The new tabloid version of Sunday’s Winnipeg Free Press — known as “On7” — is not a free paper. That’s why staffers were scratching their heads when we informed them that it was being given away for nothing in some locations throughout the city. But they were just out of the loop.
A reader told us that the Uptown Magazine box on Sherbrook Street was packed with copies for people to come and take on Sunday.
Publisher Bob Cox said this was done deliberately. “We distributed a number of On7 papers for free as part of promotional efforts for the first edition. So some were available in boxes for free. This is a paid newspaper, so most copies were sold through retail outlets and newspaper boxes,” Cox wrote in an e-mail.
Unlike the Winnipeg Sun, which is free at a number of boxes throughout the city on a daily basis, the Free Press is still charging for their copy. It was only a one day deal for all you cheapos out there.
About 40,000 copies of the first On7 were printed.
