The Independent newspaper, a standard bearer for Britain’s left-wing media establishment for 29 years, has announced that it will close its print section and go “online only” from March 2016. The owners of the Independent and the Independent on Sunday, ESI Media, have confirmed that they will cease printing operations for the papers in March. They are currently in talks with Johnson Press to sell sister-publication i for £24 million. ESI Media owner Evgeny Lebedev confirmed the changes in a letter to employees writing: “I can now confirm we are selling The Independent’s sister paper, i, to Johnston Press, subject to Johnston Press shareholder approval. The newspaper is renowned for its heavily left-wing slant, often using its front pages to promote the euro currency, climate change, and radical feminism. But since being taken over by Russian billionaires Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev, the paper has suffered not just a decline in its already low readership, but also a slew of journalistic faux pas. Recently, the paper published falsehoods asserted by one its flagship columnists, Yasmin Alibhai Brown, as well as repeatedly calling for smear tactics to be used to discredit Eurosceptic voices in Britain. The paper has become increasingly reliant on “clickbait” articles on its i100