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What now for Independent readers?

(21 Posts)
M0nica Sun 27-Mar-16 16:12:43

We have been reading The Independent regularly since it was first published but it is no more and we are discussing what we will buy in its place.

We have racked our brains to remember what we read before it came along and came to the conclusion that we yo-yoed between The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph. We were not bothered by the political leanings of either paper since we shared neither of them. We would read the Guardian until its humourless self righteousness drove us mad then read the Telegraph until its smug complacency had the same effect at which point we would revert to the Guardian and so it would continue.

Anyone else sharing our predicament and if so what are you doing?

POGS Sun 27-Mar-16 16:32:31

It pays to read what you agree with and what you don't agree with to get an objective view. If we only read a paper that backs up 'what we know' to be true because it speaks our language we might as well write it ourselves.

A bit of a throw away comment but I remember reading once , I think it was Mary Beard if I remember correctly , asking an American friend who is a staunch Republican. " Why aren't more Conservatives like you". Her friend replied " Mary, I'm the only Conservative you ever really talk to".

Something like that but you get my point.

Anniebach Sun 27-Mar-16 16:35:55

I am sorry the Indie has left the shelves, it was one paper one could buy to avoid page after page of the windsors

rosesarered Sun 27-Mar-16 16:39:21

Try.... the Times, the Daily Telegraph, and the Sun? grin
I haven't bought newspapers for a long while though.

rosesarered Sun 27-Mar-16 16:40:05

the I will be online I think.

Ana Sun 27-Mar-16 16:49:00

Yes, it's still going to be available online.

durhamjen Sun 27-Mar-16 16:52:00

The i is still available as a newspaper. I think it was bought by another group, one that owns lots of regional papers.
You can still read the proper Independent online.

I tend to buy the i as it's easier for my grandson to read with me.
Then I read the Guardian online.

NotTooOld Sun 27-Mar-16 17:07:31

I like the i, too, and it has a good puzzle page!

lucyinthesky Sun 27-Mar-16 17:28:52

I also recommend the i - it was often better than it's bigger sister and yes the Guardian online.

Alea Sun 27-Mar-16 19:08:21

A previous member no longer on GN once commented that she did not see why she should pay for a newspaper as she could read all the news she wanted online.
I don't know if she was an Indie reader, but I suspect other papers may well go the same way if this trend continues. sad
A loss to publishing, online is NOT the same!

Treebee Sun 27-Mar-16 19:26:26

We've taken the Independent since the start and are sad at its print demise. We've signed up for the digital version. We used to buy vouchers to buy the paper and had several months to go so we have it for six months free. Don't really want to read it online though. DH is going to buy the Times I think.

Deedaa Sun 27-Mar-16 21:04:41

The Independent had become too expensive for me to justify once we retired, but I am very happy with the I (and they publish my letters!)

M0nica Sun 27-Mar-16 22:04:41

I find reading a newspaper online totally unsatisfactory. The joy of a newspaper is that one's eye drifts over articles on subjects that you think you have no interest only to find but yourself caught up in them and reading them - and I have learnt a lot by so doing. I have been known to end up reading articles in the sports section.

What I like about newspapers is the columnists articles, almost more than the news reports, long, carefully thought through articles. I also miss the obituaries. Just the material cut out of the I.

I like relaxing at the table after lunch with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. Like everything I read the papers twice, once quickly to get the broad picture and then in detail to pick up the detailed discussion articles. You just cannot do that online in the same way.

Eloethan Sun 27-Mar-16 23:47:43

I get the I every day, and think it's very good. I get The Guardian on Saturday. It's a shame about the Independent - I only hope the Guardian doesn't go the same way. If it does, there will be just one newspaper (the I) that doesn't have a right wing agenda - I don't really view the Mirror - or any of the other tabloids - as proper newspapers.

I do look online at other publications but I agree that reading a newspaper on line is just not the same - not at all relaxing.

thatbags Mon 28-Mar-16 06:25:37

I read articles from most of the well-known daily newspapers online. I get most recommendations for good articles from wise people on Twitter. You get a very balanced picture of the world when you dip into a variety of publications. I like that, plus seeing what people with whose views I don't usually agree have to say on subjects I feel strongly about.

Indie is still available online is what I'm saying. As others have said, I haven't bought an actual newspaper for years.

thatbags Mon 28-Mar-16 06:27:48

You can do that online, m0.

Says one who does it. One gets used to reading news articles online. I suggest you try again if you really want to carry on reading the Indie.

Otherwise: shrug.

thatbags Mon 28-Mar-16 06:33:15

I also suggest that if someone can't be arsed to read a changed format of a publication when their preferred format goes kaput, they don't really want to read it.

thatbags Mon 28-Mar-16 06:36:10

I added a "ducks" emoji after that but it was judged 'invalid'

??????

Maybe HQ thought I'd written fucks??

Tries again < ducks >

It's the arrows they don't like.

Maggiemaybe Mon 28-Mar-16 07:28:43

I agree with you, M0nica, about preferring to read a real newspaper with my morning coffee, and even though I get most of my daily news online, I enjoy taking time out to leaf through the many component parts of the Guardian on a Saturday and the Observer on a Sunday. In the same way that I often tire of my Kindle and pick up a real book. I have to agree with you again, though, on the humourless self-righteousness. There are times when the paper ends up being flung across the room in a way I wouldn't care to risk with my IPad.

M0nica Mon 28-Mar-16 22:36:34

I read plenty of news online and I read and receive a lot of magazines online. The design and layout of a magazine adapts very well to online browsing but the joy of a page of newsprint spread out in front of you is the enormous range or articles, headlines and full text, available on one page. Often what draws me into an article is not the headline but a line of text that catches my eye. It is the serendipitous manner one is drawn to read a subject you have no interest in in a newspaper that is so good.

To find and read online all the information on one page of most newspapers would take much more time than sweeping one's eyes over the newsprint and absorbing what one sees.

It is like using a Kindle, ideal for novels, totally useless for any other book with illustrations, diagrams and maps you want to consult in detail while reading the text or where you want to flip back and forth between pages or consult an index.

durhamjen Tue 29-Mar-16 10:05:00

For you, MOnica. About the Independent and other papers.

theconversation.com/journalism-isnt-dying-theres-even-room-for-optimism-about-print-56622