Independent owner considering closing national print titles

[muriel_volestrangler]

The owner of the Independent and Independent on Sunday is considering ceasing printing the 30 year old newspaper and moving the title online only.

Evgeny Lebedev and his lieutenants have not yet made a final decision, but the economics of continuing to print the newspaper have become increasingly strained.

It is widely expected that they will cease printing the 30-year old newspaper, leading to significant job losses.

The move has been prompted by Lebedev’s decision to sell the i, the cut-price national title which props up the Independent, to Johnston Press in a £25m cash deal.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/11/independent-owner-considering-closing-national-print-titles

[TubbersUK]

1. Oh, that would be a loss (: n/t

[Denzil_DC]

2. If they are going to go online-only,

they'll need to figure out their website.

I used to dread clicking on blind links in case I ended up at the Independent's site. Its script-heavy ad bells and whistles would reliably grind Firefox to a halt. Then I discovered Ghostery. No more problems that way, but they don't get any ad revenue from me. If they figured out how not to crash my browser while making a buck, I'd consider whitelisting their site.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I agree, they're one of the worst sites for slow-loading ads

Huffington Post is like that too.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Independent and Independent on Sunday closures confirmed

Evgeny Lebedev has confirmed that the Independent and Independent on Sunday will cease printing, with the last print editions to be published in late March.

Lebedev, who also confirmed the sale of the cut-price national stablemate i to Johnston Press, did not reveal how many of the 150 full-time staff would lose their jobs.

The last issue of the Independent is expected to be published on 26 March, with the last issue of the Independent on Sunday on 20 March.

Lebedev attempted to position the closure of the 30-year old newspapers as a bold transition to a digital-only future.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/12/independent-and-independent-on-sunday-closures-confirmed

[T_i_B]

5. This is bad news

Although I can't help but note that I haven't picked up a copy of The Independent for quite some time, and tend not to read all that many of their articles online either.

For some time I found the Independent too shrill. And in recent times their editorial stances (endorsing the Coalition in the 2015 general election, and being obsessively anti-Jeremy Corbyn) have almost seemed to have been formulated with the specific intention of alienating their own readers.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=191x21519

[Denzil_DC]

6. My wife quite often picks up i

As a roundup of news it's not too bad, though I find it a bit frustratingly superficial, but it has quite a large market (the price point doesn't hurt, I'm sure).

[Bad Dog]

7. The last copy of The Indepedent I bought was issue no. 1

To see what it was like. I didn't like it, too bloody wishy washy for my tastes. When you try to be politically neutral it's hard not to be bland.

Having said that it's a shame.