Responding to the changing media environment

EDITORIAL

WHEN THE MIDWEEK SEARCHLIGHT was launched two months short of eight years ago, we asked the question, “A Midweek Paper For Searchlight?” in the editorial of June 22, 2010.

We retraced the rocky history of midweek newspapers in St Vincent and the Grenadines, noting that Vincentians are such creatures of habit that selling newspapers on a day other than Friday had historically proven a challenge. We also noted that the mid-week publication was being introduced at a time when some newspapers around the world were experiencing contraction.

Despite these challenges, we are proud of the record of the Midweek SEARCHLIGHT and although its existence in the printed form is coming to an end, readers around the world can still get their Tuesday morning dose of news from St Vincent and the Grenadines in any of the many digital formats we will present it, beginning next Tuesday, May 1.

And the fact that the Midweek SEARCHLIGHT will be published next Tuesday, a public holiday, is one of the advantages that comes with a digital only format. With the printed version of our newspapers, we are dependent on our distribution system, of which roadside vendors are an important part, to get our newspaper to you. We do not, in SVG, have a door to door newspaper distribution system as exists in some other countries, so once the capital city is closed because of a public holiday, newspapers will not be sold.

As was noted in that editorial eight years ago, when the Founders of Interactive Media Limited (IML) opened their doors 23 years ago, it was not their intention to limit the scope of their business to the print medium, as is refl ected in the name of the company. Although SEARCHLIGHT has had an Internet presence for 15 years, we being among the first media houses here to go online, the innovations which accompany the decision to make the Midweek Searchlight an e-paper only, mark the biggest steps we have taken technologically in many years.

The changes taking place at IML not only affect how and when we publish the news we report, but how we interact and do business with our readers, advertisers and the public in general.

We thank our readers of print, our online subscribers, advertisers and vendors for their loyal support over the years, despite the fiercely competitive environment in which we exist. We invite you to stick with us as we respond to the changing landscape of media and promise to continue to uphold the standards of ethical journalism which you have come to expect from us.