published capped expenditure proposals outlined by Health secretary Jeremy Hunt which were claimed to ration NHS services, lengthen waiting times and lead to a "postcode lottery for your healthcare".[15]

According to the article leaked by Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth to The London Economic NHS managers were instructed to “think the unthinkable” to find savings which could lead to "staff cuts, units shut and treatments rationed or restricted".[16]

Boris Island

Regarding failed plans submitted by Boris Johnson for an airport in the Thames Estuary The London Economic uncovered that it cost £3.2 million to submit the proposals even though the project was doomed from the start. The Freedom of Information Request was picked up by national media outlets in print.[17]

Adventure builder

The London Economic had its series of stories[18] on adventure builder Giant Robot Project picked up by mainstream media outlets. They followed Mantzel on his latest project in Panama, where Mantzel had purchased a private island and built a boat nicknamed The Shark Slicer.[19]

Readership

The London Economic proclaimed itself to predominately appeal to an audience of "young professionals predominately based in London".[20] and there are thoughts publications such as TLE may be more in tune with young people voting for the Labour Party than traditional newspapers.[6]

During June 2017, The London Economic achieved over 1.5 million page views.[21] Its global Alexa rank rose to under 70,000 during the summer 2017 peak before stabilising down between 100,000 and 140,000 over the next three quarters.[22] By comparison The Canary had a global Alexa rank which peaked at under 20,000 and did not rise above about 80,000 in the same period whilst Novara never achieved below 200,000.[23][24]

By 2020 its readership had grown to over 5 million page views with a global Alexa rank of 87,128.[22]

See also

References
  1. "thelondoneconomic.com Traffic Statistics". Alexa. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  2. Mayhew, Freddy (12 June 2017). "General election: Only five out of top 100 most-shared stories on social media were pro-Tory'". Press Gazette. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  3. "Official website". The London Economic. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  4. "About us". TLE. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  5. Walker, James (12 June 2017). "Alternative news website The London Economic sees traffic boom with pro-Corbyn coverage'". Press Gazette. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  6. Martinson, Jane (12 June 2017). "A question for a dystopian age: what counts as fake news?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  7. Rajan, Amol (14 June 2017). "Fleet Street's influence on British politics". BBC Radio 4 (Interview). Interviewed by Amol Rajan. London.
  8. "New Management Contract". London Stock Exchange. 14 April 2020.
  9. "Filing History". Companies House. 15 June 2020.
  10. "The London Economic has been taken over by a Venture Capital firm with direct links to the Fossil Fuel industry". Evolve Politics. 20 July 2020.
  11. Ridgway, Cameron (9 July 2017). "The London Economic: an alternative news site?". Kettlemag.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  12. "David Blunkett exclusive: What Labour needs to do to win a majority in parliament". The London Economic. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  13. "Britain's political talent drain should be a concern for us all". The London Economic. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  14. "We've Legitimised Europe's Right Wing Underbelly". The London Economic. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  15. "As Northern Ireland is handed £1bn by Theresa May, Jeremy Hunt is sneaking in a fresh round of brutal NHS cuts". The Independent. London. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  16. "Why we all need to know about the Tories' "scandalous" leaked NHS plans – Shadow Health Secretary". The London Economic. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  17. "EXCLUSIVE: Multi-million pound Boris Island plans sink". The London Economic. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  18. "How to Escape America". The London Economic. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  19. "Inventor known for building giant spider robots creates solar-powered fibreglass boat". The Mirror. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  20. "TLE Media Pack" (PDF). TLE. August 2014. Overview. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 February 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  21. "The London Economic". similarweb.com. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  22. "thelondoneconomic.com Traffic Statistics". Alexa. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  23. "thecanary.co Traffic Statistics". Alexa. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  24. "novaramedia.com Traffic Statistics". Alexa. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
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