Briarpatch

Briarpatch is an independent alternative news magazine based in Saskatchewan, Canada and distributed across Canada and internationally.

Briarpatch is published six times a year by Briarpatch Incorporated, an independent non-profit organization. It is a member of Magazines Canada and the staff are members of RWDSU Local 568.

Briarpatch is printed by union labour on FSC-certified paper using vegetable-based ink.

Briarpatch Magazine began as Notes from the Briar Patch, a newsletter established by the Unemployed Citizens Welfare Improvement Council (UWIC), based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Its founders were Maria Fischer, David Hoskings and Vivian Fisher. In 1973, UWIC was engaged in the lives of some 500 welfare recipients, through a co-operative buying club, a co-operative daycare and advocacy work. It was also allied with several other grassroots organizations and service agencies, under the umbrella of the Saskatchewan Coalition of Anti-Poverty Organizations (SCAPO), giving rise to discussions about the need for a communications vehicle for the various agencies and their members. Although they had no budget, in August 1973 Fischer, Hoskings and Fisher decided to press forward and create a newsletter.

The inaugural issue was produced on August 24, 1973 as a 10-page corner-stapled newsletter. It was a popular item at Saskatoon's annual Poor People's March, and supporters began to donate money and paper. The group continued to produce issues throughout the fall of 1973, distributing 500 copies monthly to Saskatoon's various service agencies. The first four editions, produced on an early photocopier owned by the Saskatoon Family Service Bureau, were expensive to produce and the thermofax paper quality was poor. As a result, no copies are known to survive today. However, the gamble of pushing ahead without a budget paid off; with a successful publication in hand, UWIC was able to obtain a $2,500 federal grant from Canada's Human Resource Development Agency (HRDA) in November 1973. Thereafter, Notes from the Briar Patch was printed on a Gestetner machine at the Saskatoon Community Clinic at a cost of $300 a month. The improved printing techniques allowed circulation to expand to 2,000 copies by 1974.

From the beginning, it was clear the publication intended to be more than an information sheet. Its very name represented a critical stance, being a playful pun on the last name of an unpopular local welfare officer named Brierly. The idea of media-empowered citizen engagement was explained in this 1977 description of the newsletter’s founding ethos:

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