Hawkins back as Sales, Marketing Manager at Searchlight

Having earned the reputation as one of St.Vincent and the Grenadines’ top journalists, Hawkins Nanton moved another notch up the ranks of Interactive Media Limited (IML), publisher of the SEARCHLIGHT newspaper, this week, when he was appointed Manager of Sales and Marketing.{{more}}

This promotion comes at a period when Interactive Media Limited is implementing several strategic measures to cement its place as the leading newspaper in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

Nanton, a graduate of the St.Vincent Grammar School and The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, received the promotion two weeks after completing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Media and Communication at the Mona Campus, University of the West Indies, Jamaica.

His studies were made possible through a scholarship granted to him by the Government of St.Vincent and the Grenadines, in honour of Glenn Jackson, the late former Press Secretary to Prime Minister, Dr.Ralph Gonsalves.

Nanton, the son of Joycelyn Julien-Nanton, of Calder, and the late Caiaphas Nanton, of Calliaqua, used the opportunity to specialize in Public Relations, while pursuing a Minor in Philosophy.

While in Jamaica, the 29-year-old was robbed at gunpoint on two occasions. However, he refused to be daunted, and overcame those challenges to almost consistently receive As, which put him in line to receive a First Class Honours degree.

“I must first give thanks to God for His support. I also want to use the opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to the several persons who have contributed towards my overall growth,” said Nanton. He praised June Pamela Barbour, Clare Keizer, Lennox Bowman, Richard MacLeish, Corlitha Ollivierre, Naomi Prince, Beverly McNichols and Malika Muhammad, as well as his colleagues in the media for their unwavering support during his studies.

“I also want to say a special thank you to the Government of St.Vincent and the Grenadines for expressing confidence in me when it made me one of the first recipients of the Glenn Jackson Memorial Scholarship in Journalism,” said Nanton.

Nanton said he is looking forward to rising to the challenge of his new post and hopes to achieve two simple goals: To make a difference in Vincentian media and to help set Interactive Media Limited distinctly apart from its competitors.

“We are extremely proud of Hawkins, and happy to have him back,” said a beaming Chief Executive Officer of Interactive Media Limited, Clare Keizer. She explained that the post of Manager of Sales and Marketing is a new one for the organization, but one which the company deems as essential in today’s business environment. “We have placed a great responsibility on his young shoulders, but we have confidence, that, as with all the other challenges we have thrown at him, he will rise to the occasion.”

Nanton entered the media in December 1995 as an attaché reporter. He joined the staff at Searchlight in 1999. Before leaving for Mona, he had risen to the post of Senior Reporter. “I am a journalist at heart, so even with this new post, I intend to report on a regular basis. You can’t take that away from me,” Nanton said.