And We Thought Newspapers Were Dying

We went to the re-launch of the Sunday Herald and found much goodwill and support there for a newspaper that has had its ups and downs. The programme was simple and straightforward, with kind words coming from the Press Association of Jamaica and the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica.

The PAJ believes the Herald’s place in Jamaica’s media is secure, and wished the weekly “many more column inches, editions and publications.”

President JJ Foote of the AAAJ offered high praises in his remarks.

“The Sunday Herald is an incredible institution with a resilient and determined team, who, with the right combination of perseverance and professionalism, have built a credible alternative to the traditional Sunday readership,” said Foote.

We were surprised to hear such energy in JJ’s words since we had heard him deliver an equally robust speech only that morning at a function sponsored by another newspaper. Of course, when there are two big events on the same day by journalism’s dying breed, we have to wonder.

Not so for the Sunday Herald’s Editor in Chief Desmond Richards. He is much more optimistic, at least about his paper’s future. “The Sunday Herald is here to stay irrespective of what its detractors might say,” he told the gathering of journalists, business people and advertising agency executives. The agencies were there mostly for the Herald’s Advertisers Awards Ceremony, which was twinned with the re-launch.

“The twelve years have been eventful, exciting and sometimes alarming,” Richards explained. “The Sunday Herald is of the view that if Jamaica is to enjoy the political and economic advantages enabled by the rule of law, powerful institutions must be open to scrutiny by the people.”

Admitting that this is an area that can be touchy in this country, Richards believes that Jamaicans want more accountability from those in authority. “I want to assure you that the Sunday Herald will continue to be the vehicle that will assist this process,” he told a room full of the already converted.

If the re-launch is an indication of some kind of success, it is an unlikely story in a media market that is changing radically. According to Richards, the paper was born in 1997 Barbican on the verandah of Delano Franklin, former Minister of State in the last administration.

A few dozen professionals used to gather there to drink and chat on Friday evenings. It occurred to them one night that other such gatherings would use such an opportunity to discuss business. So they started a “partner” as their first venture. Of the roughly 28 professionals who gathered there frequently, only 14 decided to join the “partner.”

Richards says that shortly after the group used the partner money to buy the Sunday Herald from businessman Neville Blight, who owned it at the time.

Its history from this point on is worth watching. Advertising spend is down and money is moving quickly to new media. The Sunday Herald and the other two major newspapers in Jamaica may have to adjust how and where they deliver the news to survive.