The Princess Anne Independent News is is a community newspaper in Virginia Beach, Va. It is published by Pungo Publishing Co., LLC, and is distributed for free to southern Virginia Beach, the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and parts of northeastern Currituck County, N.C.
The Independent News published 25 editions per year in a tabloid format. It began publishing in April 2015. It is based in the Back Bay section of Virginia Beach.
It is an associate member of the Virginia Press Association and, given its focus on agriculture coverage, Virginia Beach Farm Bureau. The newspaper does not participate in Farm Bureau endorsements.
Its publisher and editor is John-Henry Doucette, who is the managing member of Pungo Publishing.
The Independent News has earned multiple awards for reporting and photography from the Virginia Press Association. The newspaper was recognized for its coverage of agriculture in 2016 by the Virginia Beach Excellence in Agriculture Committee. It was the Creeds Ruritan Small Business of the Year in 2018.
Regular contributors include columnist Lisa Versprille Burkett, reporter and columnist Veni Fields, cartoonist Rick Friday, farmer and columnist J.D. “Farmer John” Wilson, reporter and columnist Jane Bloodworth Rowe and book reviewer Rabbi Israel Zoberman.
The newspaper also publishes syndicated or provided work by columnist Roger Chesley via The Virginia Mercury, cartoonist Joe Heller and puzzle editor Margie Burke via The Puzzle Syndicate.