LONDON: The Independent will publish its final print edition next month and become digital only, its owners said on Friday, in the latest shake-up for British newspapers hit by falling advertising revenues.

“The newspaper industry is changing and that change is being driven by readers. They’re showing us that the future is digital,” said Evgeny Lebedev, the Russian-born British owner of The Independent.

The newspaper, which was set up by three former journalists in 1986 and became known for its eye-catching, campaigning front pages and emphasis on photos, will publish its last edition on March 26. The last Independent on Sunday will be on March 20. ESI Media, the group which controls The Independent, said in a statement it was also selling off the “i” — a cut-price sister title — to Scotland-based publisher Johnston Press to fund the website.

The sale price is estimated at $36 million, according to British media reports. Johnston Press owns several titles including The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post.

ESI media said “a significant number of employees” would move to Johnston Press and there would be “some redundancies” but did not specify any numbers.“We faced a choice: manage the continued decline of print, or convert the digital foundation we’ve built into a sustainable, profitable future,” Lebedev told the newspaper’s employees in a letter.

“We will be the first of many leading newspapers to embrace a wholly digital future,” he said. The company said it would launch a subscription mobile app, open new bureaux in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and expand in the United States.

“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 on our online platforms,” Lebedev said.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2016