Our Story

The little paper that could

The Independent was founded in 2003 as an independently owned and operated print newspaper based in St. John’s but covering all of Newfoundland and Labrador. While for many readers the pink white and green ‘republican’ flag billowing on the paper’s masthead evoked images of an independent Newfoundland and Labrador, in fact the paper’s name represented a rallying cry of a very different sort: for an independent, locally owned and operated media; a made-right-here source of news, views, commentary and analysis. In a world of media conglomerates where newspapers are invariably owned by large national or transnational corporate chains, based in Ottawa or Toronto, and whose concerns with profit and revenue often trounce journalistic professionalism, the idea of a truly independent professional news media is becoming increasingly hard to find. The Independent envisioned its role as providing the province with just such a professional, yet independent, homegrown media source.

Under the direction of publisher Brian Dobbin and editor Ryan Cleary (now a Member of Parliament for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl), The Independent’s print run lasted from 2003-2008. During that time, it established a reputation for hard-hitting and award-winning journalism, coupled with challenging – and at times controversial – opinion pieces, and insightful arts, culture and lifestyle coverage. It developed a strong readership and enshrined a special place in Newfoundland and Labrador’s public discourse. Whether publishing a daring multi-part cost-benefit analysis of the province’s experience in Confederation, or demanding safety for those who work in the offshore, The Independent provided a modern voice for a modern Newfoundland and Labrador, reflecting the province’s changes and growing diversity just as equally as its deepest rooted traditions.

In 2005, the Indy, as the publication had affectionately become known, was awarded a citation of merit from the prestigious Michener Awards Foundation – an organization established to recognize excellence in public service journalism. A survey in 2006 estimated The Independent had a regular readership of 40,000 Newfoundlanders.
But in 2008 the effects of the growing recession and a worldwide downturn in the newspaper publishing industry combined to hit newspapers hard across the continent. In 2008 The Independent’s publishers decided they could no longer sustain the paper in a struggling industry. The paper ceased publication in 2008, and with it the province’s only truly independent source of print news.

The Spirit Lived On

Yet after the paper’s demise, the demand for another media source only grew alongside the province’s fortunes. In 2010 publisher Brian Dobbin collaborated with young journalism graduate Emilie Bourque with a plan to revive The Independent, but this time with the future of news media in mind. Planning to take advantage of the resources and limitless nature of the internet, while leaving behind the declining and struggling print industry, The Independent was to be a solely online publication. Dobbin and Bourque began recruiting a new team of writers, reporters, and contributors with the intent to deliver the same professional and hard-hitting news, analysis and commentary that’s defined the paper’s identity since the beginning.

The Independent was officially revived in its online form on Monday, February 21, 2011. The publication was launched modestly, using social media and online technologies to introduce itself. With a positive reception from its new and returning readers, the team used the months ahead to refine and improve its online product. In the process the project’s reigns were passed on to a small team dedicated to the idea of an independent media source for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Gavin Simms (a former reporter with The Packet), Hans Rollmann (a reporter and columnist), and Kieran Hanley (marketer and web developer) now form the close-knit team which works to make The Independent possible.

But the challenge continues

Trying to defy the odds, The Independent is still determined to provide an independent and professional source of media, news, analysis and commentary that’s written and inspired by the people, issues and places of Newfoundland and Labrador. But despite the opportunities that lie ahead, the small team is limited by their own personal time and financial resources.

We believe an independent media plays a vital role in providing a space for dialogue, coverage and analysis of Newfoundland and Labrador’s place in the world: in questioning who we are, who we want to be, what we are doing and where we are going. The Independent has clearly carved a special place in the heart of Newfoundland and Labrador’s communities, and our new small team is striving to carry on that vision that began ten years earlier. But we can only do this with your help.

The Independent needs your support to keep this vision alive, and to ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador continues to have an independent, professional media source to carry its voice, its experiences, and its debates about our future into the 21st century and beyond…

We hope that you may consider a $30 membership, or voluntary subscription to support us. To learn more, click here.

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