Nuts: Sun pictures like these could be withheld
Nuts and Zoo Weekly could face an uphill struggle getting celebrity pictures from the national tabloids who see them as direct competition, writes Ruth Addicott.
The Sun and News of the World are understood to have told staff not to co-operate with the launches over pictures.
Related
The £8m men’s weeklies from IPC and Emap are due on news-stands later this month. Both are hoping to attract readers from the tabloids.
Pictures of Jordan, Britney Spears and Pamela Anderson, who have been cited as ideal cover stars for Nuts and Zoo, would also be out if they had deals with the tabloids first.
A source said: “It is going to hit them hard as The Sun and the News of The World are closest to their territory. It will really cut into their access to the paparazzi.”
Content from our partners
The first issue of Nuts was unveiled this week with 1.2 million copies handed out free ahead of its news-stand launch on 22 January.
News International said there was no “across the board” policy, but that The Sun and NoW would not provide pictures if they felt threatened by direct competition.
Nuts has pictures syndicated from NI in its first issue, but could find it increasingly difficult to obtain shots if sales show it taking readers from The Sun, insiders say.
A NI spokeswoman said: “Our syndication department deals with each request on a case-by-case basis and they’ll take into account any individual issues. We don’t automatically say yes to each request. We will look at each request on an individual basis and the circumstances around it.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
