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Britain’s The Independent newspaper has concluded plans to close its print operations go digital-only. It was announced on Friday that the print operations of the paper will close in March.
In a statement, ESI Media said The Independent will become the first British national newspaper to make the change. The paper, which was founded in 1986, distributes fewer than 60,000 copies a day, from a high of over 400,000.
According to the firm, 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.”