The privately owned Stabroek News has announced that it is closing its doors and will cease printing in mid-March.
After being in operation for more than 39 years as an independent newspaper, Stabroek News announced today that it will cease printing from March 15th this year and begin the process of voluntary liquidation.
In a statement, the Chairman of Stabroek, Brendan de Caires, said the decision to close Stabroek News has been extraordinarily difficult and painful.
De Caires recalled that the newspaper has endured a period when advertisements from state-owned companies were withheld, calling it a rather crude attempt to muzzle the free press. State ads made up a huge part of the companies earnings.
In the past year alone, he said the state-run Department of Public Information has accrued a debt to the newspaper in excess of G$80 million in unpaid advertisements.
“The debt persists despite repeated private and public entreaties to clear it. This tactic could equally be construed as an attempt to starve this company of its operating funds,” Dr Caires noted.
He said publishing has always been a precarious undertaking in Guyana and the Caribbean due to the modest size of the potential readership, and to other market constraints.
He noted that while the company has never been driven by a concern about profit, it must function as a business and sought alternative sources of income. He explained that the outlet has faced significant obstacles in diversifying
The Stabroek News Chairman noted that the media company has repeatedly sought and has been refused a radio licence.
He said although the company operated a TV subsidiary for a few decades, its main local competitors enjoyed significant privileges. The playing field was not level, he noted, while adding that the anticipated progression from newspaper to multi-media broadcaster has been impossible.
The De Caires family said for 40 years Stabroek News beat the odds – economic, political and cultural – every single day and has published an independent daily newspaper in a country where conditions conspired against any form of daily product, against any form of independence.
The family acknowledged the contributions of the editors and staff who have kept the newspaper going over the past few decades.
Stabroek News was founded in 1986 by Attorney David de Caires and together with his wife Doreen de Caires, the two were the driving forces behind the newspaper for several decades. Mr. DeCaires died in 2008, and his wife took on a more laid back role.
The newspaper became a daily newspaper in 1994. News Source understands that the decision has placed more than 60 employees on the breadline.
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