After more than two amazing years of rapid expansion to our global readership, we have decided to drop the The Independent's paywall in the US and Canada. From today, anyone who comes to the site will be able to enjoy as much of it as they want.
The whole editorial staff is very excited about welcoming new readers. Back at the end of 2012, we had around 16 to 17 million people coming to the site each month. Now that figure is 54 million. It means a lot to us that our journalism reaches so many people.
North America, as a major English-speaking region, has always been on our radar, and at the end of last year we started to put together a team and open a small office in New York. It's already picking up momentum, and we're hiring more reporters there. Regular visitors will also see some nice platform changes happening over the next few months to make our North American readers feel more at home, but let's not spoil the surprises here.