New flavour from Maxwell's House
Alan Garth
Despite his own absence from the AFN conference, Cap'n Bob's men intimated plans for frees in six more major cities. Because of entrenched competition, this may be tougher to pull off than his Glaswegian success. Also cities are complex and fragmented places for a massive-circulation freesheet to serve. But lack of commitment by paid publishers to the frees they now largely control could create the sort of gaps a Maxwell might exploit. The pursuit of 'quality' may in future mean excluding those who don't want a free from the distribution process.
Understanding...