The final edition of the Independent on Sunday has hit the newsstands. It has gone out in typically classy style, with a powerful front page that features climate change, an interview with the Prime Minister, and a major feature by Robert Fisk.

With the rest of Fleet Street focussing on infighting in the Conservative Party (no doubt a significant story,) it is a perfect reminder of the breadth of issues that the paper covers, and how it is always seeking shine a light on issues that other papers do not.

The death of this powerful voice should bother anyone who cares about media plurality and original thinking.

Personally I’m very sad it is closing down. I got my first national byelines with the Independent on Sunday, when the paper backed me in covering the allegations against the Lib Dem peer Lord Rennard.

Having already written a comment piece for them, I will never forget the thrill of picking up the paper to see if the story had got in, and finding it as the Page 2 lead.

I’ve also had the pleasure of being a book reviewer for the paper, and the honour of being a judge on the Rainbow List — its annual celebration of LGBT people who do amazing things. I cannot really think of another paper that has supported the LGBT community in the way the Independent on Sunday did. It catches that that sentence now has to be written in the past tense.

While there is little doubt that the future of media is internet based, it is still hard to replace the serendipity of flicking through a newspaper and discovering things you did not know you were looking for.

Perhaps the tablet based approach by the daily Independent will continue to provide this, but for now newsstands still matter. They will be a lot poorer for not having the Independent on Sunday on them next weekend.