What next for the Independent?

After months of speculation it was announced last week that Alexander Lebedev has finally bought the Independent. The big question now is what happens next?

From what I've been reading nobody seems quite sure. This is a newspaper that has barely made a profit since it was founded back in 1986. What can Lebedev do to turn things around?

Could the Independent become a free paper like the Evening Standard? That would be a hugely drastic move, revolutionary even. But I've been thinking to myself. What role and place does the Independent really have?

One thing I wasn't previously aware of, was that the Independent had been starved of resources by its previous owners, so I'm sure that staff at the paper and many of its readers are hoping for some better times.

I like the Independent when I read it, but it's not that often. When its price went up to £1, I decided I wasn't prepared to pay that much for a daily paper. That all changed once the Guardian put its price up £1 as well

One of the problems I've always seen with the Independent is that its core audience is essentially the same as the Guardian. May be there are people who will disagree with this, but I don't see a great difference. The problem is that the Guardian has a bigger (in football terms) bigger fan base!

Secondly the Independent sells very few papers outside of London. If it went free, would more people read it out in the provinces. I'm not sure, again it has a more niche audience

Finally some of it's lead headlines can be what I would describe as a little 'Leftfield' at times. I understand that the Independent has the image of being a little different, it's a 'viewspaper' but I still think that on some days there are certain news stories that have to lead on a set given day.

In regards to the take over Dominic Ponsford wrote in the Press Gazette that we shouldn't expect the status quo from Lebedev and the Independent. He believes there may be some radical changes in store. We shall see.

One of the most interesting things though, that I read about this story; is Lebedev's idea of creating a not for profit organisation which will finance global media projects. He and the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev want their Independent Media Foundation (NIMF) to be the organisation responsible for doing this.

Can a not for profit business model prove successful? I suppose it depends on the number of willing philanthropists out there who have a deep passion and desire to maintain quality journalism.

It's a good paper the Independent, but I'm not yet convinced on what Lebedev can do to turn around its fortunes.