New River Free Press covered a wide range of topics, including housing, health, labor, education, and social justice. The paper included articles, book reviews, recipes, artwork, short stories, and poetry. Other topics that were covered included feminism, tenant rights, urban homesteading, sexual assault, ecology and the environment, local politics, nutrition, religion, and the peace movement.

The newspaper also provides information on the development of neighborhood associations and the allocation of federal community development funding in Grand Rapids. Other local stories that received coverage included Coit School, Model Cities, and the Model Neighborhood Citizens Committee.