Farewell to the Independent?
The Independent is in a spiral of decline, cutting jobs despite its reputation for being run on a shoestring.
Sadly the Indy has long been a populist viewspaper rather than a newspaper; becoming to the Guardian what the Express has become to the Mail.
Now the smart money is on the Independent becoming the first national newspaper to get out of print and move to online only publication. If that happens, it almost certainly fail. An online only newspaper would have a much lower cost base, but that would be easily outweighed by a loss of status and credibility.
The Independent’s online presence has always been weak relative to that of its competitors, particularly the Guardian which has what may be an unassailable lead in online chattering thanks to Comment Is Free. It has had a tendency to play catch-up and has never attempted to innovate; another similarity with the Express. Loyal readers would be asked to make a radical change to their reading habits and while some may make the change for limited time, the chances are that most would soon find solace with a competitor.
The Independent is among the newspapers least well suited to making this kind of switch.
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