History – The owner of the Daily Mail, DMGT, has bought the i newspaper and website for £49.6m from JPI Media
Format – Compact ( broadsheet-quality newspaper printed in a tabloid format)
Editors – Oliver Duff
Political stance – Liberalism, slightly left
Target Audience – Middle Class with the average age of 57 years old
Cost – At the start of September 2017, the price rose once again, to 60p for the weekday edition and 80p for the relaunched i weekend beginning later that month.
Circulation – 265,949 (as of September 2017). Published in London by Daily Mail and General Trust and distributed across the United Kingdom
Profit – The owners of the i, Johnston Press, announced the newspaper was bringing in a monthly profit of around £1 million
Facts
The i launched to pose a challenge to existing ‘quality’ newspapers with low cover price and tabloid format.
· In the context of declining newspaper sales it made a bold statement: “condense, re-format, repurpose – and produce a terse, intelligent summation of the day’s news that busy commuters can enjoy” (Peter Preston).
· It has battled to remain ‘cheap’ or at least ‘cheaper’: the weekday edition rising from 20p to 50p.
· Historical lineage going back to a much-missed ‘parent’ paper, the Independent, now defunct in print form: A significant number of staff joined the team from The Independent.
· It has maintained a reputation: named National Newspaper of the Year in 2015.
· Actually this link was broken when it was purchased by regional publisher Johnston Press (this has not affected its identity).
· It has a distinct ‘independent’ register, crisply edited: aimed at “readers and lapsed readers” of all ages and commuters with limited time: you don’t have to ‘identify’ yourself as a reader of a newspaper.
· Appearance is vital: USP: inside and out: compact, “matrices” for news, business and sports— small paragraphs of information which are expanded upon in full articles further on in the paper”.
· Its title reaches back to ‘independence’ but also forward to internet: i-pad, i-phone, i-player, i!
· The paper is active on social media, reinforcing its youthful feel: there is also a discounted student subscription that lasts for one academic year
