Saudi investor in Independent news site ‘to have no editorial control’

LONDON: The Saudi investor who has reportedly taken a stake in the UK-based Independent news site will have no editorial control over the title, a source close to him told Arab News.
It emerged this week that 42-year-old Sultan Mohammed Abuljadayel had acquired a 30 percent stake in Independent Digital News and Media, the website’s parent company which is owned by Evgeny Lebedev, the son of the Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev.
It is understood to be part of a broader push into the Middle East, with Arabic and Urdu versions of the website being planned.
News of the purchase raised questions by some commentators over the whether the site’s editorial independence would be preserved following the transaction.
But a source close to Abuljadayel said that the deal was purely an investment move and that there was “no editorial control.”
The Independent newspaper was founded 30 years ago to shake up the partisan mainstream media, with a focus on impartial political coverage and creative use of photography.
It went online-only 18 months ago and has more than doubled its online audience since — with a huge increase in its US audience before and after the US presidential elections.
Independent Editor Christian Broughton, in an interview with Financial Times on Saturday, said that the website’s editorial integrity would not be compromised by the deal.
“There is a shareholder agreement which now says in categorical cast iron terms that no shareholders can influence the editor of the Independent,” he told the newspaper.
“You only have to look at the Independent’s editorial line on Saudi Arabia. We take a strong view on these things and report on the whole region as we see fit.”