The Independent Expands Spotlight on Arts & Entertainment
Hello, friends and neighbors! Josh Warburton here, the Publisher of The Independent, and I’m thrilled to announce some exciting changes coming your way. After 29 years of serving our communities, we’ve decided to go all-in on what we’ve loved from the start: local arts and entertainment coverage.
You might have already spotted a sneak peek on suindependent.com—more daily event roundups, a spruced-up homepage, and a wave of fresh arts features. While opinion pieces and political columns in newspapers have had their moment, the truth is social media has taken over that realm. Folks are heading to Facebook or X to express their opinions and get immediate feedback. Our carefully crafted columns just weren’t sparking the conversation we’d hoped for. So, beginning February 1, we’re making it official: more event stories and far fewer opinion pieces.
But that’s only half the story. Over the past two decades, southern Utah’s population and its arts, entertainment organizations, and venues have totally blown up—but our coverage didn’t keep pace. Now, we’re doubling down on featuring even more of the best local fun, culture, and creativity. Our website is bursting with daily event highlights, and you may have noticed we’ve also been shifting our print pages away from editorials in favor of showcasing the cool places to be and the people who make this region shine.
To celebrate, we’re rolling out brand-new features like our continuously updated Southern Utah Festival Guide online, which also gets a special print version in February’s print edition (and in future ones). Along with that, you’ll see some design makeovers, both online and in print, enhanced content, reflecting some of the lesser-known things to do, along with higher print quality—yes, we’ve brought our printing back in-state and raised the bar on everything we do!
We’re stoked for you to join us on this new adventure. We want your feedback—and your tips and ideas for covering events across southern Utah! Drop us a line at editor@suindependent.com and let us know what you think, what you love, or what you’d like to see more of.
Thanks for sticking with us as The Independent turns the page to this next thrilling chapter. The show is just getting started!
