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''The Independent'' is a British
online newspaper
An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical.
Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...
. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
and changed to
tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition.
The newspaper was controlled by
Tony O'Reilly
Sir Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly (born 7 May 1936) is an Irish former businessman and international rugby union player. He is known for his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from 1973 to 2009,Dublin, Ireland, ...
's Irish
Independent News & Media
Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...
from 1997 until it was sold to the
Russian oligarch
Russian oligarchs (Russian language, Russian: олигархи, Romanization of Russian, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the Post-Soviet states, former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Priv ...
and former
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
Officer
Alexander Lebedev
Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev ( rus, Александр Евгеньевич Лебедев, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲebʲɪdʲɪf; born 16 December 1959) is a Russian businessman, and has been referred to as one of t ...
in 2010.
In 2017, Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel bought a 30% stake in it.
The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004
British Press Awards
The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism.
History
Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named '' ...
. The website and mobile app had a combined monthly reach of 19,826,000 in 2021.
History
1986 to 1990
Launched in 1986, the first issue of ''The Independent'' was published on 7 October in
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
format.
[Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 330] It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by
Andreas Whittam Smith
Sir Andreas Whittam Smith, (born 13 June 1937) is an English financial journalist, who was one of the founders of ''The Independent'' newspaper, which began publication in October 1986 with Whittam Smith as editor. He is a former president of th ...
,
Stephen Glover and
Matthew Symonds
Matthew John Symonds (born 20 December 1953) is a British journalist and, since 2018, the executive director of the Larry Ellison Foundation. He was a co-founder of ''The Independent'' in 1986.
Born in 1953, Symonds is the son of John Beavan, . All three partners were former journalists at ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' who had left the paper towards the end of
Lord Hartwell's ownership.
Marcus Sieff
Marcus Joseph Sieff, Baron Sieff of Brimpton OBE (2 July 1913 – 23 February 2001) was a British businessman and chairman of his family company, the retailer Marks & Spencer, from 1972 to 1982. He was also a leading figure in UK Zionism.
Sieff ...
was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing, and Whittam Smith took control of the paper.
The paper was created at a time of a fundamental change in British newspaper publishing.
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
was challenging long-accepted practices of the print unions and ultimately defeated them in the
Wapping dispute
The Wapping dispute was a lengthy failed strike by print workers in London in 1986.
Print unions tried to block distribution of ''The Sunday Times'', along with other newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's News International group, after production wa ...
. Consequently, production costs could be reduced which, it was said at the time, 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 both ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' for centre-left readers and ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' as the newspaper of record, ''The Independent'' reached a circulation of over 400,000 by 1989.
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. When ''The Independent'' launched ''The Independent on Sunday'' in 1990, sales were less than anticipated, partly due to the launch of the ''
Sunday 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.
1990–1999
In the 1990s, ''The Independent'' was faced with price cutting by the Murdoch titles, and started an advertising campaign accusing ''The Times'' and ''The Daily Telegraph'' of reflecting the views of their proprietors, Rupert Murdoch and
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer.
His father was businessman George Montegu Black II, who had significant holdings in Canadi ...
. It featured spoofs of the other papers'
mastheads with the words ''The Rupert Murdoch'' or ''The Conrad Black'', with ''The Independent'' below the main title.
had financial problems. A number of other media companies were interested in the paper.
Tony O'Reilly
Sir Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly (born 7 May 1936) is an Irish former businessman and international rugby union player. He is known for his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from 1973 to 2009,Dublin, Ireland, ...
's media group and
Mirror 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's
Independent News & Media
Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...
(43%),
MGN (43%), and
Prisa (publisher of ''
El País
''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...
'') (12%).
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
Andrew William Stevenson Marr (born 31 July 1959) is a British journalist and broadcaster. Beginning his career as a political commentator, he subsequently edited ''The Independent'' newspaper from 1996 to 1998 and was political editor of BBC N ...
was appointed editor of ''The Independent'', and
Rosie Boycott
Rosel Marie "Rosie" Boycott, Baroness Boycott (born 13 May 1951) is a British journalist and Feminism, feminist.
Early life
The daughter of Major Charles Boycott and Betty Le Sueur Boycott, Rosel Marie "Rosie" Boycott was born in Saint Helier, ...
became editor of ''The Independent on Sunday''. Marr introduced a dramatic if short-lived redesign which won critical favour 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''.
Boycott left in April 1998 to join the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'', and Marr left in May 1998, later becoming the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's political editor.
Simon Kelner
Simon Kelner (born 9 December 1957) is a British journalist and newspaper editor.
Kelner studied at Bury Grammar School. His older brother is the journalist and broadcaster Martin Kelner. He is Jewish. He started work at ''Neath Guardian'' in ...
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.
2000–2009
Ivan Fallon, on the board since 1995 and formerly a key figure at ''The 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.
In November 2008, following further staff cuts, production was moved to Northcliffe House, in Kensington High Street, the headquarters of
Associated Newspapers
DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at Northcliffe House in ...
.
The two newspaper groups' editorial, management and commercial operations remained separate, but they shared services including security, information technology, switchboard and payroll.
2010–2016
On 25 March 2010, Independent News & Media sold the newspaper to a new company owned by the family of
Russian oligarch
Russian oligarchs (Russian language, Russian: олигархи, Romanization of Russian, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the Post-Soviet states, former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Priv ...
Alexander Lebedev
Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev ( rus, Александр Евгеньевич Лебедев, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲebʲɪdʲɪf; born 16 December 1959) is a Russian businessman, and has been referred to as one of t ...
for a nominal £1 fee and £9.25m over the next 10 months, choosing this option over closing ''The Independent'' and ''The Independent on Sunday'', which would have cost £28m and £40m respectively, due to long-term contracts. Alexander's son Evgeny became Chairman of the new company, with Alexander becoming a board director.
In 2009, Lebedev had bought a controlling stake in the ''
London Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
''. Two weeks later, editor
Roger Alton
Roger Alton (born 20 December 1947 in Oxford) is an English journalist. He was formerly editor of ''The Independent'' and ''The Observer'', and executive editor of ''The Times''.
Early life and education
He was educated at Clifton College and ...
resigned.
In July 2011, ''The Independent''s columnist
Johann Hari
Johann Eduard Hari (born 21 January 1979) is a British-Swiss writer and journalist who has written for ''The Independent'' and ''The Huffington Post''. In 2011, Hari was suspended from ''The Independent'' and later resigned, after admitting to ...
was stripped of the
Orwell Prize
The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...
he had won in 2008 after claims, to which Hari later admitted, of plagiarism and inaccuracy. In January 2012,
Chris Blackhurst Chris Blackhurst (born 24 December 1959) is a strategic communications advisor and commentator, who is a former editor of ''The Independent''.
For four years, he was a director of CT Partners, the international strategic communications, campaignin ...
, editor of ''The Independent'', told the
Leveson 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". Hari later announced that he would not return to ''The Independent''.
Jonathan Foreman contrasted ''The Independent''s reaction to the scandal unfavourably with the reaction of American newspapers to similar incidents such as the
Jayson Blair
Jayson Thomas Blair (born March 23, 1976) is an American former journalist who worked for ''The New York Times''. He resigned from the newspaper in May 2003 in the wake of the discovery of fabrication and plagiarism in his stories.
Blair publis ...
case, which led to resignations of editors, "deep soul-searching", and "new standards of exactitude being imposed". The historian
Guy Walters
Guy Edward Barham Walters (born 8 August 1971) is a British author, historian, and journalist. He is the author and editor of nine books on the Second World War, including war thrillers, and a historical analysis of the Berlin Olympic Games.
...
suggested that Hari's fabrications had been an open secret amongst the newspaper's staff and that their internal inquiry was a "facesaving exercise". A proportion of articles are now behind a pay wall; that section is titled 'Independent Minds'.
''The Independent'' and ''The Independent on Sunday'' endorsed "Remain" in the
Brexit referendum of 2016.
From 2016
In March 2016 ''The Independent'' decided to close its print edition and become an
online newspaper
An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical.
Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...
; the last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016. ''The Independent on Sunday'' published its last print edition on 20 March 2016 and was closed following that.
Content
Format and design
''The Independent'' began publishing as a broadsheet, in a series of celebrated designs. The final version was designed by Carroll, Dempsey and Thirkell following a commission by
Nicholas Garland
Nicholas Withycombe Garland OBE (born 1 September 1935) is a British political cartoonist.
Early life
Garland was born in Hampstead, London. His father was a doctor and his mother a sculptor. He was the second of six children: he had three brot ...
who, along with
Alexander Chancellor
Alexander Surtees Chancellor, CBE (4 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was a British journalist.
Chancellor was educated at Eton College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was the editor of the conservative '' Spectator'' magazine from 1975 ...
, was unhappy with designs produced by Raymond 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.
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.
After launching in the London area and then in
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
,
the smaller format appeared gradually throughout the UK. Soon afterwards, Rupert Murdoch's ''Times'' followed suit, introducing its own tabloid-sized version.
Prior to these changes, ''The Independent'' had a daily circulation of around 217,500, the lowest of any major national British daily, a figure that climbed by 15% as of March 2004 (to 250,000). 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. ''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.
On 12 April 2005, ''The Independent'' redesigned its layout to a more European feel, similar to France's ''
Libération
''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...
''. 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.
A new second section, "Extra", was introduced on 25 April 2006. It is similar to ''The Guardian''s "G2" and ''The Times''s "Times2", containing features, reportage and games, including
sudoku
Sudoku (; ja, 数独, sūdoku, digit-single; originally called Number Place) is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. In classic Sudoku, the objective is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row ...
. 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. On 23 September 2008, the main newspaper became full-colour, and "Extra" was replaced by an "Independent Life Supplement" focusing on different themes each day.
Three weeks after the acquisition of the paper by
Alexander Lebedev
Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev ( rus, Александр Евгеньевич Лебедев, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲebʲɪdʲɪf; born 16 December 1959) is a Russian businessman, and has been referred to as one of t ...
and
Evgeny Lebedev
Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev, Baron Lebedev ( rus, Евгений Александрович Лебедев, Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Lebedev, ; born 8 May 1980), is a Russian-British businessman, who owns Lebedev Holdings Ltd, which in turn own ...
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.
From 26 October 2010, the same day as its sister paper, ''i'', was launched, ''The Independent'' was printed on slightly thicker paper than before and ceased to be full-colour throughout, with many photographs and pictures (though none of those used in adverts) being printed in black and white only. On 11 October 2011, ''The Independent'' unveiled yet another new look, featuring a red, sans-serif masthead. In November 2013, the whole newspaper was overhauled again, including new custom fonts and a vertical masthead in black.
Front pages
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 the
Hutton Report into the death of British government scientist
David Kelly, its front page simply carried the word "Whitewash?"
In 2003, the paper's editor, Simon Kelner, was named "Editor of the Year" at the ''
What the Papers Say
''What The Papers Say'' is a British radio and television series. It consists of quotations from headlines and comment pages in the previous week's newspapers, read in a variety of voices and accents by actors. The quotes are linked by a scri ...
'' awards, partly in recognition of, according to the judges, his "often arresting and imaginative front-page designs".
In 2008, however, 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".
Under the subsequent editorship of
Chris Blackhurst Chris Blackhurst (born 24 December 1959) is a strategic communications advisor and commentator, who is a former editor of ''The Independent''.
For four years, he was a director of CT Partners, the international strategic communications, campaignin ...
, the campaigning, poster-style front pages were scaled back in favour of more conventional news stories.
Sections
The weekday, Saturday and Sunday editions of ''The Independent'' all included supplements and pull-out subsections:
Online presence
On 23 January 2008, ''The Independent'' relaunched its online edition. 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 launched
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
programmes such as "The Independent Music Radio Show", "The Independent Travel Guides", "The Independent Sailing Podcasts", and "The Independent Video Travel Guides". Since 2009, the website has carried short video news bulletins provided by the
Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is own ...
news channel.
In 2014, ''The Independent'' launched a sister website, ''i100'', a "shareable" journalism site with similarities to
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
and
Upworthy
Upworthy is a website dedicated to positive storytelling. It was started in March 2012 by Eli Pariser, the former executive director of MoveOn, and Peter Koechley, the former managing editor of ''The Onion''. One of Facebook's co-founders, Chris ...
.
Political views
The Independent is generally described as
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
to
centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
,
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and
liberal-left.
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 from ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' and ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
''. It has been seen as leaning to the left wing of the political spectrum, making it more a competitor to ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. However, ''The Independent'' tends to take a
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
, pro-market stance on economic issues.
''The'' ''Independent on Sunday'' referred to itself as a "proudly liberal newspaper".
The paper has highlighted what it refers to as
war crimes being committed by pro-government forces in the
Darfur
Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...
region of Sudan.
The paper has been a strong supporter of
electoral reform
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:
* Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-ru ...
.
[ 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 than ]resin
In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...
sold a decade ago".British monarchy
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...
has sometimes been described as republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, 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". 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.Alan Rusbridger
Alan Charles Rusbridger (born 29 December 1953) is a British journalist, who was formerly editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' and then principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
Rusbridger became editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' in 1995, hav ...
, editor of ''The Guardian'', said of ''The 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". In a 12 June 2007 speech, British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
called ''The 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". ''The Independent'' criticised Blair's comments the following day but 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 the 2008 London mayoral election
The 2008 London mayoral election for the office of Mayor of London, England, was held on 1 May 2008. Conservative Party (UK), Conservative candidate Boris Johnson defeated incumbent Labour Party (UK), Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone. It was the th ...
compared the candidates and said that, if the newspaper had a vote, it would vote first for the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
candidate, Siân Berry
Siân Rebecca Berry (born 9 July 1974) is a British politician who served as Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales alongside Jonathan Bartley from 2018 to 2021, and as its sole leader from July to October 2021. From 2006 to 2007, s ...
, noting the similarity between her priorities and those of ''The Independent'', and secondly, with "rather heavy heart", for the incumbent, Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...
.Ipsos MORI
Ipsos MORI was the name of a market research company based in London, England which is now known as Ipsos and still continues as the UK arm of the global Ipsos group. It was formed by a merger of Ipsos UK and MORI in October 2005.
The company ...
poll estimated that in the 2010 general election, 44% of regular readers voted Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
, 32% voted Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
, and 14% voted Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, compared to 23%, 29%, and 36%, respectively, of the overall electorate. On the eve of the 2010 general election, ''The Independent'' supported the Liberal Democrats, arguing that
ey 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.
However, before the 2015 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 heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
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". On 4 May 2015, the weekday version of ''The Independent'' said that a continuation of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition after the general election would be a positive outcome.
At the end of July 2018, ''The Independent'' led a campaign they called the "Final Say" – a change.org
Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...
petition by editor Christian Broughton
Christian Broughton is a British journalist. He has been the managing director of ''The Independent'' since October 2020. Previously he was the editor of the newspaper between 2016 and 2020.
Career
Broughton was sports editor at ''The Indep ...
, for a binding referendum on the Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
deal between the UK and the European Union.
Personnel
Editors
There have also been various guest editors over the years, such as Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
on 1 December 2010, the Body Shop's Anita Roddick
Dame Anita Lucia Roddick (23 October 1942 – 10 September 2007) was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of the British version of The Body Shop, now The Body Shop Internationa ...
on 19 June 2003 and U2's Bono in 2006.
Writers and columnists
;Predominantly in ''The Independent'':
* Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (''née'' Damji; born 10 December 1949) is a British journalist and author, who describes herself as "a leftie liberal, anti-racist, feminist, Muslim...person". A regular columnist for the ''i '' newspaper and the ''Eveni ...
* Bruce Anderson
* Paul Arden
Paul Arden (7 April 1940 – 2 April 2008) was a creative director of Saatchi and Saatchi and an author of several books on advertising and motivation, including ''Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite'' and ''It's Not How Good You Are, It's Ho ...
* Archie Bland
James Franklin Archibald "Archie" Bland (born 7 October 1983), is a British newspaper journalist who writes the Guardian's daily morning newsletter First Edition.
Bland was previously the deputy editor of ''The Independent'', a national Britis ...
* Thom Brooks
Thomas "Thom" Brooks, (born 14 October 1973) is an American-British political philosopher and legal scholar. He has been professor of Law and Government at Durham University since 2014, the Dean of Durham Law School since 2016. He was previousl ...
* Andrew Brown (writer)
Andrew Brown (born 1955 in London) is an English journalist, writer, and editor. He was one of the founding staff members of ''The Independent'', where he worked as a religious correspondent, parliamentary sketch writer, and a feature writer. He ...
* Cooper Brown
* Michael Brown
* Simon Calder
Simon Calder (born 25 December 1955) is a freelance UK travel journalist and broadcaster. He works for various news and travel publications as well as being travel correspondent for ''The Independent''.
Biography
In 1962, Calder joined the Wo ...
* Ben Chu
* Alexa Chung
Alexa Chung (born 5 November 1983) is a British television presenter, model, internet personality, writer, and fashion designer. She wrote the book ''It'' (2013). Her fashion label Alexa Chung, stylized , launched in May 2017 and closed in 2022. ...
* Rob Cowan
Rob Cowan (born 14 April 1948) is an English music broadcaster and writer.
Employed by music publisher Boosey & Hawkes for nineteen years in various capacities, his first record review was published in 1967.
* Sloane Crosley
Sloane Crosley (born August 3, 1979) is an American writer living in New York City known for her humorous essays, including the collections '' I Was Told There'd Be Cake'', ''How Did You Get This Number'', and ''Look Alive Out There''. She has al ...
* Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...
* Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...
* Mitch Feierstein Mitchell B. Feierstein is a British-American investor, banker and writer. He has worked as a columnist for the Daily Mail and works as a columnist for The Independent and the Huffington Post. Feierstein appears regularly as a financial commentator ...
* Andrew Feinberg
* Helen Fielding
Helen Fielding (born 19 February 1958) is an English novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones, and a sequence of novels and films beginning with the life of a thirty something singleton in Lo ...
* Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stanc ...
* Eric Garcia Eric Garcia may refer to:
* Eric Garcia (writer) (born 1972), American writer
* Eric García (footballer, born 1993), Spanish football midfielder
* Eric Garcia (basketball) (born 1994), American basketball player
*Eric García (footballer, born 2001 ...
* Chris Gulker
Christian Frederick "Chris" Gulker (March 10, 1951 – October 27, 2010) was an American photographer, programmer, writer, and pioneer in electronic publishing.
A " Silicon Valley pioneer," Gulker was "instrumental in introducing the digital pu ...
* Ian Hamilton
* Howard Jacobson
Howard Eric Jacobson (born 25 August 1942) is a British novelist and journalist. He is known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters.Ragi, K. R., "Howard Jacobson's ''The Finkler Question'' as ...
* Alex James
* Peter Jenkins
* Owen Jones
Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a British newspaper columnist, political commentator, journalist, author, and left-wing activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'' and '' Tribune.'' He has two ...
* Andrew Keen
Andrew Keen (born c. 1960Saracevic, Alan T. (15 October 2006)Debate 2.0 / Weighing the merits of the new Webocracy.''San Francisco Chronicle'' ("Age: 46")) is a British-American entrepreneur and author. He is particularly known for his view tha ...
* Dominic Lawson
Dominic Ralph Campden Lawson (born 17 December 1956) is a British journalist.
Background
Lawson was born to a Jewish family, the elder son of Conservative politician Nigel Lawson and his first wife socialite Vanessa Salmon. Lawson was educated ...
* John Lichfield
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
* Philip Llewellin
* Laura Lyons
* Andy McSmith
* Donald Macintyre (journalist), Donald MacIntyre
* Serena Mackesy
* Tracey MacLeod
* Rhodri Marsden
* Jan McGirk
* Deborah Orr
* Christina Patterson
* Peter Popham
* Simon Read (journalist), Simon Read
* Steve Richards
* Lizzie Dearden
* Ash Sarkar
* Alexei Sayle
* Will Self
* Mark Steel
* Catherine Townsend
* Paul Vallely
* Brian Viner
* Lynne Walker (critic), Lynne Walker
* Andreas Whittam Smith
Sir Andreas Whittam Smith, (born 13 June 1937) is an English financial journalist, who was one of the founders of ''The Independent'' newspaper, which began publication in October 1986 with Whittam Smith as editor. He is a former president of th ...
* Claudia Winkleman
;Predominantly ''The Independent on Sunday'':
* Janet Street-Porter—Editor-at-Large
* Kate Bassett—Theatre
* Patrick Cockburn, John Rentoul (journalist), John Rentoul, Joan Smith (novelist and journalist), Joan Smith, Paul Vallely, and Alan Watkins—"Comment & Debate"
* Peter Cole (journalist), Peter Cole—"On the Press"
* Rupert Cornwell—"Out of America"
* Hermione Eyre—Reviews
* Jenny Gilbert—Dance
* Christopher Hirst and Lucinda Rogers—"The Weasel" (weekly illustrated column 1995–2008)
* Dom Joly—"First Up" in The Sunday Review
* Tim Minogue and David Randall—"Observatory"
* Cole Moreton—"News Analysis" (Regular double-spread)
* Anna Picard—Opera and Classical
* Simon Price—Rock and Pop
Photographers
*Timothy Allen
*Craig Easton (photographer), Craig Easton
*Brian Harris
Longford Prize
''The Independent'' sponsors the Longford Prize, in memory of Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, Lord Longford.
Related publications
''The Independent on Sunday''
''The Independent on Sunday'' (''IoS'') was the Sunday sister newspaper of ''The Independent''. It ceased to exist in 2016, the last edition being published on 20 March; the daily paper ceasing print publication six days later.
The ''i''
In October 2010, the ''i'', a compact sister newspaper, was launched. The ''i'' is a separate newspaper but uses some of the same material. It was later sold to regional newspaper company Johnston Press, becoming that publisher's flagship national newspaper. The ''i''s online presence, ''i100'', was restyled as ''indy100'' and retained by Independent News & Media.
Indy100
The online news site indy100 was announced by ''The Independent'' in February 2016, to be written by journalists but with stories selected by 'upvotes' from readers. "Because indy100 is from The Independent you can still trust us to take our facts very seriously (even the funny ones). Some of the stories will have been inspired by the brilliant work in ''The Independent''. Most will be from the crack team of indy100 journalists."
''The (RED) Independent''
''The Independent'' supported U2 lead singer Bono's Product RED brand by creating ''The (RED) Independent'', an occasional edition that gave half the day's proceeds to the charity. The first edition was in May 2006. Edited by Bono, it drew high sales.
A September 2006 edition of ''The (RED) Independent'', designed by fashion designer Giorgio Armani, drew controversy due to its cover shot, showing model Kate Moss in blackface for an article about AIDS in Africa.
Awards and nominations
''The Independent'' was awarded "National Newspaper of the Year" for 2003[ and the ''Independent on Sunday'' was awarded "Front Page of the Year" for 2014's "Here is the news, not the propaganda", printed on 5 October 2014.][
* "Business & Finance Journalist of the Year": Michael Harrison, 2000; Hamish McRae, 2005; Stephen Foley, 2008
* "Cartoonist of the Year": Dave Brown, 2012
* "Columnist of the Year": Robert Chalmers (''Independent on Sunday''), 2004; Mark Steel, 2014
* "Foreign Reporter of the Year": Patrick Cockburn, 2014
* "Interviewer of the Year": Mathew Norman, 2007; Deborah Ross, 2011
* "Political Journalist of the Year": Francis Elliott (''Independent on Sunday''), 2005
* "Specialist Journalist of the Year": Michael McCarthy, 2000; Jeremy Laurance, 2011
* "Sports Journalist of the Year": James Lawton, 2010
* "Young Journalist of the Year": Johann Hari, 2002; Ed Caesar, 2006
In January 2013, ''The Independent'' was nominated for the Responsible Media of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards.]
In popular culture
''The Independent'' is regularly referenced in the Apple TV+ comedy ''Ted Lasso'' as the employer of recurring character Trent Crimm (James Lance), a skeptical reporter who is very critical of Ted's coaching but touched by his compassion.
See also
* Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize
* Vandalism on Wikipedia#Miscellaneous, Brett Straub incident
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Independent, The
The Independent,
1986 establishments in the United Kingdom
Centre-left newspapers
Centrist newspapers
Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom
Liberal media in the United Kingdom
Newspapers established in 1986
National newspapers published in the United Kingdom
Newspapers published in London
Online newspapers with defunct print editions
Republicanism in the United Kingdom
Social liberalism