Where News Shopper boldly goes, others follow.

Even titles as esteemed as New York’s Time Out have taken a while to catch on to Shopper’s wisdom.

Fifty years after News Shopper became London’s first free newspaper, the NY edition of Time Out has switched to free distribution.

It's all a 'very cool coincidence' for one of their senior journalists, Sophie Harris, who hails from south east London and fondly remembers reading Shopper.

Sophie is senior associate digital content editor at the major mag but grew up in London and attended John Ball Primary School in Blackheath and James Allen’s Girls’ School in Dulwich.

She said: “Since I was a little kid I've always been in love with pop music, so I get such a thrill being able to write and broadcast about it today.

“I realised in 2008 that most of my favorite bands, writers and artists were from New York – as well as a bunch of friends I'd made through my work – so it made good sense for me to move here.

“Luckily for me, Time Out New York felt my knowledge of pop on both sides of the pond was a unique skill, so I came to work in NYC in 2009. I arrived here with two suitcases and a lot of excitement.”

Sophie said she was excited that Time Out New York had become a free magazine 50 years after News Shopper first published.

She said: “The fact that London is such a big city makes papers like the News Shopper completely essential.

“I grew up with a real sense of what was going on around me, and how South East London was contributing and affecting the city at large thanks to the News Shopper.

“What's so special to me today is that Time Out is now distributed free—a bold move which was first pioneered in 1965 when the News Shopper launched, exactly 50 years before Time Out New York went free.”