LAST Tuesday saw the launch of the new daily national newspaper for the first time in over 25 years. Despite the wave of electronic technology, that has restricted the role of a newspaper impact in recent times; the Independent has decided that there is room for more newsprint in this world.
The new paper has simply been called i. All the articles from this paper will come from its parent source, but they will be shorter and carry a far more populist approach. With the Independent’s daily circulation dropping well below 200,000 readers, some are saying that this is a desperate last throw of the dice by its under-fire owner. Unlike the Evening Standard and Metro newspapers, those who want to read i will have to pay 20p. This could be seen as vital revenue for its Russian owner Alexander Lebedev.
This daily newspaper will be 56 pages in length, and is the first paper to be launched in a generation. The last were The Independent itself and Eddy Shah’s Today newspaper, both born in 1986. Despite its early success, Today disappeared in November 1995 and with the Independent having changed its strategy on several different occasions in the last twelve years, it seems to indicate the newer newspapers simply can’t last with the established generation, such as The Sun, Daily Mirror and the Daily Telegraph.
This gamble could pay off, but if it doesn’t work off, then the Independent doesn’t have a Plan B and could well totally disappear off the market. Then again, if i becomes very popular and starts taking readers away from the parent version, then it could make things even worse for the Independent. Whatever way you look at this, it is a brave and bold gamble, one that looks incredibly risky, especially in this economic climate.
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