Gringo Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Over the last few years I have become used to the Independent as my staple source of stuff - from sports to news to global politics - along with a reasonably wide range of views. This was the stable in the storm, whilst the times turned into a gossip mag and the grauniad went all metropolitan on itself, only the indie and the tory graph seemed to remain as proper newspapers. Last year the torygraphy hit the menopause and started publishing all wonders of rubbish and so only the indie remained. However a couple of months ago the indie got itself a new editor, that esteemed chap roger alton from the observer - he had been booted out for being a bit too neocon. So obviously some change was due. I expected to see a few favourite names dropped and a few observer chums brought in but that has not yet happened. Instead, he's gone the daily mail / express route of trying to sell the content of the newspaper with salacious headlines across the front page - referring to the sex lives of various mammals. All of this tripe doesn' touch the real part of the paper but tend to appear in the midsection. So I could cope with that, Then he re-designs the layout, structure of the paper, adding colour which is nice, but seemingly trying to fix what isn't broke. Now an old fuddy I am, and of course all change is bad. For now the indie is still the best paper around (IMO) - still the best reporters and the best commentary, but it seems like the start of a slippery slope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 I buy it regularly and knew nothing of the change so was surprised one day to see it was colour and I think it went up in price too? It looks better but perhaps the news inside of the newspaper is more important than how it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villab0y Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Sometimes pick it up on the tube to avoid looking the crazy fella in the eyes.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 still say the guardian website is the best around for news, lets face the papers (all of them) are dying !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 still say the guardian website is the best around for news, lets face the papers (all of them) are dying !! Let's face it - they're not. When was the last time a national newspaper closed - TODAY in 1995 - when t'internet was in it's infancy. Yes papers are suffering a downturn in advertising revenue - but so is TV - is t'internet also the end of TV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Gringo, year on year they are losing readership. Read the Guardian's media page (on the web of course !!) to see this .. Papers can not compete with t'net for content and updates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 don't read newspapers , except the torygraph when it's given out on the plane .. just find it's full of crap like the recent Brand /Ross thing and nothing really newsworthy ... a quick 5 mins in front of BBCnews before i go to bed seems to cover most of it , thus a lot goes on in the world that I don't know about .. usually if a decent story pops up on here and then i go source it for myself to see the real version and not the labour spun version posted here :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted October 31, 2008 Moderator Share Posted October 31, 2008 I get the Indie, and still think it's the best paper around - I tried the Grauniad for a bit, a month or so ago but got fed up with it quite quickly. The Indie has lost a few people - the saturday version is more "different" than the weekday one, IMO. I like the sports section pull out on Sat/Mon. I agree re- the FP and headlines, but then again a while back under Simon Kelner they would go with a "sensational" (usually gloom based) FP every day. That was daft, IMO. I liked the Indie best when it was big, and in B&W - in its early years, really...but that's fogeydom from me too. They do run the occasional story about some non-entity or other but basically I think it's a good read and can't say as I think it any worse for the new ed (yet) and I soon got used to the new full colour layout. He put the price up, but the journalism is worth it, and I like reading a lot of the opinion in there. It's a paper I'd be proud to work for were I a journo. It is still something different and still "Independent" of thought and angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 Gringo, year on year they are losing readership. Read the Guardian's media page (on the web of course !!) to see this .. Papers can not compete with t'net for content and updatesThe volume of readers may change - but the papers aren't dying - just silliness on sticks. Papers will still be here and read by a very sizable chunk of the populous 10 years, 20 years and 30 years hence. Where do you think the advertising revenue goes from all the papers' websites? into journalism that makes papers that people read. What profitable (widely read) news web sites are there out there that are not linked another form of media, either tv, radio or print? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 there has to be a certain level of readershp where producing a paper becomes unprofitable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 there has to be a certain level of readershp where producing a paper becomes unprofitableOf course there has to be, that's an economic fact (though many newspapers have for years been run at a loss as their proprietors had other reasons for maintaining their presence in the newsagent). But that does not equate to lets face the papers (all of them) are dying. Electoral turnout has been declining year on year - does that equate to democracy is dying (well it does actually, but that's a different argument). Readership will reach a different level, and pricing and advertising models supplemented with new media will adapt to suit. Newspapers are not dying, though hopefully some newspapers will die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 The late great Miles Kington is sadly missed. He was my favourite columnist What's the deal with Cooper Brown? Has Dom Joly finished with him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 The late great Miles Kington is sadly missed. He was my favourite columnist Let's Parler Franglais? I didn't know that he kicked the bucket. Wasn't he relatively young? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 I didn't know that he kicked the bucket. Wasn't he relatively young? Yes, he was 66. Some of his columns can still be found here including some correspondence published posthumously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted November 1, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted November 1, 2008 Probably have to say that if I lived in the UK, I'd read the Indy and the Torygraph. Interestingly enough, though, the only UK newspaper site I visit is teh Grauniad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 Yeah I like the paper but I still think the sport section is poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy178 Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 The Grauniad website is awesome for commentary, due to the sheer volume of stuff they have. The Indie is good when it isn't running one of it's really annoying campaigns. Steve Richards is a very good writer as is Johann Hari. I really hate the lack of the features that they used to run under Kelner, the double page spreads that covered some more obscure issues that perhaps wouldn't receive an airing otherwise. It's a pity they've gone, or am I imagining it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 I don't generally bother with the Indie. Nothing against it, just happy with the Grauniad. But this must be a nightmare for anyone who values journalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 *Bump* Anyone buying the new look indie? I like it a lot. The viewspaper (crap name - I know) is a welcome addition. Hopefully they'll be able to add a few more columnists in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloBarnesi Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I hate the Independent. The people who set it up were complete b••••••s and nothing has changed my opinion since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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