The Independent became the UK’s largest quality news site

The Independent has overtaken theguardian.com to become the largest quality digital newsbrand in the UK, posting 24.5m UK unique visitors for the month of November according to Comscore figures.

The Independent has led the way in the digital pureplay market for some time with monthly traffic figures exceeding those of Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, Vice and Vox combined, but this month sees it take its place at the top of the quality newsbrand tree with its highest ever traffic performance.

The complex news agenda continues to drive the need for quality journalism; articles relating to the election and Brexit accounted for a quarter of traffic, representing the ability of The Independent to deliver clarity on complex issues.

Since 2018, the title has campaigned for a Final Say referendum – a fight which has secured the backing of more than 1.3 million people. The campaign has already delivered three public marches, as well as a petition handed straight to Downing Street. Leveraging its social media reach while publishing a series of scoops and insightful analysis ensured the campaign remained top of the political agenda.

During November The Independent was responsible for breaking the Shrewsbury Maternity Scandal, exposing the avoidable deaths of hundreds of mothers and babies and the resulting cover up. Shaun Lintern, health correspondent, continues to investigate and recently reported that lawyers for the families have received almost 200 new enquiries since The Independent broke the original story.

While news remains at the heart of The Independent, the growing lifestyle section, led by Harriet Hall, is a continued focus. During November more readers engaged with culture, fashion and film than at any point in the last 18 months representing the breadth of The Independent readers’ interests.

The recent appointment of John Paton as Chairman and promotion of Zach Leonard to CEO cements the global expansion plan for the title in 2020, continuing the growth of the profitable brand.

Evgeny Lebedev says:

I am delighted that these figures recognise the Independent’s achievements at the forefront of journalism. The Indy has managed to balance moving fast and breaking stories with refining a longer lens view of events in Britain and the world. Well done to all our writers in London, New York and around the world.

Christian Broughton, editor says:

This achievement is a wonderful milestone for the dedicated, inspirational and fearlessly independent journalists at The Independent, and would not have been possible without the trust and support of our 24.5m readers across the UK.

We have ambitious plans for 2020 – and we can’t wait to take The Independent to the next level on the world stage.

John Paton, Chairman, says:

Ten years ago Evgeny Lebedev made a commitment to save a failing news brand. This announcement heralding The Independent as the leading quality journalism site in the UK is a testament to that commitment.

ESI Media is the commercial division of the Evening Standard and The Independent. ESI Media has a monthly cross-platform UK reach of 24.5m adults. Evening Standard content is read by 2.4m people every day and The Independent is visited by over 90m global unique browsers each month.