On Sep­tem­ber 2nd, 1917, the Trinidad Guardian launched its first pub­li­ca­tion.

We have been part of the many changes that trans­formed Trinidad and To­ba­go from a colony to a vi­brant re­pub­lic. We con­sid­er our­selves part of the proud tra­di­tions that have shaped our na­tion. 

In our role as de­fend­ers of free speech, we have some­times at­tract­ed the ire of those in po­si­tions of pow­er, who would pre­fer com­pli­ance, sup­pli­ca­tion and com­plete ac­qui­es­cence. We are not and nev­er will be that. 

The in­ces­sant ac­cu­sa­tions of po­lit­i­cal bias are not new – nor is the tone. Over the last 12 months, Guardian Me­dia and our jour­nal­ists have been sub­ject­ed to scur­rilous at­tacks by the cur­rent ad­min­is­tra­tion sim­ply for do­ing our job: hold­ing the new Gov­ern­ment ac­count­able.  

We have been here be­fore. In Au­gust 2019, we held the for­mer ad­min­is­tra­tion to ac­count with an ed­i­to­r­i­al en­ti­tled “Our Law­less State,” ask­ing whether the coun­try was on the brink of be­com­ing a failed state. Through­out that ad­min­is­tra­tion, Guardian Me­dia pressed for ac­count­abil­i­ty and so­lu­tions to our na­tion’s prob­lems.  The then prime min­is­ter’s re­sponse was to de­flect from the is­sues at hand by claim­ing me­dia bias. 

Over the years, suc­ces­sive po­lit­i­cal ad­min­is­tra­tions have ac­cused Guardian Me­dia of pro­tect­ing its own in­ter­ests.  Guardian Me­dia is a pub­licly trad­ed com­pa­ny with an in­de­pen­dent and em­i­nent Board of Di­rec­tors.  

By speak­ing with­out fear or favour, it is in­evitable that we will at­tract di­verse views and opin­ions, and this is en­cour­aged. Guardian Me­dia’s ed­i­to­r­i­al team op­er­ates from a place of in­de­pen­dence and high stan­dards of pro­fes­sion­al in­tegri­ty. We are un­apolo­getic for do­ing our job. Our pub­lished suite of ed­i­to­r­i­al poli­cies (avail­able on­line) - in­clud­ing our cor­rec­tion pol­i­cy, code of con­duct for our jour­nal­ists, ed­i­to­r­i­al pol­i­cy, cor­rec­tion and so­cial me­dia guide­lines - in­vites the pub­lic to hold us to ac­count. 

We are not above crit­i­cism or cor­rec­tion, but we will not cow­er to pres­sure. We re­main com­mit­ted to hold­ing pub­lic of­fi­cials ac­count­able and de­liv­er­ing news cov­er­age that is fair, bal­anced and fear­less. 

We do not see red or yel­low. The on­ly colours we see are the red, white and black.