Murdoch bows out of "freesheet" newspaper war in London

International newspaper mogul Rupert Murdoch has shut down the London Paper, the "freesheet" evening paper that, since 2006, has been giving out over half a million copies a day on the streets of London. The paper, which a story in Forbes.com says has been in a brutal struggle for advertising support with the rival London Lite (owned by Associated Newspapers), posted a lost of £12.9 million ($21.3 million) loss for the year on a turnover of £14.1 million. Around 60 staffers are affected.

Earlier this month Murdoch said quality journalism doesn't come cheap and that he intends to charge for all his Web sites--which include those of Britain's The Times, Sunday Times and The Sun. "By closing the London Paper, Murdoch seems to be [underlining] the message that content produced in his newsrooms has value, but there is also the sensible business decision to close an operation with steep losses," said Douglas McCabe, a media analyst with Enders Media in London.

An article in The Independent reported:

In a rare and embarrassing admission of failure by the world's most famous media mogul, his son James Murdoch, News Corp's chairman and chief executive for Europe and Asia, declared the free-newspaper experiment, the subject of intense planning and major investment, had "fallen short of expectations".