Grant Haven Media announces accelerated publishing date for West Northumberland Independent

July 1, 2026

Grant Haven Media is thrilled to announce an accelerated publishing date for the West Northumberland Independent, a new weekly newspaper starting July 31, 2026.

“The community’s reception to the creation of the West Northumberland Independent so far has been overwhelmingly positive,” said publisher Stewart Grant, who back in May previously announced a September launch for the publication marking his 13th newspaper.

Since then, general manager and sales representative Peter Dounoukos, editor and reporter Sarah Hyatt, reporter Natalie Hamilton and graphic designer Melanie McGill have been hired to help make the West Northumberland Independent a reality. To start, the focus will be on serving Cobourg and Port Hope; however, the goal is to expand into additional communities as Grant Haven Media grows its footprint across Northumberland.

Efforts also continue to further round out the team and create more jobs locally under circulation, sales and editorial.

“Recruiting these professionals who’ve dedicated decades to Northumberland was one piece of the puzzle, but we’ve also been incredibly moved by the outpouring of support from local leaders and residents welcoming the return of a free weekly newspaper and the number of people who’ve reached out wanting to contribute and make this their newspaper – whether through penning guest columns, recruiting volunteers or helping with strategic planning or drop-off locations, as just a few examples,” explained Grant.

Since our May 1 announcement, one of the big asks locally has been could you start sooner? Today, we’re announcing we’re responding and will deliver our first print edition on July 31.

The Independent will thereafter publish weekly on Fridays. The goal is to make the print product available for free at more than 100 pick-up locations in the area over time (places such as grocery stores, coffee and retail shops, community hubs/spaces, et cetera.) For people wanting the convenience of direct mail delivery, subscriptions will also be available for purchase.

Readers can expect a finalized rundown of locations before the launch during the third week in July. In the meantime, we continue to encourage businesses, institutions, organizations and the like that want to serve as a drop-off location to reach out. We also welcome residents’ suggestions to ensure we’re reaching people in all hamlets, including in rural areas.

The newspaper will be further accessible in PDF and Flipbook formats and there will be an enewsletter residents can sign up for to have the newspaper in its entirety delivered digitally and directly to their inboxes. News coverage and updates will also be posted to our website.

In the meantime, residents looking to learn more about Grant Haven Media’s success story and get a flavour for Grant’s 12 additional newspapers can visit www.granthaven.com.

News coverage will appear online starting July 27. Editorial also continues to welcome community contributor/guest columnist pitches and future employment and freelancing inquiries.

If you’re interested in contributing under sales or helping to deliver newspapers, we want to hear from you, too.

We promise to keep West Northumberland updated with additional developments in coming weeks. In the lead up to the launch, Grant Haven Media also continues to encourage people to reach out about current needs in the community and with their ideas and hopes for what they would like to see in the newspaper.

“This feedback is crucial because we want the Independent to truly be a community newspaper built around local need and this input is ultimately going to shape the newspaper and how it serves the community,” added Grant. “We want to know what is important to you to see in your newspaper and to focus on the issues and areas that matter most to you.”

If you’re looking to get to know the team better so far, please see our additional staffing announcement release.