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The Lloyd's List is a daily business newspaper specialized in maritime trade and its exception lies in the fact that it was the only newspaper in the world, printed on paper, to be still published. Printed continuously since 1734, it has switched to a fully digital edition. For the daily newspaper it is a new life that begins, it was already very active on the web and has smartphones or tablets applications. The paper edition disappeared completely on December 20th.
From coffee to newsletter
At the end of the 17th century, Lloyd's was a simple London business cafe, established by Edward Lloyd's in the City Quarter. The clientele was composed of merchants and insurers and auctions of ships and goods were held there. On October 4, 1696, the first issue of the Lloyd's News this was a newsletter printed by Edward Lloyd to attract customers. One could read the news of the ships (shipwreck, war catchesâ?¦) and the announcement of the auctions. The specifications were: "This newsletter will be published on good paper, with enough margin for all gentlemen to write about their own business."
This information letter, nailed to the wall, did not resist very long but reappeared in 1732 under the name of Lloyd's List it is published every Tuesday at the beginning and then every other day. The information that one finds there is listed thanks to a kind of guestbook, installed in the café, where everyone can write the news of the sea that he knows. The French academician Pierre-Marc-Gaston Lévis testifies "Nothing obliges (those who write information in the book) to give proof of it, but the custom has prevailed of inserting only certain things. Also this register has such a character of authenticity, that the English newspapers and even some others, give extracts from it under the name of Lloyd's List."
In the heart of the café, the "Lloyd's Society" where one enters by cooptation (6 sponsors). It obtains its information by posting in each port and in each big city of the correspondents. In addition, she subscribes to "all the newspapers that are printed in the universe" as evidenced by the London Stock Exchange in the magazine Le Magasin pittoresque in 1837.
That's how the Lloyd's List has always been, and still is, the first to relate the events of the sea: arrivals and departures of ships, bankruptcies, great commercial agreements, great auctionsâeuros¦
A shift to digital technology
Informa, publisher of the Lloyd's List explains that the switch to digital was thought through and studied for several months. A customer survey was conducted in June and 97% of readers indicated that they preferred to read business information online. 2% of readers continued to do so on paper. So the choice was quickly made. It is by no means to improve its financial situation that the magazine has opted for digital, as it has 16,000 subscribers with an annual subscription fee of £1,800 or 2,100 euros.
