RED RAG (cover illustration)

Back Issues

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Established 1979
Free! Fortnightly! Fun!

These are the back issues of Red Rag. They'll be posted here every (usually) two weeks on or around the anniversary of their original publication. We're currently reissuing 1983; the latest issue is dated April 3rd (scan / txt); the next one is due out on the 17th.

Red Rag, or Reading's only newspaper, had a noble tradition of misspelling, mixed metaphors, wrong facts, confused political judgements and a print run by now of 1150. It printed pretty well everything it got sent ("unless the Collective judged it racist, sexist, right wing, or supportive of oppressive religions"). It aimed to provide a decent alternative coverage of local news and issues from a radical non-aligned position; to promote subversive and creative initiatives; to provide a forum for unorthodox views; to allow some sort of co-existence between a huge variety of interests. And it was free.

In this issue (scan / txt): scumbag landlord Vernon Paxford threatens to sue the Rag and we interview one of his tenants; the punks squatting the old cinema on Cemetery Junction weren't on the lookout for better table tennis facilities; the Evening Post lends a hand; and someone's been flyposting "cancelled" notices on circus posters.