Letters received since the The Independent announced it is going digital-only

The end of print: a black Satrday or the start of exciting times? The Independent's readers have their say

The courtroom at the Guinness trial, where The Independent put down a marker (Brian Harris)

Be proud of what you have achieved

I have been a staunch supporter of your newspaper since it was first published 30 years ago – my friends joke with me when I refer to a newspaper article – they know that it must be from that newspaper!

I welcomed your independent approach to providing news and views, and I was thrilled with the innovations which you brought to the newspaper world. Those who have been and are associated with this newspaper should be proud of what has been achieved.

Alas, the world is changing, and you are the first of the newspapers to go completely digital – being of a certain age, this is going to be a challenging transition, but as I already do browse The Independent online, this will have to become a feature of my breakfast routine now – not a newspaper perched beside the teapot, but the iPad bringing me my daily diet of news, reviews and opinions.

This is going to be such a difficult time for you all – for me, your correspondents are extended family, familiar and part of my daily routine. I will continue to follow you online. It will not be the same as holding an actual newspaper!

I hope this new venture will point the way for others to follow, as you have done in the past. And I do wish all of you the very best and good luck!

Shiona Mackie

Edinburgh

I shall miss a paper that, in its presentation of both news and views, has remained true to its name. I have been challenged, stimulated and informed but always helped to make up my own mind, and much enjoyed reading good, clear English.

Graeme Jackson

Gloucester

The only paper that has maintained its journalistic integrity over the past 30 years has been The Independent. It has steadfastly conveyed news impartially and aimed its articles at provoking critical thinking by intelligent readers capable of making up their own minds.

I shall be deeply saddened when I can no longer amble up our high street, stop at the newsagent’s, buy a copy of The Independent, thrust it awkwardly into my jacket pocket and head to my favourite coffee shop for a two-hour cover-to-cover read. All of this will not be possible online. But we must be thankful for small mercies.

Thank you to all at The Independent for giving us so much food for thought, for excellent journalism and for great integrity. I shall miss you.

Dr Faysal Mikdadi

Dorchester, Dorset

I am heartily saddened that you have seen fit to discontinue the print publication of your newspaper. It has been my daily source of comprehensive information since its inception, and it is akin to losing a close friend.

I have no desire nor inclination to “go digital”, and I feel this is a retrograde step, despite your protestations to the contrary. March 26 will be for ever a “Black Saturday”.

P J Hill

Liverpool

It is sad news indeed that there will soon be no more print editions of this fine newspaper. Whilst I realise that we live in an increasingly online world, the newsstands will look empty without the only daily worth reading.

I will read it online, for balanced, unbiased and intelligent publications such as this are a rarity in a world of sensationalised celeb-heavy news, but the lack of holding something tangible – much like vinyl – will take some getting used to.

Good luck to you all.

L Roberts

Nottingham

I could wallow in sorrow at the end of the print edition of The Independent, which I have read loyally since the day it was first published. Instead, let me thank you all for providing a wonderful newspaper of balance, dignity and respect. It will leave a gaping hole in daily newspapers. A hole I will try to fill with a digital copy, but somehow I doubt it will be the same.

Terry Johnson

Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

I bought The Independent on its first day of publication and have been a loyal reader since then, for I believed in what it stood for: independent journalism and courageous challenging of the Government.

I am therefore deeply saddened by the demise of the print run. There is no other paper that meets my standards. I will continue to read the online version. Good luck.

Francis Beswick

Stretford, Greater Manchester

So The Independent is going digital at the end of March. We must be everlastingly grateful to the Lebedev family for supporting The Independent for the past six years. But neither my wife or myself has a smartphone, tablet or any other similar device.

I would hate to lose the daily input of independent news and opinion, but I am very reluctant to leave my easy chair and read The Independent on my desktop screen.

Heigh-ho... Finance rules – as ever.

Howard Fuller

Steventon, Oxfordshire

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Digital kit actually works

I have subscribed (free) to your digital edition. I am viewing the paper on my PC and it is very easy to read, and I like the way that you can quickly turn the pages and so get a quick over view of what’s in the paper, and the supplements.

Previously, I always threw all the supplements in the bin unread; now I have skimmed through, and selected a few things to look at.

Ian K Watson

Carlisle

I’ve got the iPad, subscribed to the daily edition... would probably buy the T-shirt if you had one, but, there is one unwelcome feature the iPad has introduced to diminish the enjoyment of your wonderful new digital edition of The Independent.

Distractions. To make the new experience complete, can you add a button to your app (for example, “newspaper mode”) which disables everything else on the tablet until I’ve read at least 85 per cent of the daily edition?

Jonathan Allen

Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire

I have been continuously buying and reading The Independent almost since the day it was launched some 30 years ago and was therefore greatly saddened to hear that the print edition will soon be ending.

I value the paper’s unique integrity, intelligence, courage, wit and humanity as well as finding it most enjoyable and thought-provoking to read. I will greatly miss it.

Rather than switch to another daily newspaper, I intend to do my best to cope with the online version of The Independent, despite being over 60 and so less familiar with digital technology than most younger readers. I very much hope, therefore, that the online version will continue as far as possible in the same format and with most of the same content as the print edition, rather than being a mere website such as the BBC News website. At the very least, please phase in any changes gradually, for the sake of dinosaurs like me.

Peter Nixon

Richmond, Surrey

Just a quick note to say how much I enjoy reading the digital version of The Independent. Navigation is easy, the puzzles and crosswords work, and having back copies is wonderful. Also, the photos have more detail on screen, which enables one to zoom in.

And finally, best of all, last Sunday morning, I didn’t have to get out of bed and go downstairs to collect the paper, for it was right there beside me. I think I need one of those bedside tea-making machines.

David Rose

Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands

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Moderate voice lost from the newsstands

To learn that publication is to cease later this month is like learning that a very dear friend is terminally ill and has only weeks to live.

The greatest worry is that democracy will suffer, as there are so few media voices which challenge the powers running (and ruining) the country.

Mike Stroud

Swansea

What dreadful news that The Independent is no longer to be printed. It is not just the digital age; it is symptomatic of a malaise in British society, first seen at the last general election, when liberal democracy was elbowed out.

Our society has become polarised between them and us, the “haves” and “have nots”, epitomised by the main political parties.

The Independent is the only newspaper to give balance in an otherwise polarised press. The content from editorial, contributing experts and writers of letters always gives space to both sides of the debate, allowing the reader to make an informed decision.

We need The Independent with its moderate and accurate headlines on the newsstands to counterbalance the overblown tabloids and other broadsheets.

Sheila Wright

Ilkley, West Yorkshire

Tomorrow morning, I will buy a range of other daily newspapers. The reason? To compare their coverage of the Budget and decide which will take the place of The Independent on the breakfast table.

Breakfast without a real-life newspaper is like toast without marmalade – unthinkable! So it’s a sad farewell to The Independent, which I have read from the first issue.

(I’ll be very surprised if this letter is published.)

Fiona Davies

Abingdon, Oxfordshire

Of course, I am very unhappy that The Independent will no longer be published as a newspaper after 26 March. I don’t know how I shall be able to keep myself so well informed in future. I’ll try using independent.co.uk and see…

I’m particularly concerned at no longer being sure to get the reports from France by John Lichfield, and those on the Middle East by Patrick Cockburn and Robert Fisk.

Thank you very much for publishing this excellent newspaper for as long as you have been able.

On the Middle East, I must express disappointment at your editorial leading article writers, who appear not to read, or not to believe, the reliable reports from your two most august reporters on that part of the world.

Good luck to you all.

Ian Campbell

Winterbourne Abbas, Dorset

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The page that never disappoints

Most of all I will miss my fellow readers. The letters page always contains a least one comment that is shrewd, thoughtful and witty. Even when the columnists are having a collective bad day, the letters page is worth the price of the print edition.

Thank you to all the contributors for the pleasure they have given me over the years.

Jenny Walton

Ormskirk, Lancashire

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Laments for a lost way of life

I am writing to say how disappointed I am that I will not be able to buy the “real” newssheet any time after March, when you finally retire to your apps, iPods and technology generally to deliver “virtual” content.

I have many torn and crumpled Independent news articles covered in boiled egg, spilled coffee and tea stains, with crumbs stuck to them – but still reusable due to important news content I share with people I know will be interested in them.

I have loved slumping in a comfy chair and clutching the Indy, wiping off the print on my fingers so that I can eat a sticky bun or greasy breakfast while continuing reading. Of course I will visit online, for sure, but it will never ever be the same experience.

Margaret George

Leeds

I was devastated to hear the news of the imminent demise of the printed Independent. I have been a reader since its inception.

I know I will still be able to read my favourite journalists online, but no longer will I be able to take it to bed with me to do the crossword and the codeword, or to spread it out on my kitchen work surface at breakfast time to scan through the vital headlines before I get on with the rest of my day.

I think it is so sad to lose one of our best papers in physical form – presumably the rest will soon follow.

The “digitisation” of everything I find particularly discriminatory towards the elderly or non-computer-literate – but presumably we will soon drop off our perches so it’s only a matter of waiting a while and then all will be well.

Angela Peyton

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

No doubt you are receiving any number of letters demonstrating the same wide range of deep angst that I find myself subjected to. I have no rational complaint: the economics are simple. However, I feel the selfish need to rail against the decision and its immediate effect on my lifestyle.

Please can you help me with an excuse to get out of the house first thing other than to buy your newspaper and a coffee, scan the headlines and do the crossword and the sudoku? Will the digital edition have a crossword and a sudoku? Can you even do them on a tablet? Will you be providing counselling?

Many thanks for your wonderful newspaper.

Charles Oglethorpe

Woking, Surrey

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The end of my daily quest

My daily quest for a (hard) copy of The Independent has been a family joke for my kids for the past 30 years or so. No matter how many shops I had to visit, I always managed to bring one back intact.

Having just taken (early) retirement after 34 years in the NHS, what reason will I have now to get out of bed, when I can just read the paper online?

We live in exciting times!

Stuart Monk

Manchester

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The News from October 1986

I am shocked and saddened by the news that a print version of The Independent will shortly no longer grace my breakfast table.

I have the first edition from 7 October 1986. A young Andrew Marr was writing about “Conservatives try to halt sterling slide.” Notts Forest and Norwich were equal top of the First Division, while Manchester and Newcastle were equal bottom. Price 25p. I have also the 2000th edition of 18 March 1993. Robert Fisk was reporting from Lebanon. The price had risen to 45p. Both editions are yellow with age and both are broadsheets.

Tomorrow will be a sad day for all concerned, but do I get a gold star for being such a nerd?

Stafford Green

London SE26

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Grave issues treated with wit

No doubt going online is the way all the newspapers will go, but reading from the screen is certainly not to everybody’s taste – kneeling on the floor with the paper spread out for me.

I shall miss The Independent’s in-depth news coverage, which is unrivalled, despite the fact that my profession has little concern for politics; pathology has no respect whatsoever for anything.

The Indy’s writers, without fail, however grave the issue, invest it with wit. There will never be another newspaper in my house. Pity.

Dr Richard Wood

North Yorkshire

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Things you can’t do with an iPad

Where shall I put my pot of paint while redecorating? How am I going to clean my windows? An iPad doesn’t quite fit the bill for either of these activities, although with the poor broadband reception here I often think of using my computer to light the fire.

Penny King

Thurlton, Norfolk

Look, no batteries

I will miss the paper edition very much – it works in any light, never runs out of battery, and is faster to read and lighter to carry around than my tablet or laptop. Thank you for many years of entertainment, information and analysis.

Marilyn Mason

Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey

The only thing I won’t miss ...

I’ve been reading The Independent for years. I’ll miss the paper version, but as long as there are still well-written and well researched articles, the move to online could mean exciting times. The only thing I won’t miss is that vertical masthead.

Andrew Singleton

London N16