The Independent is Dead, Long Live The Independent

The newspaper industry will soon mourn the loss of a once great broadsheet (and the first quality compact) from the shelves of Britain’s newsagents. In recent years, The Independent’s circulation has collapsed from a high of 400,000 to an uneconomically viable 40,000 forcing its owners to make some hard commercial decisions and announce the end of newspapers print publication.

But the Independent is far from dead: the brand will live on online. But can it flourish? Only a handful of traditional publications have unequivocally succeeded in the digital environment. Motors magazine Autotrader is just one example of a traditional publication where profits have soared since abandoning print.  However, with no niche to focus on and plenty of competition (both on and offline), The Independent will certainly find it more difficult to turn viewers into revenue.

The Independent has in the past thrived thanks to breakthroughs in technology. Indeed, many media pundits suggest The Independent would never have been published had it not been for changes in technology that freed the medium from the high costs of hot metal.

So will The Independent find new life as a digital-only product?

Undoubtedly, the competition will be watching very closely. If the move is successful, could The Guardian, The Telegraph or The Times follow suit anytime soon?