It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but the company that signs my paycheques announced today that it is selling The New Republic magazine to its former owners for an undisclosed amount. This is news pretty much everywhere from Canwest itself to the International Herald Tribune and even a sarcastic post from Gawker.

Facing a deadline on Wednesday for negotiating part of its debt, Canwest has been looking to sell off “non-core assets” like its E! network of television stations (which includes CJNT Montreal), and non-Canadian media outlets certainly fit into that category.

I always thought Canwest and TNR were an odd fit. Though what got me was that a U.S. political magazine was owned by a Canadian media giant and nobody down there seemed to care besides a few media analysts.