The Independent

The Independent is a British online news outlet, formerly a print newspaper, based in London. Generally regarded as centrist to centre-left in orientation, it covers UK and international news, politics, and culture. Since ending its print edition, it has operated as a digital-first publication serving a broad online readership in the UK and abroad.

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The Independent at a glance

Country: United Kingdom
Region: Northern Europe · Europe
Kind of outlet: Digital-native outlet
Editorial leaning: Centrist
Founded: 1986
Owner: Independent Digital News & Media (Lebedev Holdings)
Published from: London
Website: independent.co.uk ↗
Preview: Renders inside Crosswire's comparison panes (last checked 2026-10-12).

Founding, ownership and location are directory records without individual source citations here. Ownership can change; verify these details with the publisher before quoting them. The preview status comes from the weekly audit that requests every outlet through Crosswire's own edge — see how the fetcher identifies itself.

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How Crosswire groups The Independent

Crosswire groups The Independent as Centrist for comparisons within the United Kingdom's directory. Center includes both centrist outlets and outlets for which the directory has no confident classification. It is not evidence that this outlet is neutral or more accurate. In the United Kingdom, The Guardian is listed as Left-leaning, while Daily Mail and The Sun are listed as Right-leaning — so you can open The Independent beside a title of a different orientation and compare the same day's front pages directly.

Compare The Independent with another outlet from the United Kingdom covering the same event and edition. Record the headline, publication time, named sources and links to original evidence. Similar leaning labels can still produce different coverage; a different label does not guarantee an independent source. Check the articles before interpreting a front-page difference as bias.

This is an approximate orientation, not a definitive judgement — and not a rating of quality or accuracy. Read how Crosswire classifies editorial leanings. This profile does not include an individual assessment citation. Page updated 2026-09-28; this is a content-change date, not a fresh fact-check of the outlet. Think this label is wrong? Suggest a correction.

Where The Independent sits in the United Kingdom's press

The Independent was founded in 1986, is published from London and is owned by Independent Digital News & Media (Lebedev Holdings). It is one of 9 outlets tracked in the United Kingdom and the only digital-native outlet tracked there. By outlets tracked, the United Kingdom ranks fifth of the 45 countries on Crosswire's Europe hub, which lists 264 outlets in all.

Across Europe, Crosswire tracks 31 of the 191 digital-native outlets in the directory. The nearest counterparts to The Independent outside the United Kingdom, starting with Northern Europe, are Monaco Tribune (Monaco), elDiario.es (Spain), Observador (Portugal) and Net News (Malta). Opening one of them beside The Independent is the quickest way to see what is a house style and what is a national one.