CHAPTER 510: REVAMP THE NEWSPAPER

"Mr. Whitney, we meet again."

Richard greeted the Independent Chief Editor with a polite smile, though the exhaustion still lingered behind his eyes.

That dramatic comeback victory over Leicester City had been a sigh of relief — at least now, Manchester City had secured a comfortable top-ten position by the season’s halfway point.

But comfortable wasn’t good enough.

Richard’s gaze drifted to the Premier League table projected on the meeting room screen:

1 Manchester United — 44 points

2 Arsenal — 42 points

3 Chelsea — 41 points

4 Leeds United — 39 points

5 West Ham United — 39 points

6 Aston Villa — 39 points

7 Liverpool — 36 points

8 Derby County — 34 points

9 Manchester City — 31 points

Ninth place. Respectable for newcomers on the European stage... yet nowhere near Richard’s ambitions.

"Just look at them," Whitney said, noticing Richard’s stare. "No reason to stress."

Richard didn’t respond immediately. He rubbed his thumb against his knuckle — a habit he picked up whenever he disagreed but chose not to show it.

"We’ll rise higher," he finally said, voice firm. "Sooner than they expect."

Mr. Whitney chuckled as if he admired the stubbornness. "Well then, Mr. Richard... I look forward to witnessing that rise."

Richard allowed himself a small exhale. "Alright then, let’s move on to today’s agenda."

What is the future direction of The Independent?

After the acquisition of The Independent was finalized, Mr. Whitney came to Maine Road. A change in ownership meant a change in power — and he needed to make sure he stayed on the right side of it.

Moments after Richard signed the acquisition agreement with INM’s representatives, his goal was officially achieved: The Independent was now in his hands. From the second the deal was completed, every employee’s attention shifted toward Richard and the Maddox Capital team.

The young billionaire who had suddenly bought their struggling newspaper was no longer a name in the headlines — he was their future.

More importantly, their own futures were now in his grasp. Would The Independent rise again under this new owner, reclaiming its former glory? Or would it continue its decline, fading into irrelevance?

No one knew.

Richard had no intention of giving a rousing public speech — promises without foundation meant nothing. What mattered right now was speaking to the people who carried the paper on their backs.

"Mr. Whitney, I’d like to have a thorough discussion with you and the general manager about our future direction."

"That is exactly what I hope for as well, Mr. Richard," Whitney replied, relief and anxiety intertwined in his voice.

Amid the complicated emotions filling the room, Richard made his intention clear: he wanted to keep Mr. Whitney as editor-in-chief to continue leading The Independent.

"Please explain the current structure of The Independent to me," Richard instructed calmly. "We currently operate two newspapers — The Independent, and The Sunday Independent, which is a weekly edition of the paper. Is that correct, Mr. Whitney?"

The man nodded quickly. "Yes, that’s right."

"Good. First of all, I want you to understand that I did not buy The Independent to make money. Believe me, I could have earned far more from other investments rather than taking on the uncertainties of this newspaper. I bought The Independent out of a sense of responsibility. I cannot stand by and watch a publication once loved by so many readers collapse — and I have always been one of those loyal readers."

Richard’s expression softened into genuine sincerity. "Mr. Whitney, I believe you want The Independent to recover and grow stronger, don’t you?"

Seeing him nod eagerly, Richard smiled. "That means we share the same goal. So long as we work together toward that goal, we will have no problems. Cooperation is key."

His unspoken message was clear: if cooperation failed, then leadership would have to change. Richard stood up, pulled a whiteboard closer, and wrote two words boldly across the surface: Tradition — Change

"After I take over, the core philosophy of The Independent will remain the same. We will continue to take a neutral stance, pursue truth, conduct thorough investigation, and expose injustice and corruption. I did not buy this newspaper to turn it into another Sun — I refuse to sacrifice integrity for profit."

A visible wave of relief passed through Mr. Whitney’s face. The Sun was exactly what they feared: profitable but trashy, sensational, and shallow — everything they despised.

"However," Richard continued, "while our principles remain unchanged, our operations must evolve."

"Mr. Richard, may I know what you mean by that?" Whitney asked cautiously.

"First," Richard began, "I’ve said before that The Independent has no real advantages over other national newspapers. But under my ownership, that will change. I also heard that INM planned to move The Independent’s headquarters from London to Dublin before this acquisition, correct? That would have been disastrous. If The Independent leaves London, it risks being pushed out of Britain’s mainstream press entirely. As a loyal reader, I refuse to let that happen."

He didn’t stop there.

"Second, I plan to add a fiction column and launch an entertainment section. You know the Harry Potter novels that are rising in popularity, right? We could publish selected Chapters to attract younger readers — not just academics and intellectuals."

He paced slowly, organizing his next point.

"Later on, we’ll completely redesign the newspaper — more images, full-color printing — a more engaging layout to draw in readers. We will also publish both the traditional broadsheet and a compact version simultaneously."

Originally, British newspapers were categorized as broadsheets and tabloids, mainly distinguished by their size. Over time, it became clear that compact, small-format newspapers were easier for readers to handle and required less paper — which also made them appear more environmentally friendly. And let’s be honest, today’s younger readers love anything that carries an "eco-friendly" label.

This led to a major shift in the industry: traditional broadsheets gradually transitioned into compact formats. Even major publications such as The Times and The Guardian eventually adopted smaller editions.

For The Independent, now is the perfect time to make a revamp

One final evolution is essential: with the rapid rise of the Internet, traditional print media must adapt. Richard also plans to launch an official website for The Independent and begin exploring an electronic edition of the newspaper.

Of course, he wasn’t going to overhaul everything overnight. These reforms would be carried out step by step. The first stage was clear: Add a fiction column — then begin the redesign.

As for Harry Potter, remember how some newspapers later published novels or comics in a serialized format? But they didn’t go all the way — only selected Chapters were included.

The goal was to boost engagement, attract younger readers, and give the audience something to look forward to in the next issue. It was a "two birds with one stone" tactic. Since people were already buying the newspaper, they’d inevitably read the featured story as well.

After The Independent’s name began to rise alongside The Sun and other major newspapers, preparations also started for the launch of its official website and the recruitment of editors for the digital edition.

The editor-in-chief, Whitney, mostly accepted the revision plans proposed by Richard, but also put forward his own opinions.

The editor-in-chief, Whitney, mostly accepted the revision plans proposed by Richard, but also put forward his own opinions.

"Mr. Richard, I agree to try to publish a small edition of the newspaper, but as you said, adding pictures and printing the entire edition in color will increase the cost of the newspaper. But we already have a plan to reduce the price of the newspaper, so..."

Hearing his words, Richard said without hesitation, "We don’t need to lower the price of our newspapers. We can just keep the current price. The current price of newspapers is completely affordable even for ordinary people. For newspapers now, lowering prices is not a good strategy. We just need to stick to the quality of our reports. People will be happy to pay for high-quality content."

The current price of each copy of The Independent is 65 pence (£0.65), which is actually acceptable to low-income people. The price of The Independent is currently the highest among major national newspapers in the UK. By comparison, The Times costs just 30p — they cut the price from 45p in 1993 to the current 30p.

At the time, their price-cutting move was hailed as the most successful in the modern British newspaper industry, doubling its circulation. It seems that the price reduction of newspapers is indeed effective.

However, the measures proposed by Richard this time were not made up out of thin air. In addition to referring to the experience of newspaper development that he knew, he also hired a professional data survey agency to obtain data on various measures of many British newspapers.

Based on what he knew, in 1995, the competition between the Daily Express, the Daily Mirror, and The Sun triggered the biggest price-cutting war in the British newspaper industry in recent years.

The effect of their price reduction was immediate, but it lasted for a very short time. After the initial price cut, each newspaper gained a large number of new readers, but now, less than a year later, the circulation of the Daily Mirror has fallen by 3.4% compared to before the price cut, and its other two competitors have not been spared, with sales falling sharply again.

Therefore, Richard believes that the newspaper industry’s price war is no longer effective.

"Consumers will be happy to pay for a good product. Compared with lowering the price of our newspaper, improving the quality of the newspaper and making The Independent more high-quality and stylish is the best strategy. If people are willing to pay £2.50 for a cup of coffee, they will not mind spending less than a third of the price to read a good newspaper," he concluded.

In the end, he convinced the editor-in-chief, Whitney. Of course, the first one to be implemented was the "novel column," which did not require much investment or change. To achieve this, it was only necessary to leave a place in the newspaper layout.

What’s more, Mr. Whitney had read the first novel of J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter, which had already been circulated, and was fascinated by it. He would naturally support this matter wholeheartedly if his slightly bloated body could achieve this.

"When do we start publishing Harry Potter?"

Even the new editor believed Harry Potter would succeed. Looking at his eager expression, Richard said, "I think it’s possible at any time, but before that, it would be a better strategy to do some publicity. I don’t mind you using any means to promote this newspaper, including using someone’s name."

"What?" Mr. Whitney was taken aback upon hearing this.

"Yes, first things first, Mr. Whitney. I have some ideas here," Richard said before pulling a flash drive from his coat.