The strange tale of Evgeny Lebedev and the Independent

What sad news that the Independent is closing. In September last year, I did an investigation into the strange, celebrity-orientated world of the paper’s young owner, Evgeny Lebedev. What was intriguing was that, although Indie journalists were willing to talk — off the record — about Lebedev’s eccentricity, almost everybody I spoke to was keen to stress that, on the business side, Evgeny had done a great job. And in Amol Rajan, it is generally accepted, he had found an innovative, daring and original editor. The Indie’s losses had been dramatically reduced under the leadership of the younger Lebedev and his father, Alexander, the oligarch. Did the money dry up? Was the downsizing and flogging off of the i paper always part of the plan? Will we find out in the coming days and weeks? At any rate, a bad day for British journalism.