Satire sites to relaunch

Cult satire sites TheFridayThing.co.uk and site LondonbyLondon.co.uk will be relaunching in the next three weeks, following the return of co-founder Paul Carr.

Mr Carr had been working on London News Review, a print version of TheFridayThing.co.uk.

"I'm not really coming back to the web, but protecting the original direction of the web publication," he told dotJournalism.

"It's an opportunity to do all the things I've always wanted to do on the site."

TheFridayThing.co.uk was launched three years ago and has built up a loyal readership to its weekly email publication. LondonbyLondon.co.uk was introduced 10 months ago to provide more specialised news for Londoners.

Both sites are being completely redesigned to include a full archive and more daily content.

The publishers launched London News Review magazine earlier this year, but conditions imposed by new investors mean that the London News Review will separate from the two websites.

Working on the print publication was quite restrictive compared with the web publication, said Mr Carr.

"We found we needed to explain more things in print. On the web we wouldn’t need to explain Watergate, for example - we could just link to an explanation."

Unusually, both sites are funded entirely by subscriptions and do not take display advertising. Unlike news stories, jokes and opinion on TheFridayThing.co.uk are unique, said Mr Carr, which is why readers have been happy to pay for subscriptions to the site’s weekly email.

"We've been very lucky. People get very evangelical about it. They don’t just think it’s good - they think it’s the best thing in the world."

See also:
http://www.thefridaything.co.uk
http://www.londonbylondon.co.uk
http://www.lnreview.co.uk

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