"Independent on Sunday" redirects here. For similar names, seeSunday Independent."Independent newspaper" redirects here. The term may also refer to the form ofindependent media.
The Independent is a Britishonline newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed theIndy, it began as abroadsheet and changed totabloid format in 2003.[4] The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition.[5]
The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004British Press Awards.The Independent won the Brand of the Year Award in The Drum Awards for Online Media 2023.[6]
Launched in 1986, the first issue ofThe Independent was published on 7 October inbroadsheet format.[7][8] It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created byAndreas Whittam Smith,Stephen Glover andMatthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists atThe Daily Telegraph who had left the paper towards the end ofLord Hartwell's ownership.Marcus Sieff was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing, and Whittam Smith took control of the paper.[9]
The paper was created at a time of a fundamental change in British newspaper publishing.Rupert Murdoch was challenging long-accepted practices of the print unions and ultimately defeated them in theWapping dispute. Consequently, production costs could be reduced which created openings for more competition. As a result of controversy around Murdoch's move to Wapping, the plant was effectively having to function under siege from sacked print workers picketing outside.The Independent attracted some of the staff from the two Murdoch broadsheets who had chosen not to move to his company's new headquarters. Launched with the advertising slogan "It is. Are you?", and challenging bothThe Guardian for centre-left readers andThe Times as the newspaper of record,The Independent reached a circulation of more than 400,000 by 1989.[citation needed]
Competing in a moribund market,The Independent sparked a general freshening of newspaper design as well as, within a few years, a price war in the market sector.
WhenThe Independent launchedThe Independent on Sunday in 1990, sales were less than anticipated, partly due to the launch of theSunday Correspondent four months prior, although this direct rival closed at the end of November 1990. Some aspects of production merged with the main paper, although the Sunday paper retained a largely distinct editorial staff.
In the 1990s,The Independent was faced with price cutting by the Murdoch titles, and started an advertising campaign accusingThe Times andThe Daily Telegraph of reflecting the views of their proprietors, Rupert Murdoch andConrad Black. It featured spoofs of the other papers'mastheads with the wordsThe Rupert Murdoch orThe Conrad Black, withThe Independent below the main title.[citation needed]
Newspaper Publishing had financial problems. A number of other media companies were interested in the paper.Tony O'Reilly's media group andMirror Group Newspapers (MGN) had bought a stake of about a third each by mid-1994. In March 1995, Newspaper Publishing was restructured with a rights issue, splitting the shareholding into O'Reilly'sIndependent News & Media (43%),MGN (43%), andPrisa (publisher ofEl País) (12%).[10]
In April 1996, there was another refinancing, and in March 1998, O'Reilly bought the other shares of the company for £30 million, and assumed the company's debt. Brendan Hopkins headed Independent News,Andrew Marr was appointed editor ofThe Independent, andRosie Boycott became editor ofThe Independent on Sunday. Marr introduced a dramatic if short-lived redesign which won critical favor but was a commercial failure, partly as a result of a limited promotional budget. Marr admitted his changes had been a mistake in his book,My Trade.[11]
Boycott left in April 1998 to join theDaily Express, and Marr left in May 1998, later becoming theBBC's political editor.Simon Kelner was appointed as the editor. By this time, the circulation had fallen below 200,000. Independent News spent heavily to increase circulation, and the paper went through several redesigns. While circulation increased, it did not approach the level which had been achieved in 1989, or restore profitability. Job cuts and financial controls reduced the morale of journalists and the quality of the product.[12]
Ivan Fallon, on the board since 1995 and formerly a key figure atThe Sunday Times, replaced Hopkins as head of Independent News & Media in July 2002. By mid-2004, the newspaper was losing £5 million per year. A gradual improvement meant that by 2006, circulation was at a nine-year high.[12]
In November 2008, following further staff cuts, production was moved to Northcliffe House, in Kensington High Street, the headquarters ofAssociated Newspapers.[13] The two newspaper groups' editorial, management and commercial operations remained separate, but they shared services including security, information technology, switchboard and payroll.[citation needed]
On 25 March 2010, Independent News & Media sold the newspaper to a new company owned by the family ofRussian oligarchAlexander Lebedev for a nominal £1 fee and £9.25 million over the next 10 months, choosing this option over closingThe Independent andThe Independent on Sunday, which would have cost £28 million and £40 million respectively, due to long-term contracts. Alexander's son Evgeny became chairman of the new company, with Alexander becoming a board director.[14][15] In 2009, Lebedev had bought a controlling stake in theLondon Evening Standard. Two weeks later, editorRoger Alton resigned.[16]
In July 2011,The Independent's columnistJohann Hari was stripped of theOrwell Prize he had won in 2008 after claims, to which Hari later admitted,[17] of plagiarism and inaccuracy.[18] In January 2012,Chris Blackhurst, editor ofThe Independent, told theLeveson inquiry that the scandal had "severely damaged" the newspaper's reputation. He nevertheless told the inquiry that Hari would return as a columnist in "four to five weeks".[19] Hari later announced that he would not return toThe Independent.[20]Jonathan Foreman contrastedThe Independent's reaction to the scandal unfavorably with the reaction of American newspapers to similar incidents such as theJayson Blair case, which led to resignations of editors, "deep soul-searching", and "new standards of exactitude being imposed".[21] The historianGuy Walters suggested that Hari's fabrications had been an open secret among the newspaper's staff and that their internal inquiry was a "facesaving exercise".[22]
The Independent andThe Independent on Sunday endorsed "Remain" in theBrexit referendum[23] of 2016.
In March 2016,The Independent closed its print edition to become apure play digital media company. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016.The Independent on Sunday published its last edition on 20 March 2016 and was closed.[8][24]
Geordie Greig was appointedThe Independent's Editor-in-Chief in January 2023. He oversaw a period of editorial investment.[26]
Later that year, Chief Executive of IDNML Zach Leonard moved to the United States as Global COO and President (North America),[27] and former Editor Christian Broughton was appointed Chief Executive. Louise Thomas was appointed US Editor in March 2024.[28]
In 2019,The Independent entered a long-term partnership with the Saudi Research & Media Group, who operate under license theIndependent Arabia,Independent Turkish,Independent Persian andIndependent Urdu language editions.[29][30] In September 2020,The Independent launchedIndependent en Español, a wholly owned and operated Spanish language edition.
The Independent began publishing as abroadsheet, in a series of celebrated designs. The final version was designed by Carroll, Dempsey and Thirkell following a commission byNicholas Garland who, along withAlexander Chancellor, was unhappy with designs produced byRaymond Hawkey and Michael McGuiness – on seeing the proposed designs, Chancellor had said "I thought we were joining a serious paper". The first edition was designed and implemented by Michael Crozier, who was Executive Editor, Design and Picture, from pre-launch in 1986 to 1994.[31]
From September 2003, the paper was produced in both broadsheet and tabloid-sized versions, with the same content in each. The tabloid edition was termed "compact" to distance itself from the more sensationalist reporting style usually associated with "tabloid" newspapers in the UK,[32] preferring to remain focused on hard news (similarly to the tabloid-size edition ofThe Times.)[33] After launching in theLondon area and then inNorth West England,[34] the smaller format appeared gradually throughout the UK. Soon afterwards, Rupert Murdoch'sTimes followed suit, introducing its own tabloid-sized version.[35] Prior to these changes,The Independent had a daily circulation of around 217,500,[citation needed] the lowest of any major national British daily, a figure that climbed by 15% as of March 2004 (to 250,000).[citation needed] Throughout much of 2006, circulation stagnated at a quarter of a million. On 14 May 2004,The Independent produced its last weekday broadsheet, having stopped producing a Saturday broadsheet edition in January.[citation needed]The Independent on Sunday published its last simultaneous broadsheet on 9 October 2005, and thereafter followed a compact design until the print edition was discontinued.[citation needed]
On 12 April 2005,The Independent redesigned its layout to a more European feel, similar to France'sLibération. The redesign was carried out by a Barcelona-based design studio. The weekday second section was subsumed within the main paper, double-page feature articles became common in the main news sections, and there were revisions to the front and back covers.[36] A new second section, "Extra", was introduced on 25 April 2006. It is similar toThe Guardian's "G2" andThe Times's "Times2", containing features, reportage and games, includingsudoku. In June 2007,The Independent on Sunday consolidated its content into a news section which included sports and business, and a magazine focusing on life and culture.[37] On 23 September 2008, the main newspaper became full-color, and "Extra" was replaced by an "Independent Life Supplement" focusing on different themes each day.[38]
Three weeks after the acquisition of the paper byAlexander Lebedev andEvgeny Lebedev in 2010, the paper was relaunched with another redesign on 20 April. The new format featured smaller headlines and a new pullout "Viewspaper" section, which contained the paper's comment and feature articles.[39]
Following the 2003 switch in format,The Independent became known for its unorthodox and campaigning front pages, which frequently relied on images, graphics or lists rather than traditional headlines and written news content. For example, following the Kashmir earthquake in 2005, it used its front page to urge its readers to donate to its appeal fund, and following the publication of theHutton Report into the death of British government scientistDavid Kelly, its front page simply carried the word "Whitewash?"[40] In 2003, the paper's editor, Simon Kelner, was named "Editor of the Year" at theWhat the Papers Say awards, partly in recognition of, according to the judges, his "often arresting and imaginative front-page designs".[41] In 2008, as he was stepping down as editor, he stated that it was possible to "overdo the formula" and that the style of the paper's front pages perhaps needed "reinvention".[42]
Under the subsequent editorship ofChris Blackhurst, the campaigning, poster-style front pages were scaled back in favor of more conventional news stories.[43]
The weekday, Saturday and Sunday editions ofThe Independent all included supplements and pull-out subsections:
Daily (Monday to Friday)The Independent:
"Monday Sport": A weekly pull-out containing reports of the previous weekend's sporting events.
Saturday'sThe Independent:
"Saturday Sport": A weekly pull-out containing reports looking ahead to the weekend's sporting events.
"Radar": A compact, primarilylistings magazine, including television schedules, film and DVD reviews and events listings for the coming week. It also includes a round-up of the "50 best" items in a particular category. For example, over the Christmas period there are weekly supplements of "Gifts for him" and "Gifts for her".
"Traveller": Contains travel articles and advertisements.
"The Independent Magazine": A features magazine including sections on food, interiors and fashion.
The Independent on Sunday:
"Sport": A weekly pull-out containing reports of Saturday's sporting events.
"The New Review": A features magazine.
"Arts & Books": A culture supplement.
"Rainbow List" An annually-updated list, first published in 2000, then as the "Pink List", of the most famous and influential people who have declared themselves lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.[44][45]
The Independent's original website launched in 1996.
On 23 January 2008,The Independent relaunched its online edition.[46][47] The relaunched site introduced a new look, better access to the blog service, priority on image and video content, and additional areas of the site including art, architecture, fashion, gadgets and health. The paper launchedpodcast programmes such as "The Independent Music Radio Show", "The Independent Travel Guides", "The Independent Sailing Podcasts", and "The Independent Video Travel Guides".
From 2009, the website started carrying short video news bulletins provided by theAl Jazeera English news channel.[48] Over the years this developed to the point that the website regularly featured video content in its news reports. Some of this was syndicated and sourced from other news channels and providers, butThe Independent gradually increased numbers in its own video team. In addition to putting together short-form video news reports, the website soon began producing its own video and podcast series, including explainers, short documentary ‘on the ground' style reports, and lifestyle and culture videos, including since 2017 the award-nominated series Millennial Love, later rebranded Love Lives.[citation needed]
In 2014,The Independent launched a sister website,i100, a "shareable" journalism site with similarities toReddit andUpworthy.[49] It was rebranded in 2016 as Indy100.
In late 2020The Independent launched Independent TV, which saw the title's video offering provided on many formats including on the web browser, in the app, and on Smart TV.[50]
In March 2023The Independent releasedThe Body in the Woods, a feature-length documentary by its Chief International Correspondent, Bel Trew.[51]
The Independent is generally described ascentrist,[52]centre-left,[53][54]liberal,[3] andliberal-left.[55] When the paper was established in 1986, the founders intended its political stance to reflect the centre of the British political spectrum and thought that it would attract readers primarily fromThe Times andThe Daily Telegraph. It has been seen as leaning to the left-wing of the political spectrum, making it more a competitor toThe Guardian; however,The Independent tends to take a liberal, pro-market stance on economic issues.[56]TheIndependent on Sunday referred to itself as a "proudly liberal newspaper".[57]
The paper has highlighted what it refers to aswar crimes being committed by pro-government forces in theDarfur region of Sudan.[58]
The paper has been a strong supporter ofelectoral reform.[59] In 1997,The Independent on Sunday launched a campaign for the decriminalisation of cannabis. Ten years later, it reversed itself, arguing that skunk, the cannabis strain "smoked by the majority of young Britons" in 2007, had become "25 times stronger thanresin sold a decade ago".[60]
The paper's opinion on theBritish monarchy has sometimes been described asrepublican,[61] though it officially identifies as reformist, wishing for a reformed monarchy that "reflects the nation over which it reigns and which is accountable to the people for its activities".[62] Originally, it avoided royal stories, Whittam Smith later saying he thought the British press was "unduly besotted" with the Royal Family and that a newspaper could "manage without" stories about the monarchy.[63]
In 2007,Alan Rusbridger, editor ofThe Guardian, said ofThe Independent: "The emphasis on views, not news, means that the reporting is rather thin, and it loses impact on the front page the more you do that".[64] In a 12 June 2007 speech, British Prime MinisterTony Blair calledThe Independent a "viewspaper", saying it "was started as an antidote to the idea of journalism as views not news. That was why it was called the Independent. Today it is avowedly a viewspaper not merely a newspaper".[65]The Independent criticised Blair's comments the following day;[66][67] it later changed format to include a "Viewspaper" insert in the centre of the regular newspaper, designed to feature most of the opinion columns and arts reviews.
A leader published on the day of the2008 London mayoral election compared the candidates and said that, if the newspaper had a vote, it would vote first for theGreen Party candidate,Siân Berry, noting the similarity between her priorities and those ofThe Independent, and secondly, with "rather heavy heart", for the incumbent,Ken Livingstone.[68]
AnIpsos MORI poll estimated that in the2010 United Kingdom general election, 44% of regular readers votedLiberal Democrat, 32% votedLabour,[69] and 14% votedConservative, compared to 23%, 29%, and 36%, respectively, of the overall electorate.[70] On the eve of the 2010 general election,The Independent supported the Liberal Democrats, arguing that "they are longstanding and convincing champions of civil liberties, sound economics, international co-operation on the great global challenges and, of course, fundamental electoral reform. These are all principles that this newspaper has long held dear."[59] However, before the2015 United Kingdom general election,The Independent on Sunday desisted from advising its readers how to vote, writing that "this does not mean that we are a bloodless, value-free news-sheet. We have always been committed to social justice", but the paper recognised that it was up the readers to "make up [their] own mind about whether you agree with us or not". Rather than support a particular party, the paper urged all its reader to vote as "a responsibility of common citizenship".[71] On 4 May 2015, the weekday version ofThe Independent said that a continuation of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition after the general election would be a positive outcome.[72]
At the end of July 2018,The Independent led a campaign they called the "Final Say", achange.org petition by former editorChristian Broughton, for a binding referendum on theBrexit deal between the UK and the European Union.[73]
As of October 2018,Independent Arabia was launched. It is published under license, and owned and managed bySaudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), a major publishing organization with close ties to the Saudi royal family.[74][needs update]
In the2024 United Kingdom general election,The Independent endorsed theLabour Party, although added what it termed as a warning that: “Labour must turn its promises into policies that benefit the hardworking and hopeful people of this country”.[75]
The Independent sponsors theLongford Prize, meant to recognize those who have helped the lives of current or former prisoners, in memory ofLord Longford.[84]
The Independent on Sunday (IoS) was the Sunday sister newspaper ofThe Independent. It ceased to exist in 2016, the last edition being published on 20 March.[24]
In October 2010, thei, a compact sister newspaper, was launched. Thei is a separate newspaper but uses some of the same material. It was later sold to regional newspaper companyJohnston Press, becoming that publisher's flagship national newspaper, before being sold again. It currently belongs toDaily Mail and General Trust. In 2024, the paper was rebranded asThe i Paper.
The online news site indy100 was announced byThe Independent in February 2016, to be written by journalists but with stories selected by 'upvotes' from readers.[87]
The Independent supported U2 lead singer Bono'sProduct RED brand by creatingThe (RED) Independent, an occasional edition that gave half the day's proceeds to the charity.[88] The first edition was in May 2006. Edited by Bono, it drew high sales.[89]
A September 2006 edition ofThe (RED) Independent, designed by fashion designerGiorgio Armani, drew controversy due to its cover shot, showing modelKate Moss inblackface for an article about AIDS in Africa.[90]
The Pride List was initially labeled as The Pink List, published by theIndependent on Sunday on 6 August 2000. It contained a list of the 48 most prominent LGBT people in the UK. This was resurrected as the Pride List in 2023 and 2024.
The Independent was awarded "National Newspaper of the Year" for 2003[91][92] and theIndependent on Sunday was awarded "Front Page of the Year" for 2014's "Here is the news, not the propaganda", printed on 5 October 2014.[91]
In January 2013,The Independent was nominated for the Responsible Media of the Year award at theBritish Muslim Awards.[93]
The Independent journalists have won a range of British Press Awards, including:
"Business & Finance Journalist of the Year": Michael Harrison, 2000; Hamish McRae, 2005; Stephen Foley, 2008[94]
"Political Journalist of the Year": Francis Elliott (Independent on Sunday), 2005[94]
"Young Journalist of the Year": Johann Hari, 2002; Ed Caesar, 2006[94]
"Sports Journalist of the Year": James Lawton, 2010[94]
"Interviewer of the Year": Mathew Norman, 2007; Deborah Ross, 2011[94]
"Specialist Journalist of the Year": Michael McCarthy, 2000; Jeremy Laurance, 2011[94]
"Columnist of the Year": Robert Chalmers (Independent on Sunday), 2004; Mark Steel, 2014 "Foreign Reporter of the Year": Patrick Cockburn, 2014[94]
Barbara Blake-Hannah Award, Kuba Shand-Baptiste, British Journalism Awards, 2020.[95]
“Best Use of Data”, “Best Diversification of Commercial Strategy”, and “Rising Star (Emily Robinson”, AOP Digital Publishing Awards, 2021[96]
“Publisher of the Year” and “Brqanded Content team of the Year”, The Drum Awards for Online Media, 2022[6]
“Best Research/Insight Project”, “Best Use of Data”, “Product Development Team of the Year”, and “Best Digital Consumer Publishing Company ‘Grand Prix'” AOP Digital Publishing ASwrads, 2022[6]
“Breaking Travel News”Simon Calder, Broadcast Programme of the Year” Simon Calder, “National Consumer Feature of the Year” Sian Lewis, “Sustainability Travel feature of the Year”, Mike MacEacheran, Travel Media Awards 2022[98]
Black Talent Awards, “Marketing, Media and Creative” Nadine White, 2022[99]
“The Change-Maker Award”, Beth Gordon, Global Women in Marketing Awards, 2022[100]
“Foreign Reporter of the Year”, Bel Trew, The Press Awards, 2023[101]
“Brand of the Year”, The Drum Awards for Online Media, 2023[102]
“Campaign of the Year” (With The Evening Standard) SOE Media Freedom Awards, 2023[103]
“The Marie Colvin Award”, Bel Trew, British Journalism Awards, 2023[104]
“The Bill Murray Award for Outstanding Contribution to Digital Publishing, Jo Holdaway, AOP Digital Publishing Awards, 2024[105]
“Corporate and Utilities”, Campaign Media Awards, 2024.[106]
The Independent is regularly referenced in theApple TV+ comedyTed Lasso as the employer of recurring character Trent Crimm (James Lance), a sceptical reporter who is very critical of Ted's coaching but touched by his compassion.[107]
^Luce, Ann, ed. (2019).Ethical Reporting of Sensitive Topics.Routledge.ISBN978-1-351-16630-0.Examining UK publications, she found that the left-leaning The Guardian was enthusiastic, calling it the end of the fossil fuel era; the centrist The Independent labelled the agreement historic but offered a series of cautions; ...
^"If newspapers had a vote, this one would put its cross beside... (leader)".The Independent. London. 1 May 2008. p. 28.Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.So consonant are her priorities with those of this paper that, if we could vote for mayor today, we would place our first-preference cross against her name. This would underscore the importance of the environment to both London and to the rest of the nation. Then, and with rather heavy heart, it would be illogical to do anything other than make Ken Livingstone our second choice.
