The Independent

The Independent, British newspaper, launched in 1986 and independent of party political allegiances, thereby occupying the central ground between The Guardian on the political left and The Times and The Daily Telegraph on the right. The Independent innovated with its modern, elegant design and by attracting well-known contributors and a high standard of journalism; one third of its original staff came from The Times upon that newspaper’s move to a new plant in Wapping. Initially no owner was allowed more than 10 per cent of the newspaper’s shares and so the paper maintained its independence. Within just a few years of its launch its circulation was approaching that of The Guardian and The Times, peaking at 420,000 in 1989.

The newspaper was founded by Stephen Glover, Andreas Whittam Smith, and Matthew Symonds, all former Daily Telegraph employees. Whittam Smith was the first editor at the paper, a position he held until 1994. In 1987 he oversaw the press publication of the Spycatcher memoirs of former MI5 agent Peter Wright (who alleged, among other things, that MI5 had sought to destabilize the government of Harold Wilson), thereby breaking an injunction against their publication. Whittam Smith was also the editor-in-chief at The Independent’s sister paper, the Independent on Sunday (IOS), from 1991 to 1994.

The IOS was launched in 1990; however, due to the expense, a recession, and the difficult newspaper market the two papers merged in 1991. Glover was the first editor of the IOS. Ian Jack, a co-founder, was editor from 1991 to 1995 with Peter Wilby serving as deputy editor. Wilby followed as editor from 1995 to 1996 until he was replaced by Rosie Boycott; she was succeeded by Kim Fletcher in 1998. Fletcher remained until 1999 when Janet Street-Porter took over. Street-Porter’s appointment caused surprise because she was more associated with broadcasting than newspaper editing, although she began her career in journalism. Under her low-profile editorship, however, the decline in sales was halted. In 2001 Tristan Davies was appointed editor.

In the 1990s there were rumours that both The Independent and the IOS were likely to close following falling circulation, and their owner, Newspaper Publishing, underwent shareholder changes and restructuring, including a takeover by Mirror Group Newspapers in 1994. Andrew Marr became the editor of The Independent in 1996 but resigned two years later and, despite a further stint as editor of both newspapers after the takeover by Independent Newspapers in 1998, he finally resigned in May of that year. Simon Kelner was appointed to replace him. In 2003 The Independent launched a tabloid version of the paper in London aimed at the commuter market, with the same content and editorial style as the broadsheet, before moving solely to the tabloid format nationwide from May 2004.