1980s Launched in 1986, the first issue of
The Independent was published on 7 October in
broadsheet format. It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by
Andreas Whittam Smith,
Stephen Glover and
Matthew Symonds. All three partners 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 a fundamental change in British newspaper publishing.
Rupert Murdoch was challenging long-accepted practices of the print unions and ultimately defeated them in the
Wapping dispute. Consequently, production costs could be reduced which created openings for more competition.
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 for centre-left readers and
The Times as the newspaper of record,
The Independent reached a circulation of more than 400,000 by 1989.
1990s 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. 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. 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. In 1996, there was further refinancing, and
Andrew Marr was appointed editor of
The Independent. In 1998, O'Reilly bought the other shares of the company for £30 million, and assumed the company's debt, and
Rosie Boycott also became editor. Boycott left in April 1998 to join the
Daily Express, and Marr left in May 1998, later becoming the
BBC's political editor.
Simon Kelner 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.
2000s 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. The two newspaper groups' editorial, management and commercial operations remained separate.
2010s On 25 March 2010, Independent News & Media sold the newspaper to a new company owned by the family of
Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev for a nominal £1 fee and £9.25 million over the next 10 months, choosing this option over closing
The Independent and
The Independent on Sunday, which would have cost £28 million and £40 million 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. Two weeks later, editor
Roger Alton resigned. In July 2011,
The Independents columnist
Johann Hari was stripped of the
Orwell Prize he had won in 2008 after claims, to which Hari later admitted, of plagiarism and inaccuracy. In January 2012,
Chris Blackhurst, 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 Independents reaction to the scandal unfavorably with the reaction of American newspapers to similar incidents such as the
Jayson Blair case, which led to resignations of editors, "deep soul-searching", and "new standards of exactitude being imposed". The historian
Guy Walters suggested that Hari's fabrications had been an open secret among the newspaper's staff and that their internal inquiry was a "facesaving exercise".
The Independent and
The Independent on Sunday endorsed "Remain" in the
Brexit referendum. In March 2016,
The Independent closed its print edition to become a
pure play digital media company. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016.
The Independent on Sunday published its last edition on 20 March 2016 and was closed. In 2017, Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel bought a 30% stake in
The Independent.
Independent Arabia was launched in October 2018. It is published under licence, and owned and managed by
Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), a major publishing organisation with close ties to the
Saudi royal family.
2020s In September 2020,
The Independent launched
Independent en Español, a wholly owned and operated Spanish language edition. Geordie Greig was appointed
The Independents Editor-in-Chief in January 2023. He oversaw a period of editorial investment. Later that year, Chief Executive Zach Leonard moved to the United States as Global COO and President (North America), and former Editor Christian Broughton was appointed Chief Executive. Louise Thomas was appointed US Editor in March 2024. In January 2026,
The Independent was in talks to take commercial and digital control of
The Evening Standard. The partnership was agreed in April 2026, with
The Evening Standard staying as a separate company and
The Independent also taking control of print advertising. ==Content==