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i Editor's Letter: The price of i is going up. Here's why...

 

Oliver Duff
Tuesday 17 February 2015 01:00 GMT
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I’m sorry to write to you with unwelcome – if, for some, not entirely unexpected – news. I wanted to let you know in advance that next week, on Monday, the price of your edition of i will rise by 10 pence, to 40p.

I know this won’t be popular – none of us wants to pay more for anything. But I wanted to explain to you in good time why we needed to take the decision, and to ask for your support.

i launched in October 2010 in the aftermath of a recession, the first new national title for 24 years. There are a lot of reasons it could have failed. Instead, it succeeded because of your generosity – not just putting your hand in your pocket but writing to tell us what you enjoy and dislike, allowing the voice of i’s readership to shape this paper’s direction and content. That conversation continues, and its fruits sit before you every morning. You are now a political force to be reckoned with: ahead of i’s first general election, Britain’s political leaders want to reach i readers, as you saw with the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week. Our commitment to you is to graft ever-harder to improve the paper and to maintain consistently high standards of journalism.

The challenging nature of the news industry will not have escaped you. When we first launched, we lost a lot of money, but our generous owners and commercial partners – encouraged by readers – have backed i. Over the past few years we have been working hard to put the business on a firmer financial footing. We want i to have a bright future, and a price rise would help us to cover rising costs, reduce annual losses, and invest again in the paper.

We hope that 40p (and 50p on Saturdays) would still be good value for you. The latest prices of other titles on the newsstands are: The Times £1.20 (£1.50 on Saturdays), The Guardian £1.60 (£2.50 Saturdays), Telegraph £1.40 (£2), Daily Mail 60p (90p), Mirror 55p (80p), Express 55p (85p), The Sun 40p (60p), Financial Times £2.50 (£3).

We are locking down i subscriptions at existing prices, which means you can continue to buy i for 17.5p a day, if that appeals. All existing vouchers will be valid at the new price. Subscriptions are £55 for a year, or £30 for six months, with more information available at i-subscriptions.co.uk.

You can contact me via email at i@independent.co.uk, or The Editor, i, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5HF. I, or our Deputy Editor, Andy Webster, read every letter. In the meantime we will strive to arm you with a lively, quality, essential daily briefing. Thank you again.

i@independent.co.uk

Twitter.com: @olyduff

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