Feature: Making Over The Independent
The Independent has had a rocky ride since its launch in 1986. Initially the title received a warm welcome and quickly found itself to be the flavour of the moment, with editor and co-founder Andreas Whittam Smith achieving both sales and editorial acclaim. Within five years circulation was up almost 30%, but as the paper entered the next decade its fortunes began to turn. The arrival of the Independent On Sunday in 1990 failed to generate an overwhelming amount of interest and despite making an impressive entry into the market, the Sunday spin-off quickly went the same way as its parent title, with circulation dropping 7.3% in its first five years.
The relaunch of the Independent is expected to herald a significant new look for the paper as it reinvents itself in an attempt to boost its flagging sales. From next week the title’s comment section will be incorporated into a newly expanded main section, which will include home and foreign news, as well as obituaries, business and sport. The second section will become a magazine-style tabloid with features, arts and listings. New typefaces will also be used to give the paper a more modern look. The paper’s editor, Simon Kelner, said: “This is the most radical redesign the paper has seen in four years. Most of our competitors have changed shape significantly and it is time for the natural and logical development of the Independent.”
The revamp is being tipped as part of a move to give the paper, part of Independent News & Media, a younger, more European feel as Kelner attempts to bring the title up to date. However, NRS profiles show that sales of the Independent are already largely reliant on 35 to 44 year-olds and declining readership among this age group means that Kelner could be fighting a losing battle.
Analysis of ABC figures shows that the circulation of both titles has declined steadily over the last decade (see below). The Independent has seen sales fall from over 350,000 in the sixth month period ending February 1992 to below 250,000 in the same period this year. The Independent On Sunday has followed an almost identical pattern, with circulation dropping by more than 100,000 over the last ten years. To put this in perspective, circulation figures for February 2002 show that full price sales of the titles’ closest rivals, the Guardian and the Observer, were 413,650 and 465,580 respectively.
Kelner is confident that the revamp will have a positive effect on sales, saying: “Over the next five years circulation and readership will increase. The paper will continue to evolve and we will keep building on what we have already achieved.”
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