The Independent partners with Cengage Learning to make 25 years of alternative opinion available online

The Independent has partnered with Gale, part of Cengage Learning to digitise the complete run of its newspaper from its very first issue to the end of 2012. Launching today, The Independent Digital Archive provides a crucial alternative perspective to the views of the British mainstream press of the 20^th and 21^st centuries and is destined to become a key resource for the study of late 20^th century and early 21^st century media, culture and society.

The digital archive contains ¾ million pages covering every issue of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday between 1986 and 2012 adding an extra layer of perspective to the newspapers already available in Gale's historical newspaper programme. Users can seamlessly search, retrieve and browse every article, page and edition of the newspaper in an intuitive online environment designed for in-depth teaching and research. The digital archive offers students and researchers insight not only into the shifting media landscape but also into how contemporary culture, society and politics have been represented in the pivotal years leading up to and beyond the millennium

Established in the mid-eighties to offer the reading public an ‘independent' voice by a group of journalists seeking to redress the perceived bias of other major national UK newspapers, The Independent and The Independent on Sunday quickly gained a strong following for their independent editorial stance and refusal to conform to the news agenda set by rival papers. Over the years, The Independent has taken assertive and at times controversial campaigning positions on issues such as the legalisation of drugs, the War on Terror and the environment

Acclaimed for its coverage of the Middle East and its strong patronage of writers, the newspaper's contributors have included Robert Fisk, the Middle East correspondent for The Independent for more than two decades. Named ‘International Journalist of the Year' seven times, Fisk famously interviewed Osama Bin Laden three times. Helen Fielding also first published her Bridget Jones diary entries in The Independent and Andrew Marr, the BBC political journalist and commentator, edited The Independent in the 90s. Other former writers include Sebastian Faulks, the British author famous for the World War I novel Birdsong, Howard Jacobsen, Booker prize-winning novelist and American writer Bill Bryson.

Seth Cayley, Head of Research Solutions at Cengage Learning EMEA, commented: "The Independent has always been a unique voice in British journalism. When exploring the archive and comparing it to other major newspapers, it is striking just how often it led with a different story to the rest of the British press. The Independent Digital Archive creates an excellent opportunity for researchers to follow the creation of this alternative news agenda."

Michael Pocock, Head of Licensing & Syndication at The Independent said "We are immensely proud of the rich and varied history of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday.  From the very beginning the focus has been on taking a different, unbiased stance and presenting our readers with the information they need in new and imaginative ways.  The Independent archive is consequently a treasure trove of fascinating content and we have taken great pleasure in working with Cengage Learning to make it digitally accessible."

The Independent Digital Archive 1986-2012 forms part of the Gale NewsVault programme, a cross-searchable collection of more than 13 million pages of newspaper and magazine archives, including the Times Digital Archive and the Daily Mail Online - gale.cengage.co.uk/newsvault. This archive is available as a subscription or one-off purchase to all academic, public and government libraries.

To pre-register for a trial or request pricing please email emea.galereply@cengage.com or visit gale.cengage.co.uk