Second Caribbean newspaper to close

The Caribbean media landscape has suffered another blow with the announcement of the closure of a second newspaper in a matter of weeks.

Stabroek News, one of Guyana’s daily newspapers founded in the 1960s, has announced it has taken the “extraordinarily difficult and painful” decision to cease printing from March 15, 2026. The development follows last month’s shutdown of Trinidad and Tobago Newsday after 32 years in operation.

Stabroek News’ two main shareholders, Isabelle and Brendan de Caires, said declining advertising revenue, mounting financial pressures and the existential challenge posed by global digital platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok have made it difficult to continue operating.

They added that publishing has long been precarious in Guyana and the wider Caribbean because of small readership bases and broader market constraints.

“In a sense, we exit as we entered. Unbowed. Heads held high. Beholden to none. It will be for others to take the full measure of this newspaper’s contribution to the democratic process in Guyana, and to the nation’s ability to talk and listen to itself in civil tones, without invective, rancour or malice. Stabroek News has nurtured a generation or two of readers, writers, thinkers and pundits. It is time to hand over the baton,” they said.

The shareholders also complained that repeated applications for a radio licence were denied, arguing that competitors benefited from significant privileges.

“The playing field was not level. The anticipated progression from newspaper to multimedia broadcaster has been impossible,” they said.

The Guyana Press Association described the closure of the country’s first independent post-independence newspaper as “a significant loss to the nation’s media landscape and to the democratic fabric of our society.”

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy, reacted, stating, “It is truly an indication of how porous is the global media landscape and a stark reminder to those in the media business that they must constantly take into consideration evolving their strategy to deal with competitive market forces and changing media dynamics, including the eruption of social media,” he said. (BT)