Lead Editor - Newsgathering
ryan.bachoo@cnc3.co.tt
Since Newsday’s announcement that it has commenced legal proceedings to close, much has been written here at home and around the region about this decision. The closure of any newspaper anywhere in the world resonates with journalists everywhere as they understand the challenges of this unique industry that often sits on the edge of challenging financial decision-making. In the midst of the noise that has encircled this announcement, the sober reality is that sustaining a traditional media house in this era is a tough balancing act.
“The industry is evolving. The information age has been the industrial revolution of media. Remember, there was an industrial revolution when we transformed from agrarian societies into industrial complexes? That happened,” said retired journalist Suzanne Sheppard.
Her time in journalism dates back to typewriters to now having news straight to her mobile device. Sheppard has worked in electronic and print media for 40 years.
In 2007, the media landscape in Trinidad and Tobago was described as vibrant and growing, with three daily newspapers, three weekly newspapers, three main television stations, and other cable and community stations, and over 30 radio stations. By 2014, the overall number of media houses, inclusive of radio stations, peaked at an estimated 56, according to Guardian Media’s research. But by late 2015 to 2016, many closed and came off the airwaves. Among the most notable was when Radio Trinidad 730 AM ended its AM frequency in late 2015.
It’s clear that in the long, storied history of media in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), several entities have had to confront the fate Newsday faces. When the T&T Guardian marked its 100th anniversary in 2017, veteran journalist Wesley Gibbings recounted in a special column, “The Daily Mirror newspaper, which had previously competed vigorously with the Trinidad Guardian, was acquired in 1966 by the Thomson Organisation and folded that very year. This led to the introduction of the Trinidad Express in 1967. Weekly newspapers such as the Bomb newspaper, launched in 1970, the Sunday Punch in 1972, and the TnT Mirror in 1982 were also significant publications that helped change the face of newspapering in the country under the late journalist, Patrick Chookolingo.” All of those names, except for the Trinidad Express, would be alien to a student going to school today.
The problems
newspapers face today
Julian Rogers insists the challenges the T&T media faces today are replicated across the region. Few have covered the region quite like he has. In addition to working in several Caribbean nations, he has worked with the OCM group in T&T, served as the Managing Editor of Guardian Media, and also helped build out CNMG’s multimedia framework. From his vast experience, Rogers candidly stated in an interview with us last week, “The management and owners need to face the reality. The market conditions have changed dramatically, and really and truly, the future of media across the Caribbean, particularly newspapers, is going to be increasingly difficult if they don’t face the reality and take some tough decisions about the cost of production.”
He went further in adding, “I can’t sugarcoat it. I can’t suggest that there’s any easy way out of this. It’s difficult. I know it’s tough. People’s lives and livelihoods are at stake, but the reality is, if crucial decisions aren’t made in a timely fashion, then there’ll be more suffering in the industry.”
In a column following the announcement of Newsday’s closure, Rogers outlined how traditional newspapers such as the Trinidad Express and the T&T Guardian printed more than 100,000 copies more than three decades ago —an unimaginable operation for a young journalist in either of those newsrooms today.
He added in our interview, “You only have to ask the people who operated the Guardian and operate the Express and ultimately, of course, Newsday, that the challenge really is not editorial, but it’s economics. It really is about whether you’re going to get the advertising to support the investment you make, not just in editorial, but in distribution.”
He insists media companies must find a way to cut operating costs.
‘Shock and betrayal’
The imminent closure of Newsday also emphasised the need to understand how to deal with journalists who will be out of jobs. One Newsday reporter told the Sunday Guardian, the news “was a shock. Some of us are still in shock, and the way in which we got the news felt like a betrayal, because it was sprung on us at the same time as the rest of the public.”
The employee didn’t want to be identified a day before the matter heads to court on Monday, January 19. Like many other newsrooms, the reporter said the Newsday newsroom had a family atmosphere. Now, they await word on what their financial future with Newsday looks like. They confirmed receiving salaries last Friday but added, “I am not sure what the future of the pension plan is, and any other benefits that we might have had inside.”
The reality of where the newspaper has found itself is slowly sinking in. The Newsday employee added, “It’s not just higher operating costs. It’s reach being eroded by all these ... every other day you see another Facebook page pop up with the same news as everybody else. That was a part of it where people are quick to look at the first thing that they see online.”
The employee broke down in tears while on the phone, recounting how challenging this process has been for the newsroom. They wished their co-workers (and themselves) the best, “hoping they find a good place to work.”
A new era of journalism
That digital impact could be felt everywhere and is affecting newsrooms around the world. However, Sheppard insists the idea that the newspaper industry is dead is incorrect. Instead, she said, “A lot of people have been pronouncing print dead. I would not want to jump onto that bandwagon. And I’ll tell you why. There was a time when they thought that radio would die. Radio has not died, radio has evolved, and so now we have, we have podcasts.”
“With the evolution, the idea is to have that vision, and to have a sense of willingness, first of all, to adapt and to grow at the speed of this evolution, and also to make sure that you remain relevant, and you prove yourself to be necessary in this information age.”
Sheppard insists the local media must change with the times it exists in. She added, “I think the local media must be willing to invest in training, must be willing to be flexible, and I think this may have been a sticking point at Newsday until it became too late. I think of flexibility, and of course, the structures of our operations have changed. That standalone no longer applies. Guardian Media is now print, television, radio, digital, all under one covering and produced from the very same space, which is where we are going.
“That did not happen overnight, and it required some investment in training. It meant acquiring new skills and also being open and alert and ready to adjust to the changes that needed to be made in terms of even the equipment, physical infrastructure in which we operate, and so it goes.”
As Newsday’s future is weighed in the courts and in boardrooms, its predicament serves as a warning and a lesson for the wider industry. Journalism in Trinidad and Tobago is not disappearing, but it is being reshaped by forces that demand hard choices, innovation, and empathy for those affected. How media houses respond now will determine not only which institutions survive, but how the public continues to access credible, accountable journalism in the years ahead.
