I'm going to go all Private Eye for a minute, but with good reason.
Despite widespread condemnation from locals, Westfield, London's largest ever shopping centre opened today to crowds of thousands of eager shoppers. Mayor Boris Johnson cut the read tape at 10.30am and the shopathon commenced, leaving Bushites (Shepherds Bush locals, not supporters of the American president) looking on with concern at the future of the area.
thelondonpaper has been at the forefront of reporting progress of the centre and, it appears with good reason. Articles such as 'The ultimate shopping experience at Westfield' seemed a little biased. A couple of vox-pop-based articles early this week hinted at balance, although it seemed a bit forced and now all is revealed why.
Todays front page reads something more like a Westfield press release. The Australian retail groups logo is splashed across it with 'OPEN TODAY!' underneath. Hmmm....Skip to the back page and guess what you have...yep, a full page Westfield London ad.
Now, I'm not naive enough to think editors and publishers aren't involved in this kind of cash-for-promotion, and as a News International paper this kind of contention is even more common-place, but it does seem a bit rich that a paper that has the balls to claim it is The London Paper should at least aim to highlight both sides of the argument, particularly the Londoner's side.
Despite widespread condemnation from locals, Westfield, London's largest ever shopping centre opened today to crowds of thousands of eager shoppers. Mayor Boris Johnson cut the read tape at 10.30am and the shopathon commenced, leaving Bushites (Shepherds Bush locals, not supporters of the American president) looking on with concern at the future of the area.
thelondonpaper has been at the forefront of reporting progress of the centre and, it appears with good reason. Articles such as 'The ultimate shopping experience at Westfield' seemed a little biased. A couple of vox-pop-based articles early this week hinted at balance, although it seemed a bit forced and now all is revealed why.
Todays front page reads something more like a Westfield press release. The Australian retail groups logo is splashed across it with 'OPEN TODAY!' underneath. Hmmm....Skip to the back page and guess what you have...yep, a full page Westfield London ad.
Now, I'm not naive enough to think editors and publishers aren't involved in this kind of cash-for-promotion, and as a News International paper this kind of contention is even more common-place, but it does seem a bit rich that a paper that has the balls to claim it is The London Paper should at least aim to highlight both sides of the argument, particularly the Londoner's side.
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