Outlets for The Independent have a letter this week advising that the paper, under new management, will be returning to shelves next weekend at a cover price of a twoonie.
That's up fifty cents from the price when the paper died last weekend. Managing editor Ryan Cleary told CBC News that the paper had a circulation of 7, 000 when it folded but apparently gave no indication of whether that was 7,000 paid subscribers, 7,000 copies sold weekly or a combination of paid subscribers and sales at news stands. Subscribers paid a loonie to have the paper delivered each week.
Interesting to watch will be the advertising, which normally would pay all or most of the cost of printing a newspaper. In the late 1980s, Premier Brian Peckford withdrew all government advertising from the weekly Sunday Express in retaliation for its coverage of his administration's greenhouse folly. A similar policy was applied against the Daily News.
An increase in provincial government advertising might indicate the opposite policy being adopted toward The Independent.
In any event, the Spindy will be back next week, apparently.