After buying The Independent from INM for £1 in March, speculation has been that Alexander Lebedev might repeat his London Evening Standard strategy and take The Indy free.
But, in their first, separate interviews since buying The Indy, father Alexander and son Evgeny perhaps betray a hint of paternal contradiction that suggests not even they yet know for sure…
Free or not?
— FT: “(Evgeny) is considering taking the paper partially free, for example within the M25 region, which would boost distribution and make the paper a more compelling proposition to advertisers.”
— Guardian.co.uk: “(Alexander) reveals he has no plans ‘at the moment’ to make The Independent free. He adds that he doesn’t want to adversely affect other newspapers in Britain, and nor does he want to forgo income from the Indy’s sale price. But he won’t rule out a free Independent at some future point. ‘Never say never. The world is changing. Questions are more plentiful than the answer’.”
— Son: