But Rupert Murdoch fails to make a big impression on Chiswick newsagent

Rupert Murdoch may be a giant in the world of newspaper publishing but to the owners of Turnham Green Terrace's Jad's Newsagent he was just another 'a polite, elderly gentleman.'

The media mogul was in Chiswick visiting a number of newsagents that sold his News International titles hearing first hand of the issues caused by the change over in distribution services.

Daxa Solanki, who has run the shop with her husband for the past 20 years, said she assumed that the smartly dressed man asking her a lot of questions of was a sales representative from the newspaper group.

It was only when a customer asked if she knew who had just been in her shop that she discovered it was Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch apparently wanted to see for himself what the newspaper world looked like from a newsagents' viewpoint and visited several shops in West London speaking to the people behind the counter.

Although there were teething problems when News International took over the distribution of their titles, Mrs Solanki said things 'are fine now' but that there had been a decline in customers coming into the shop since the Evening Standard became a free title. The paper, which is an Associated News title, is now only available at Turnham Green Tube station.

December 17, 2009