How Broadsheet founder Nick Shelton is bringing his Australian city-guide formula to London
After building Broadsheet into Australia’s go-to city guide, Nick Shelton turns his focus back to London – where a new generation of independent publishers is reimagining how the capital is covered and celebrated.
Like many Australians, Nick Shelton worked as a barista in London in his early twenties and found the UK capital to be “a dynamic, cosmopolitan metropolis”. In 2009, after returning to his home country, he founded the city-guide company Broadsheet. It initially focused on highlighting what to eat, see and do in Melbourne, then expanded to Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and, in 2022, New Zealand. Now, Shelton is back in London and bringing his discerning eye to the city that sparked that sense of possibility.
“We focus on reportage and questioning why something is worth knowing about,” says Shelton. “It’s not about churning out bits of ‘news’.” He also believes in print, which is “where we can control who we are as a brand and as a publisher”. Broadsheet London’s first paper edition is out now, available for free in cafés, hotels and other businesses.
Broadsheet isn’t the only organisation newly attempting to document London. In the past year, several digital newsletters have appeared, including London Centric, which is among the UK’s top local news products in terms of subscribers. The site, which began as a one-man operation run by former Guardian media editor Jim Waterson, has 30,000 subscribers, 3,500 of whom pay a monthly fee for exclusive investigations, event invites and access to the editor.
It relies on shoe-leather journalism: being out and about and talking to people. “This is a brilliant city,” says Waterson. “That’s the voice I want London Centric to have – laughing at the preposterous nature of the city, rather than despairing that it’s beyond saving.”
Five outlets reporting reputably on London:
1.
Broadsheet
Aussie Nick Shelton’s new launch covers hospitality and leisure.
2.
London Centric
Ex-Guardian journalist Jim Waterson’s deep-dive newsletter publishes agenda-setting investigations.
3.
The Londoner
Manchester-based Mill Media moved south to start this promising capital-focused website.
4.
The Fence
A London-based magazine packed with satire, fiction and proper reporting on the capital.
5.
The Slice
News and culture across the borough of Tower Hamlets in east London, founded by Tabitha Stapely and dedicated to community journalism.
To read Monocle’s excellent city guide to London, tap here.
