‘The Independent’s’ closure signals the beginning of a trend
The Lebedev family joined the establishment when they purchased The Independent and the Evening Standard. They positioned themselves as saviours of the free press and marking the occasion, Alexander Lebedev commented: “I do not treat newspapers as business. I treat them as my responsibility”.
At the time, he continued: “I think newspapers are the only instrument which, through investigative reporting, can ferret out everything about international corruption” but yesterday, in announcing the closure of The Independent, this Russian oligarch reneged on that promise. Accompanied by the loss of at least seventy jobs, the axing of the print version of the paper likely leads the way to further cuts elsewhere as The Guardian is on its knees and even online The Sun has been forced to remove its paywall. Harsh changes are coming for those working in the press and even the wealth of the Murdochs, the Hearsts and the Lebedevs cannot stem that.
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Readers have their say
10 comments
The moment of truth……
A pal of mine lined his office with marvellous photographs of his family’s shops that sold beautiful horse harnesses across the West Midlands
I innocently enquired what had happened to the business ‘ The Motor car ‘ was his crushing response
This lesson was hard learned, but taught me that you can’t buck trends, and his family should have gone into the motor trade
The internet has changed our habits for ever – just look at us and our media habits
Evgeny Lebedev hangs around with Liz Hurley and Elton John. Need I say anything else?
The Independent was a load of crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So pleased someone finally has told its idiot team to rod off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After gracing hundreds of lavatories across the UK, it must number only tens now. Definitely gone down the pan.
I quite like Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev, father of Evegeny the present owner of THE INDEPENDENT and other papers. (I don’t happen to like the son whom I consider to be a foolish fop).
Alexander Yevgenievich, like his fellow ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin has done rather well out of the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the First Chief Directorate (Foreign Intelligence) of KGB. He worked under the diplomatic cover of an economics attaché in London and developed a keen business mind as well as his more traditional activity as a spook.
He became a member of the DUMA and immediately found himself in conflict with Putin. He remains a strong critic. He can be quite aggressive and once thumped a fellow guest on a TV show. Something I’m sure many a guest has felt like doing this, but were a tad more restrained!
He could not conceal his KGB past and when he bought the Evening Standard was interviewed by ITN. That interview – and my participation, I was filmed in the departure hall at Heathrow, can be seen here.
http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist/ITN/2009/02/04/T04020902/
Rod, you really are such a pain in the arse. The only reason you put in your rubbish is because, for some inexplicable reason, it assists your ludicrous little marketing company. I doubt you ever read the Independent.
You really lower the intellectual tone of this site with you crass input. You are like some overgrown child.
I wonder if MS has ever contacted the Melbourne idiot to ask why he feels the need to comment as he does.
He is just using the site to bolster his sad little business:probably tells his ‘network of imbeciles’ that he is a ‘international commentator’
A great newspaper shame to see its demise have been a subscriber from its launch
What a shame. Started with the best of intentions and I thought it was always a good newspaper. We should be grateful to the lebedevs for funding it and it’s mission and provinding jobs to many.
I’m not sure it was such a great newspaper toward the end, I found it very flat and boring and even the photos (which used to make it special) had gone off. The weekday editor seemed to be a conceited man who wrote with a trowel. If I am right the paper under him also started telling freelancers they would not be paid but could enjoy the ‘exposure’. Not the way to attract the best talent.