City A.M.
 A City A.M. front page from May 2012 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Freesheet |
| Owner(s) | City A.M. Limited |
| Editor | Allister Heath |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Political alignment | Classical liberalism/Conservative |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 4th Floor, 33 Queen Street, London EC4R 1BR |
| Circulation | 132,076 (July 2012) |
| Website | http://www.cityam.com |
City A.M. is a free, business-focused newspaper distributed in and around London, England. Its certified distribution was 132,076 copies a day in May 2012, according to statistics compiled by the ABC.
History
City A.M. was launched in September 2005 and operates as an independent media company. The newspaper’s editor is Allister Heath, who joined in February 2008. He was previously the editor of The Business (magazine), a weekly magazine which closed in February 2008.
City A.M.’s deputy editor is David Hellier, formerly of the Independent and the Daily and Sunday Express. The paper employs an editorial team of 27 across its four daily sections – news, business features and investment, lifestyle and sport. Its pagination averages around 40 tabloid full-colour pages a day.
City A.M.’s launch editor was former Sunday Times and Sunday Express journalist David Parsley.
Content
The news section is primarily made up of corporate, financial and economic stories, as well as political and regulatory stories relevant to its readership. The paper regularly runs interviews of business leaders. The news pages also contain a variety of corporate and economic comment. The business features section is primarily dominated by investment, trading and wealth management pieces but also includes a range of articles on other business topics. The lifestyle pages cover a vast range of subject matters, including travel, restaurant reviews, food, fashion, technology, books, arts, entertainment, motoring and property. The sport section reports and comments on all the major events and games, with a bias towards sports of interest to London-based professionals.
The paper’s philosophy is broadly supportive of the free-market economy, of capitalism, of private enterprise and of the City of London and those who work in it. It endorsed the Conservative Party at the 2010 UK general election but has been critical of several of the coalition’s policies since. Allister Heath has argued that London and the south-east should be entitled to a greater rebate of UK tax revenue and has approved of the principle of London's becoming an independent city state.[1] He also proposes an ultra-conservative tax policy abolishing all personal and corporation taxes and introducing a single income tax rate of 30% on personal earnings, dividend, rent and interest.[2] Heath's stance reflects the paper's classic liberal / libertarian philosophy, with a focus on capitalism and market forces as the drivers of economic and social progress.
The paper's front page is dominated by a large capitalised banner headline more reminiscent of a traditional UK popular newspaper. The rest of the news stories, as well as the commentary and features, come in bite-sized chunks, in a modern compact-style format illustrated with images, bullet points and diagrams.
Distribution
The newspaper is published in print Monday to Friday and is distributed in London and the Home Counties via uniformed hand-distributors and unmanned racks. It is typically available from around 6am at London commuter stations and is handed out at key points in the City, Canary Wharf and other central London locations. The paper is also delivered to the offices of some large companies.
There are now three principal free newspapers in London: Metro (which also distributes nationally), City A.M. in the morning and the London Evening Standard in the evening. City A.M. is aimed at private-sector workers, especially those in finance, professional and business services and corporations, and those who are interested in investing and personal finance.
City A.M. became profitable for the first time in 2010, according to audited figures provided to the UK’s Companies House. Most of its revenue comes from display advertising in its daily print operation but it is also building an events and web business. Pre-tax profits were £423,000 in the first six months of 2010, with operating profits of £546,000.
