RED RAG

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 1984; the latest issue is dated May 27th (scan / txt); the next one is due out on June 10th.

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 pretty well everything it got sent ("unless the Collective judged it racist, sexist, right wing, supportive of oppressive religions, or boring"). 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 in four and a half years it had never sold a single copy.

In this issue (scan / txt): Both Ronald Regan and South African Prime Minister Botha are visiting London next month; many demonstrations are planned. The Greenham peace camps are still here (evicted? we never went away); the Obscene Publications trial of Knockabout Comics enters its third week; Beating Time is over but the beat moves on; International Feminist Book Week comes to Reading; and Ron Jewitt is narrowly elected Mayor. If Liberal councillor John Freeman had gone to the council meeting instead of on holiday might the outcome have been different?