Having worked for 7+ years at The Independent, both for the pervious owners and for JRC, I have to say that it was not so much the troubled economy that caused the paper's closure, but JRC's years of gross mismangement . Key positions of the company, such as publisher and advertising director, were filled for a long length of time with totally incompetent individuals who were allowed to slide along while dragging the numbers down with them. It was too late by the time JRC tried to re-organize with some key staff and build the revenue back up. It seems JRC is very good at turning a blind eye when it comes to higher level incompetence.
To his credit the Indy's editor, Parry Teasdale did a tremendous job with a community newspaper - despite JRC. I was sorry to hear of the closing, knowing that many of my previous co-workers and friends, who put their heart and soul into this publication, are now unemployed.