Britain's 'The Independent' newspaper to go digital-only

LONDON — Britain’s The Independent newspaper will close its print operations in March and go digital-only, the owner announced Friday.

In a statement, ESI Media said The Independent will become the first British national newspaper to make the change. In December, retail sales of the paper, which was founded in 1986, were 40,457, down 7% year-on-year, its owner said.

The paper is a content partner of USA TODAY. ESI Media said there will be some job losses.

The firm said the monthly audience of the profitable independent.co.uk website grew 33.3% to nearly 70 million global unique users in the last year, and is expected to see a 50% growth in revenue in 2016.

“This decision preserves The Independent brand and allows us to continue to invest in the high quality editorial content that is attracting more and more readers to our online platforms," said Evgeny Lebedev, the title's owner. “The Independent has always been a pioneering newspaper with a track record of innovation.”

Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of The National Union of Journalists (NUJ), said the deal was made “behind closed doors” without consultation with staff, and “underlines the moral bankruptcy of newspaper ownership in the U.K”.

ESI Media said it would create 25 new digital roles, launch a subscription mobile app and open new editorial offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as expanding operations in the United States.

The sister Independent on Sunday title will also stop printing in March and the lower price, commuter-aimed i newspaper, which is part of the same group, will be sold to multimedia company Johnston Press, subject to approval from that firm's shareholders, ESI Media said. It added that the i100.co.uk website, aimed at millennials, will become indy100.com. The Guardian reported that between 20 and 40 staff are expected to transfer to Johnston Press.

The Independent Editor Amol Rajan will become editor-at-large of the digital business, The Guardian said.

“Experienced staff who have been committed to the idea and ideals of the titles, in some cases for decades, are facing losing their jobs in shocking circumstances,” said NUJ national organizer Laura Davison.

ESI Media said the number of redundancies at the three newspapers will be confirmed after a period of consultation.

Christian Broughton, editor of Independent Digital, said the move was to “safeguard the future of The Independent” and was a “seminal” moment in the history of Fleet Street, the collective name for the British newspaper industry.

“We’re going to where our readership is,” he said. “The scale of the digital readership tells us that’s where the future lies."