title: The Independent (Newfoundland)
text: # The Independent (Newfoundland)
  
  The Independent is an online newspaper covering news, opinions and local events, trends, and issues in Newfoundland and Labrador. The original weekly (paper) version of The Independent was founded in 2001. The online version was launched in February 2011.
  
  ## Organization and perception
  
  The Independent is edited by Drew Brown; it was previously operated by Justin Brake.
  
  In 2012, author and academic Maura Hanrahan published a paper in Native Studies Review that stated "The Independent is considered the most progressive newspaper in the province [of Newfoundland and Labrador]"
  
  ## History
  
  The Independent was a weekly print newspaper that switched to online.
  
  Reporter and editor Justin Brake was arrested while covering the Muskrat Falls protests in 2016, prompting condemnation from the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and the Canadian Association of Journalists in 2017. Brake's reporting won a press freedom award in 2018. All charges were dismissed in 2019.
  
  