The Independent
Encyclopedia
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev
since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily newspapers. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards
.
Originally a broadsheet
newspaper, since 2003 it has been published in a tabloid (or self-described 'compact') format. The Independent is regarded as leaning to the left politically, but tends to take a classical liberal, pro-market, stance on economic issues, making it difficult to place it on the oft-used left/right spectrum. Furthermore, it explicitly has not affiliated itself with any political party, and has a range of views given on its editorial and comment
pages. The newspaper originally described itself as "free from party political bias, free from proprietorial influence" – a banner it carried on the front page of its daily edition. This banner was quietly dropped in September 2011.
In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 182,881, and was the only national daily newspaper in Britain to have increased its circulation over the previous 12 months. During the same period the Sunday edition had a slightly lower circulation, at 167,247.
, Stephen Glover and Brett Straub. All three were former journalists at The Daily Telegraph
who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwell
's ownership. Marcus Sieff was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing and Whittam Smith took control of the paper.
The paper was created at a time of tension in British journalism. Rupert Murdoch
was challenging long-accepted practices and fighting with the print unions. In this atmosphere the new paper attracted staff from Murdoch broadsheets who preferred not to move to Wapping
. Launched with the advertising slogan "It is. Are you?", and challenging The Guardian
for centre-left readers, and The Times
as a newspaper of record, it reached a circulation of over 400,000 in 1989. Competing in a moribund market, The Independent sparked a general freshening of newspaper design as well as a price war. The market was tight and when The Independent launched an independent Sunday edition in 1990, sales were less than anticipated (partly due to the launch of the ill-fated Sunday Correspondent
some months earlier). Some aspects of production merged with the main paper, although with a largely distinct editorial staff.
In the 1990s, The Independent started an advertising campaign
accusing The Times and The Daily Telegraph of reflecting the views of their proprietors, Rupert Murdoch and Conrad Black
. It featured spoofs
of their mastheads
with the words 'THE RUPERT MURDOCH', 'The Conrad Black', and below, 'THE INDEPENDENT'.
's media group and Mirror Group Newspapers
had bought substantial stakes by mid-1994. In March 1995 Newspaper Publishing was restructured with a rights issue, splitting the shareholding into Independent News & Media
(43%), MGN
(43%), and Prisa
(El Pais, 12%). In the same month, Whittam Smith left the paper.
In April 1996 there was another refinancing and in March 1998 O'Reilly bought the other 54% of the company for £30 million, and assumed the company's debt. Brendan Hopkins headed Independent News while Andrew Marr
was appointed editor of The Independent and Rosie Boycott
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 The Daily Express and Marr in May 1998, later to join the BBC
as political editor. Simon Kelner
was made editor. By this time the circulation had fallen below 200,000. Independent News spent heavily to improve circulation, and the paper had a number of redesigns. While circulation improved, it did not approach 1989 levels or restore profitability; job cuts and financial controls took their toll on the journalists and their morale. Ivan Fallon, on the board since 1995 and once 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 £5million a year. A gradual improvement meant that by 2006, circulation was at a nine-year high.
In November 2008, following staff cuts, a move of production was announced to Northcliffe House, headquarters of Associated Newspapers. The two newspaper groups' editorial, management and commercial operations remained separate, but they shared services including security, IT, switchboard and payroll.
On 25 March 2010, Independent News & Media sold the newspaper to Alexander Lebedev
for a £1 fee and £9.25m over the next 10 months, since closing the Independent and its Sunday title would have cost £28m and £40m respectively, due to long-term contracts. In 2009, Lebedev had bought a controlling stake in the London Evening Standard
. Two weeks later, editor Roger Alton
stood down.
in a series of celebrated designs that were overseen by Michael Crozier but which relied for much of their design content on Michael McGuinness. From September 2003 it was produced in both broadsheet and tabloid 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 subsequently the northwest, the smaller format appeared gradually throughout the UK. Soon afterwards Rupert Murdoch's Times followed suit and introduced its own tabloid version. Prior to these changes, The Independent had a daily circulation of around 217,500, the lowest of any major national British daily, climbing to claim a 15% rise by 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 has since followed a compact design.
On 12 April 2005, The Independent redesigned its layout to a more European feel, similar to France's Libération
. 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 pages, and there were revisions to 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' Times2, containing features, reportage and games, including sudoku
. 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 a "Independent Life Supplement" focusing on different themes each day.
Three weeks after the acquisition of the paper by Alexander Lebedev and Evgeny 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. From 26 October 2010, the same day as its sister paper i was launched, The Independent started to be 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.
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
" 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".
In 2007, Alan Rusbridger
, 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
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. The newspaper has since ironically 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. Satirical magazine Private Eye
frequently refers to The Independent as The Indescribablyboring.
Under the editorship of Chris Blackhurst, the campaigning, poster-style front pages were scaled back in favour of more conventional news stories.
, a sister newspaper, was launched. i is a separate newspaper, but uses some of the same material.
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 news channel.
's Product RED
brand by creating The (RED) Independent, an occasional edition that gives 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.
and tends to take a classical liberal, pro-market, stance on economic issues. An Ipsos MORI poll estimated that in the 2010 general election, 44% of regular readers voted Liberal Democrat, 32% voted Labour, and 14% voted Conservative. 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. That is why we argue that there is a strong case for progressively minded voters to lend their support to the Liberal Democrats wherever there is a clear opportunity for that party to win." A leader published on the day of the 2008 London Mayoral election
, compared the candidates and said that, if the newspaper had a vote, it would vote first for the Green Party
candidate, Sian Berry
, noting the similarity between her priorities and those of The Independent, and secondly, with "rather heavy heart", for the then incumbent, Ken Livingstone
.
The paper took a strong editorial position against the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
, the Iraq War, and aspects of US and UK foreign policy related to the War on Terrorism
following the . It has been a strong supporter of electoral reform
. The paper has also taken strong positions on environmental issues, campaigned against the introduction of ID cards
, and campaigned against the restriction of mass immigration to the UK. In 1997, The Independent on Sunday launched a campaign for the decriminalisation of cannabis
. 10 years later, it reversed itself, stating that the cannabis strain skunk "smoked by the majority of young Britons" in 2007 had become "25 times stronger than resin
sold a decade ago."
region of Sudan. It has also been critical of Israel
i government policies.
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 that focused on the monarchy.
governor Valentina Matviyenko
that was criticized by the Russia
n blogosphere
. 33 people including Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky
, members of Russian business groups, political groups, and labor unions filed a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission
complaining that the "extremely flattering" portrayal of Matviyenko was "propaganda" and "[i]mportantly, it appears as a news story and not as an opinion column." The article's writer Mary Dejevsky replied that no one encouraged or commissioned her to write the article. She said only the foreign editor knew about the article before publication since she changed the topic of her article at the last minute. Dejevsky believed that her critics may be "looking at Western reports through their own prism" as Russians. She argued that Russians do not realize that British newspapers do not distinguish "between reporting and comment" as clearly as American papers, and British editors like "reports from abroad to have an element of individuality and judgement." She said the article "was based on subjective impressions and judgements. It was not intended to be a rounded profile of Ms Matviyenko." Roy Greenslade
of The Guardian
believed the complaint was politically motivated and meant to embarrass the Lebedev owners.
, in memory of Lord Longford
.
There have also been various guest editors over the years, such as Elton John
on 1 December 2010, the Body Shop's Anita Roddick
on 19 June 2003 and U2's Bono in 2006.
Alexander Lebedev
Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev is a Russian businessman, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs.In May 2008, he was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest Russians and as the 358th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $3.1 billion...
since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily newspapers. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards
British Press Awards
The British Press Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. Established in the 1970s, honours are voted on by a panel of journalists and newspaper executives...
.
Originally a broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
newspaper, since 2003 it has been published in a tabloid (or self-described 'compact') format. The Independent is regarded as leaning to the left politically, but tends to take a classical liberal, pro-market, stance on economic issues, making it difficult to place it on the oft-used left/right spectrum. Furthermore, it explicitly has not affiliated itself with any political party, and has a range of views given on its editorial and comment
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
pages. The newspaper originally described itself as "free from party political bias, free from proprietorial influence" – a banner it carried on the front page of its daily edition. This banner was quietly dropped in September 2011.
In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 182,881, and was the only national daily newspaper in Britain to have increased its circulation over the previous 12 months. During the same period the Sunday edition had a slightly lower circulation, at 167,247.
1986: Origin
The Independent was first published on 7 October 1986 as a broadsheet. It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam SmithAndreas Whittam Smith
Andreas Whittam Smith CBE 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...
, Stephen Glover and Brett Straub. All three were former journalists at The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwell
Michael Berry, Baron Hartwell
William Michael Berry, 3rd Viscount Camrose and Baron Hartwell MBE was a newspaper proprietor and journalist.Michael Berry was the second son of the 1st Viscount Camrose. He succeeded his brother Seymour Berry, 2nd Viscount Camrose as Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph...
's ownership. Marcus Sieff was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing and Whittam Smith took control of the paper.
The paper was created at a time of tension in British journalism. Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
was challenging long-accepted practices and fighting with the print unions. In this atmosphere the new paper attracted staff from Murdoch broadsheets who preferred not to move to Wapping
Wapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
. Launched with the advertising slogan "It is. Are you?", and challenging The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
for centre-left readers, and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
as a newspaper of record, it reached a circulation of over 400,000 in 1989. Competing in a moribund market, The Independent sparked a general freshening of newspaper design as well as a price war. The market was tight and when The Independent launched an independent Sunday edition in 1990, sales were less than anticipated (partly due to the launch of the ill-fated Sunday Correspondent
Sunday Correspondent
The Sunday Correspondent was a shortlived British weekly national broadsheet newspaper. Launched on 17 September 1989, it ceased publication on 25 November 1990. It was edited by Peter Cole....
some months earlier). Some aspects of production merged with the main paper, although with a largely distinct editorial staff.
In the 1990s, The Independent started an advertising campaign
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
accusing The Times and The Daily Telegraph of reflecting the views of their proprietors, Rupert Murdoch and Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
. It featured spoofs
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of their mastheads
Masthead (publishing)
The masthead is a list, published in a newspaper or magazine, of its staff. In some publications it names only the most senior individuals; in others, it may name many or all...
with the words 'THE RUPERT MURDOCH', 'The Conrad Black', and below, 'THE INDEPENDENT'.
1990–present
By the 1990s, Newspaper Publishing had financial problems. Several other newspapers launched in the 1980s, including the Sunday Correspondent, had collapsed without winning enough readers to be profitable, and The Independent was experiencing similar problems. Two European media groups took small stakes. A number of other media companies were interested in the paper. Tony O'ReillyTony O'Reilly
Sir Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly is an Irish businessman and former international rugby union player. He is known for his involvement the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from 1973 to 2009, and as former CEO and Chairman of the H.J. Heinz Company. He was the leading shareholder of...
's media group and Mirror Group Newspapers
Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror plc is a large British newspaper and magazine publisher. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Its headquarters are at Canary Wharf in...
had bought substantial stakes by mid-1994. In March 1995 Newspaper Publishing was restructured with a rights issue, splitting the shareholding into Independent News & Media
Independent News & Media
Independent News & Media plc , is a media organisation based in Dublin, Ireland, with interests in 22 countries on 4 continents worldwide. The company owns over 200 print titles, more than 130 radio stations, over 100 commercial websites and many billboard locations, and is a leading press player...
(43%), MGN
Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror plc is a large British newspaper and magazine publisher. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Its headquarters are at Canary Wharf in...
(43%), and Prisa
PRISA
Promotora de Informaciones, S.A is a Spanish media conglomerate. The PRISA group was founded in 1972 by Jesús de Polanco.-Newspapers:* El País, daily newspaper* Diario AS sports newspaper* Cinco Días economic newspaper-Magazines:...
(El Pais, 12%). In the same month, Whittam Smith left the paper.
In April 1996 there was another refinancing and in March 1998 O'Reilly bought the other 54% of the company for £30 million, and assumed the company's debt. Brendan Hopkins headed Independent News while Andrew Marr
Andrew Marr
Andrew William Stevenson Marr is a Scottish journalist and political commentator. He edited The Independent for two years until May 1998, and was political editor of BBC News from 2000 until 2005....
was appointed editor of The Independent and Rosie Boycott
Rosie Boycott
Rosel Marie Boycott , better known as Rosie Boycott, is a British journalist and feminist.-Journalism career:Daughter of Major Charles Boycott and Betty Boycott née Le Sueur, Rosel Boycott was born in St Helier, Jersey and was educated at the independent Cheltenham Ladies' College and read...
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 The Daily Express and Marr in May 1998, later to join the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
as political editor. Simon Kelner
Simon Kelner
Simon Kelner is a British journalist and newspaper editor. Kelner was editor-in-chief of The Independent and Independent on Sunday newspapers. He was appointed in May 1998 to succeed Andrew Marr and Rosie Boycott and ended his tenure in 2008...
was made editor. By this time the circulation had fallen below 200,000. Independent News spent heavily to improve circulation, and the paper had a number of redesigns. While circulation improved, it did not approach 1989 levels or restore profitability; job cuts and financial controls took their toll on the journalists and their morale. Ivan Fallon, on the board since 1995 and once 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 £5million a year. A gradual improvement meant that by 2006, circulation was at a nine-year high.
In November 2008, following staff cuts, a move of production was announced to Northcliffe House, headquarters of Associated Newspapers. The two newspaper groups' editorial, management and commercial operations remained separate, but they shared services including security, IT, switchboard and payroll.
On 25 March 2010, Independent News & Media sold the newspaper to Alexander Lebedev
Alexander Lebedev
Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev is a Russian businessman, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs.In May 2008, he was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest Russians and as the 358th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $3.1 billion...
for a £1 fee and £9.25m over the next 10 months, since closing the Independent and its Sunday title would have cost £28m and £40m respectively, due to long-term contracts. In 2009, Lebedev had bought a controlling stake in the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
. Two weeks later, editor Roger Alton
Roger Alton
Roger Alton is a British journalist. Currently executive editor of The Times he was formerly editor of The Independent and The Observer....
stood down.
Format and design
The Independent was originally published as a broadsheetBroadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
in a series of celebrated designs that were overseen by Michael Crozier but which relied for much of their design content on Michael McGuinness. From September 2003 it was produced in both broadsheet and tabloid versions, with the same content in each. The tabloid edition was termed “compact”
Compact (newspaper)
A compact newspaper is a broadsheet-quality newspaper printed in a tabloid format, especially one in the United Kingdom. The term is used also for this size came into use in its current use when The Independent began producing a smaller format edition for London's commuters, designed to be easier...
to distance itself from the more sensationalist reporting style usually associated with "tabloid" newspapers in the UK. After launching in the London area and subsequently the northwest, the smaller format appeared gradually throughout the UK. Soon afterwards Rupert Murdoch's Times followed suit and introduced its own tabloid version. Prior to these changes, The Independent had a daily circulation of around 217,500, the lowest of any major national British daily, climbing to claim a 15% rise by 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 has since followed a compact design.
On 12 April 2005, The Independent redesigned its layout to a more European feel, similar to France's Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
. 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 pages, and there were revisions to 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' Times2, containing features, reportage and games, including sudoku
Sudoku
is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid contains all of the digits from 1 to 9...
. 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 a "Independent Life Supplement" focusing on different themes each day.
Three weeks after the acquisition of the paper by Alexander Lebedev and Evgeny Lebedev
Evgeny Lebedev
Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev is the chairman of both Evening Standard Ltd, which owns the Evening Standard and also Independent Print Ltd which owns the Independent newspapers, which he bought in January 2009 and March 2010...
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 started to be 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.
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 ReportHutton Inquiry
The Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
into the death of British government scientist David Kelly, its front page simply carried the word "Whitewash
Whitewash (censorship)
To whitewash is a metaphor meaning to gloss over or cover up vices, crimes or scandals or to exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data. It is especially used in the context of corporations, governments or other organizations.- Etymology :Its first...
?". In 2003 the paper's editor, Simon Kelner, was named "Editor of the Year" at the "What the Papers Say
What the Papers Say
What The Papers Say is a BBC radio programme that originally ran for many years on British television.Its first incarnation was the second longest-running programme on British television after Panorama...
" 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".
In 2007, Alan Rusbridger
Alan Rusbridger
Alan Charles Rusbridger is the editor of the British newspaper The Guardian. He has also been a reporter and a columnist.-Early life:...
, 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
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
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. The newspaper has since ironically 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. Satirical magazine Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
frequently refers to The Independent as The Indescribablyboring.
Under the editorship of Chris Blackhurst, 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 include supplements and pull-out subsections –Daily Monday to Friday The Independent
Saturday's The Independent
|
The Independent on Sunday
|
The i
In October 2010 iI (newspaper)
i is a British newspaper published by Independent Print, owned by Alexander Lebedev, which also publishes The Independent. The newspaper, which is aimed at "readers and lapsed readers" of all ages, and commuters with limited time, costs 20 pence, and was launched on 26 October 2010.In July 2011 it...
, a sister newspaper, was launched. i is a separate newspaper, but uses some of the same material.
Independent.co.uk
On 23 January 2008, The Independent relaunched its online edition, www.independent.co.uk. 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 PodcastPodcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
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 news channel.
The (RED) Independent
The Independent has supported U2 lead singer BonoBono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
's Product RED
Product Red
Product Red, styled as RED, is a brand licensed to partner companies such as Nike, American Express , Apple Inc., Starbucks, Converse, Bugaboo, Penguin Classics , Gap, Emporio Armani, Hallmark and Dell...
brand by creating The (RED) Independent, an occasional edition that gives 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
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with an annual turnover of $1.6 billion and a...
, drew controversy due to its cover shot, showing model Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
in blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
for an article about AIDS in Africa.
Political views
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 take readers primarily from The Times and The Daily Telegraph. It is now seen as leaning to the left, making it more a competitor to The Guardian, even though it still features conservative columnists such as Bruce Anderson and Dominic LawsonDominic Lawson
Dominic Ralph Campden Lawson is a British journalist.-Background:Educated at Westminster School and then Christ Church, Oxford, he is the elder son of a former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lawson and socialite Vanessa Salmon, heir to the Lyons Corner House empire, who died of...
and tends to take a classical liberal, pro-market, stance on economic issues. An Ipsos MORI poll estimated that in the 2010 general election, 44% of regular readers voted Liberal Democrat, 32% voted Labour, and 14% voted Conservative. 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. That is why we argue that there is a strong case for progressively minded voters to lend their support to the Liberal Democrats wherever there is a clear opportunity for that party to win." A leader published on the day of the 2008 London Mayoral election
London mayoral election, 2008
The London mayoral election, 2008 for the office of Mayor of London was held on 1 May 2008 and was won by Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson....
, compared the candidates and said that, if the newspaper had a vote, it would vote first for the Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
candidate, Sian Berry
Siân Berry
Siân Berry is an English politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales. From 2006 to 2007, she was one of the Green Party's Principal Speakers...
, noting the similarity between her priorities and those of The Independent, and secondly, with "rather heavy heart", for the then incumbent, Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
.
The paper took a strong editorial position against the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, the Iraq War, and aspects of US and UK foreign policy related to the War on Terrorism
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
following the . It has been a strong supporter of electoral reform
Electoral reform
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:...
. The paper has also taken strong positions on environmental issues, campaigned against the introduction of ID cards
British national identity card
The Identity Cards Act 2006 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for National Identity Cards, a personal identification document and European Union travel document, linked to a database known as the National Identity Register .The introduction of the scheme was much...
, and campaigned against the restriction of mass immigration to the UK. In 1997, The Independent on Sunday launched a campaign for the decriminalisation of cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
. 10 years later, it reversed itself, stating that the cannabis strain skunk "smoked by the majority of young Britons" in 2007 had become "25 times stronger than resin
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
sold a decade ago."
Other views
In addition, The Independent has highlighted what it refers to as "war crimes" being committed by pro-government forces in the DarfurWar in Darfur
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
region of Sudan. It has also been critical of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i government policies.
Originally it avoided royal
British monarchy
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
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 that focused on the monarchy.
Criticisms
In 2010, the paper published an article about Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
governor Valentina Matviyenko
Valentina Matviyenko
Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko , born 7 April 1949 in the Ukrainian SSR), is currently the highest-ranking female politician in Russia, the former governor of Saint Petersburg and the current Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation...
that was criticized by the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
. 33 people including Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky is a leading member of the dissident movement of the 1960s and 1970s, writer, neurophysiologist, and political activist....
, members of Russian business groups, political groups, and labor unions filed a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission
Press Complaints Commission
The Press Complaints Commission is a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC is funded by the annual levy it charges newspapers and magazines...
complaining that the "extremely flattering" portrayal of Matviyenko was "propaganda" and "[i]mportantly, it appears as a news story and not as an opinion column." The article's writer Mary Dejevsky replied that no one encouraged or commissioned her to write the article. She said only the foreign editor knew about the article before publication since she changed the topic of her article at the last minute. Dejevsky believed that her critics may be "looking at Western reports through their own prism" as Russians. She argued that Russians do not realize that British newspapers do not distinguish "between reporting and comment" as clearly as American papers, and British editors like "reports from abroad to have an element of individuality and judgement." She said the article "was based on subjective impressions and judgements. It was not intended to be a rounded profile of Ms Matviyenko." Roy Greenslade
Roy Greenslade
Roy Greenslade is Professor of Journalism at City University London and has been a media commentator since 1992, most notably for The Guardian....
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
believed the complaint was politically motivated and meant to embarrass the Lebedev owners.
Longford Prize
The Independent sponsors The Longford PrizeThe Longford Prize
The Longford Prize is an annual award presented to an organisation or individual working in the field of social or penal reform. It began in 2001 and is named in memory of Lord Longford, a British Labour Party politician and penal reform campaigner....
, in memory of Lord Longford
Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford KG, PC , known as the Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician, author, and social reformer...
.
Editors
The Independent
|
The Independent on Sunday
|
There have also been various guest editors over the years, such as Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
on 1 December 2010, the Body Shop's Anita Roddick
Anita Roddick
Dame Anita Roddick, DBE was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of The Body Shop, a cosmetics company producing and retailing beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism...
on 19 June 2003 and U2's Bono in 2006.
Writers and columnists
Predominantly The Independent
|
Donald Macintyre (journalist) Donald Macintyre is a British journalist. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and obtained a post-graduate degree from the Cardiff School of Journalism.... Serena Mackesy -Life and education:Serena Mackesy is the daughter of the Scots-born Oxford military historian Piers Mackesy. She is also the granddaughter on her mother's side of the novelist Margaret Kennedy and on her father's side of Leonora Mackesy , who wrote Harlequin romances as Leonora Starr and Dorothy... Tracey MacLeod Tracey MacLeod is a journalist and broadcaster who has presented a range of BBC arts and music programming, including The Late Show 1989-95 and its musical offshoots New West and Words and Music, Edinburgh Nights The Booker Prize and The Mercury Music Prize... Rhodri Marsden -Journalism:Rhodri Marsden currently writes a weekly column for The Independent called "Life On Marsden", and a monthly "Cyberculture" spread for the same newspaper about technology and the internet. He previously wrote The Observer Music Monthly's "Guitarist Wanted" column, which required him to... Deborah Orr Deborah Jane Orr is a British journalist and broadcaster who works for The Guardian newspaper. She was born and raised in Motherwell, Scotland.-Career:... Steve Richards Steve Richards is a British TV presenter and chief political columnist for The Independent newspaper.-Early life:Richards was educated at Christ's College, formerly a state grammar school, in Finchley, North London, and graduated in History at the University of York in 1981 before securing a place... Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007... Will Self William Woodard "Will" Self is an English novelist and short story writer. His fictional style is known for being satirical, grotesque, and fantastical. He is a prolific commentator on contemporary British life, with regular appearances on Newsnight and Question Time... Mark Steel Mark Steel is a British socialist columnist, author and comedian. He was a member of the Socialist Workers Party from his late teens until 2007.-Early life:... Paul Vallely Paul Vallely CMG is a leading British writer on Africa and development issues. He first coined, in his seminal 1990 book Bad Samaritans: First World Ethics and Third World Debt, the expression that campaigners needed to move "from charity to justice" – a slogan that was taken up by Jubilee 2000 and... Brian Viner Brian Viner is a journalist and author, born in October 1961.Viner has been a columnist on The Independent since 1999, and previously wrote for the Mail on Sunday, where in 1997, as that newspaper's TV critic, he won a What the Papers Say Award. He is the author of five books, all non-fiction... Lynne Walker (critic) Lynne Walker was a British music and theatre critic who also had experience as a broadcaster.Born in Edinburgh, she attended the Mary Erskine School. She won a medal at the end of her time at Napier College in 1976, and gained a degree from the Huddersfield School of Music... Andreas Whittam Smith Andreas Whittam Smith CBE 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... Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne I. Winkleman is an English television presenter, film critic, radio personality and journalist.- Early life and family :... |
Predominantly The Independent on Sunday
|
Photographers
- Timothy AllenTimothy AllenTimothy Allen is an English photographer best known for his work with indigenous peoples and isolated communities around the world.- Early life :...
- David Ashdown
- Jonathan Evans
- Brian Harris
- Tom Pilston
- David Rose