The name Independent was chosen to signify the new publication's identity as an unbiased, credible, objective source of news pertaining to the Stony Brook University campus, without any display of favoritism towards the university's administration, student government or any specific body of students, while striving to maintain and uphold the highest levels of journalistic ethics.
In its first year of operation, the Independent was published as a subsidiary publication of the Stony Brook University student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).
Feature articles, investigative reports, sports, arts and entertainment, music reviews, interviews, op-eds, polls, and editors' blogs also make up a large component of the Independent's content on a regular basis.
The Independent also works collaboratively with other recognized student media organizations on campus, including the campus chapter of SPJ, the Stony Brook Press and WUSB 90.1 FM, the university's FCC-licensed non-commercial radio station, where some of the Independent's editors and staffers currently host a live, weekly talk show, "In Focus" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080515155340/http://www.infocusradio.org/).
Closely related to its work with the School of Journalism, the Independent's editorial board often sponsors tutorials and seminars for any interested student to learn the finer points of such topics as news writing and photography.
The Independent is run entirely by students, both undergraduate and graduate, but has also featured content submissions from the campus and surrounding community, and world at large.
Similarly to its counterpart, the Stony Brook Statesman, the Independent is managed through a not-for-profit corporation, known as SBI News, Inc., registered in Suffolk County, New York.
The Independent maintains a current staff size of approximately 25 writers and editors, all of whom possess official Stony Brook University media credentials and have access to all events taking place on campus as a result.