ANOTHER VOICE
Since sales went down, all else has failed at the Indie, so the new editor is trying journalism again
STEPHEN GLOVER
0 ve might the Independent has changed into a different newspaper. The first thing Andrew Marr did when he became editor two weeks ago was to remove the names of senior editorial exec- utives and company directors beneath the masthead on the leader page. Within two days the page was reorganised; one long editorial, along with a much shorter com- panion, now runs across the top. Much more dramatic was the immediate transfor- mation of the front page. The paper no longer follows other newspapers. The lead story is very likely to be a long feature or a piece of analysis. There is a fondness for striking photographs, and at the time of writing the Independent has run large draw- ings three times on the front (and several times inside) since Mr Marr assumed con- trol.
Old Independent loyalists will recognise these characteristics from the newspaper's early days. Mr Marr is a back-to-basics man with a vengeance, someone who worked for the Independent in a junior capacity during its infancy and believes that it established itself then by being refreshingly different from its competitors. But there is a differ- ence. Whereas in the early days of the paper its founding editor, Andreas Whit- tam Smith, would come up with an uncon- ventional front page from time to time, Mr Marr is producing one every day. I pick up my copy with trembling hands wondering what new surprise he has in store for us this morning.
A couple of days after Mr Marr took over, we had a very good long piece on the front from Rupert Cornwall in Washington about Admiral Boorda, the chap who shot himself. The day after John Major declared war on Europe over beef, the Independent led with an article about the new Degas exhibition at the National Gallery, accom- panied by a large photograph of one of the paintings. The Daily Star was the only other paper not to 'splash' on beef that Wednes- day. The following morning, beneath the headline 'Oh, what a lovely war', the paper ran an eight-column drawing above a song of praise to Europe written by John Lich- field. On Tuesday of this week, the paper's lead story about an NOP poll showing sup- port for the Government's policy on Europe carried the ironic headline 'For beef, Major and St George'. And so on. Every day there is an unusual headline, pic- ture or main story — and often all three. It is easy to raise objections. For exam- ple, since none of us had ever clapped eyes on Admiral Boorda before reading Mr Cornwall's piece, it might have been useful to have a photograph of the man rather than a drawing based on a photograph. Equally, the demotion of the beef story on the morning after the Prime Minister's statement seems curious in view of the paper's subsequent obsession with the issue. Sometimes the paper strains so hard to recover its lost brilliance that it ends up by looking merely eccentric. (Mr Whittam Smith, by the way, has been raised from the dead as a weekly columnist.) There is a danger that this feature-led approach, which is certainly not confined to the front page, will give readers the impression that the Independent cannot be relied upon for solid news. There are usually no more than three pieces on the front, only one of which might come into the category of news.
And yet it is difficult not to admire what Mr Marr is doing. I doubt whether anyone could do better in his position. He inherits a paper selling about 280,000 copies a day which, apart from a few blips, has been los- ing circulation since March 1990 when it sold 423,000 copies. Certainly the price war begun by the Times has added greatly to its woes, but the paper's sales had already dropped to 326,000 in the month before that started in September 1993. By that point the Independent had already lost its way. Mr Man takes over the editorship of a paper which has suffered all the indignities of a title in decline: unsuccessful redesigns, cutbacks of staff, changes of editors. In March 1994 Mirror Group became a sub- stantial shareholder and since then it has been in day-to-day charge of the paper. There has been no investment. Nearly three months ago over 40 journalists were sacked.
Mr Marr doesn't have enough reporters. Many of the paper's best writers are long 'If he does, I'll be ready for him.' gone. Mirror Group and its chief executive David Montgomery are not the most enlightened partners. (Dr Tony O'Reilly of Independent Newspapers of Ireland, the other main shareholder, is a more engaging soul.) In these unpromising circumstances Mr Marr has set out to make the most of what he has. Though his experience is that of a columnist and writer, he has seized the whole paper, and his lack of wide newspa- per expertise serves only to make him bold- er. Compare what he is doing to the rela- tive inactivity of Will Hutton, another columnist-turned-editor, who has been at the helm of the almost equally troubled Observer for several weeks. Whereas Mr Marr makes himself felt on almost every page, it is sometimes difficult to sense the presence of Mr Hutton outside the bound- aries of his column. Mr Man will discover — I'm sure he already knows — that when disheartened journalists are inspired they do better work.
We can complain that there isn't enough news, that some of the writers who attempt these front-page feats aren't up to it, and that there are too many ideas from the past and not enough new ones for the future. But Mr Man is creating a stir — a stir that is beginning to worry one or two senior edi- tors at the rival and much more successful Guardian. The Independent is slightly more dependent on news-stand sales than is usual; as the paper is delivered into fewer homes, it can attract a higher proportion of buyers by virtue of its front page. But not all the changes are to be found there. Mr Marr, who could loosely be described as Blairite, is one of the few Fleet Street edi- tors who is a political intellectual. Whether we agree with them or not, the leaders under his stewardship have become more formidable.
I don't suppose that Mr Marr can save the Independent single-handedly, but nor do I suppose that Mirror Group Newspa- pers under its existing management is bound always to run the show. What Mr Marr may be able to do is to recover the paper's self-respect, win back a few readers and save the title for the future. I hope he succeeds. If you are one of those early Independent readers who long ago despaired of the newspaper and feel that it somehow let you down, it might be worth your while next time you are in the paper shop to pick up your old friend and take another look.
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