Publisher’s Perspective: The Independent, then and now
Twenty-two years! Holy cow, I can’t believe how time flies. When I started The Independent as a 19-year-old high school dropout, I never imagined I’d be doing it after this many years. Of course, at 19 you don’t really think anywhere near that far out. At the time, German Reyna and I came up with the idea to produce our own music “rag.” We just felt like southern Utah needed more events coverage — a place where people could find the cool and fun things to do in the area.
What started as The Revolution became The Independent within the first year. Also within the first year, my three partners in the creation of this publication left the organization, leaving me to continue as the sole owner. That first year also saw my firing from The Spectrum, which was also printing our little paper at the time. Along with firing me, they decided that they’d rather not print The Independent, and I think their hope was that I’d fold the paper and move onto something else. I was not deterred, and I simply hit up the Richfield Reaper, who was more than happy to print for us. So for a number of years, I made the two-and-a-half-hour trek each way up to Richfield where I’d watch the paper come off the press and ask for tweaks in the color and alignment, a task I enjoyed for a long time. This was quite harrowing in the winter months without all-wheel drive. Eventually, The Spectrum came knocking again, realizing that we were not going anywhere and preferring to get the print job back. So for around a decade, The Spectrum printed The Independent at their facility in downtown St. George. And although I feel like they did a good job for us, when the Ogden Standard came calling to see if we’d consider using them, I felt like it was time to cut financial ties with our closest and largest competitor.
This move fundamentally changed how we produce The Independent. It meant that we were now going to get superior print quality to every other newsprint publication in our market as the Standard’s press has a heat unit at the end of one of their color towers — meaning we’d get heat-set printing on at least some of the pages. Their modern press also uses computer-to-plate technology as well as computer-controlled registration. It also meant that we’d need to send the paper off to print two days earlier than we’d been doing for so many years as extra time was needed both for the printing itself as well as for shipping. The extra distance also meant that I’d no longer be checking the paper as it rolled off the press — a significant change for me but something that was a long time coming and a healthy thing for me to be able to do. I have to trust them to do their job, and they do it beautifully.
You likely noticed a change in the look of the front page this month. After using the same full-color rainbow logo for over 21 years, we’ve made the decision to move forward with a rebranding campaign. This change is not only aesthetic in nature, which aligns us with the look and feel we’ve developed on suindependent.com over the last few years, but it also signifies a change in the way we define The Independent. Our new slogan, “A voice for Utah,” speaks to what The Independent has become: a publication with a broadening audience and scope. In print, the content set will continue to evolve as it has already under our new editor Jason Gottfried’s purview. While still keeping to our core coverage of arts, music, and entertainment, you’ll likely notice a growing and changing opinion section. While it is important to me as ever that we connect the entertainment-loving audience to the best of what’s happening in southern Utah, we are also very aware of the important role The Independent plays in encouraging the rigorous dialog on topics of consequence both locally, regionally, and beyond. You’re highly encouraged to be a part of this evolution. If you’ve got something to say, please send your letter to the editor or opinion piece to Jason at editor@infowest.com.
Thank you all for reading and supporting The Independent for the last 22 years. It’s been an incredible journey. Happy reading!
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Without the Independent liberal voices would go primarily unheard in these parts. As a conservative I often do not agree with its views, but as an American I respect the Independent as an iconic and at times courageous media outlett, that in an utter necessity to Washington County and surrounds. On that note, the Independent has the best guide to local events – i.e. calendar available on the internet and in published form. Keep up the good work, and no matter what, I will never like Clay Jones.