Iconic London Paper Goes Free After 182 Years

The Evening Standard, London's 182-year-old afternoon newspaper, will become a freesheet later this month in an attempt to pump up the struggling title's circulation. The Standard, purchased by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev last year for the fire-sale price of one pound, loses $16 million a year and may fire staff to stay afloat. The move to free distribution comes after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. closed its own London freesheet, citing unsustainable costs.
(More Evening Standard stories.)