RED RAG (cover illustration)

Back Issues

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Established 1979
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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 1985; the latest issue is dated June 23rd (scan / txt); the next one is due out on July 7th.

Red Rag, or Reading's only newspaper, had a noble tradition of misspelling, mixed metaphors, wrong facts, confused political judgements and a readership of 4000. It printed practically everything it got sent ("except poetry and party political broadcasts, provided it isn't racist, sexist, militarist or otherwise supportive of oppression"). 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. An indispensible source of local information? a forum for the self-indulgent and self-important? a continuous experiment in collective, de-centralised organisation? Who knew? But in five and a half years it had never sold a single copy.

In this issue (scan / txt): does physically attacking rich people at the Henley Regatta count as legitimate protest against idle privilege or a stupid left-wing imitation which diverts attention way from the Government actually responsible for disadvantage? Five Greenham women on trial for criminal damage to the Aldermaston fence; what constitutes an authentically gay pub; an alternative to all those new roads and bridges; Red Rag for the hard of hearing; Emma Goldman's birthday; and Sir Keith Joseph is invited to a closed meeting at University and although the time and place are a closely guarded secret, the Vice-chancellor has threatened the Labour Club (but nobody else?) with action if there's any trouble. In other news: anyone looking for the flour bomb party should be at the Palmer Building by around 11.30am.