Vincentian journalist appointed Caribbean correspondent for the Guardian

A Vincentian journalist has been appointed Caribbean correspondent for the Guardian, a major British daily newspaper.

Natricia Duncan, who will be the Guardian’s first-ever Caribbean correspondent, will be based in Jamaica. She will fill one of five new roles announced this week by the Guardian, in the publication’s efforts to address historical wrongs.

The Guardian said the new roles are part of the Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme and come one year since the publication of its report into the Guardian’s historical links with transatlantic slavery.

The other roles are a South America correspondent, an East Africa correspondent, a West Africa correspondent, and a new UK health and inequalities correspondent. The Guardian said these new roles will provide their readers around the world with more dedicated news, expert analysis and original features from these previously under-reported regions and communities.

“The response to the Scott Trust’s findings last March was a watershed moment for the Guardian. The long-term commitment set out in the restorative justice plan is vital in our ongoing efforts to address these historical wrongs and to report more deeply on the lives and experiences of people of colour around the world. Our new Caribbean, South America and Africa correspondents will cover the urgent stories and issues affecting communities in these regions today, and with a depth and breadth rarely seen in the western media,” Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, Guardian News & Media, said.

Duncan has written for SEARCHLIGHT as a weekly columnist and freelance reporter. In 2009, she wrote the weekly column ‘Heritage and Vision’, then from October 2009 to October 2010, she authored the extremely popular weekly column ‘Dear Copy Book’. She has also written for the Voice and the Guardian in the UK on immigration and race equality issues.

Duncan has also worked as a communications strategist at the Commonwealth Secretariat, supporting political missions in the Caribbean and Africa and managing a Commonwealth-wide network of young correspondents.

She told the Guardian that coming from a small island in the Caribbean, she understands the importance of giving voice to those who feel marginalized and invisible. “Despite its rich cultural tapestry, dynamic leaders and complex environmental and socio-economic challenges, the region is often misunderstood, misrepresented, or ignored by global media. It is a great privilege to be part of the Guardian’s historic move to ensure the Caribbean gets the coverage it deserves.”

Dr Paul Lashmar, investigative journalist and former head of the Department of Journalism at City, University of London, where Duncan is a PhD student, congratulated her in a post on Facebook, adding “From the first I met with Natricia a decade ago, then an MA Journalism student, I knew she is immensely talented.”

Clare Keizer, former editor of SEARCHLIGHT said she is thrilled about Natricia’s appointment, but not surprised. “Natricia is an exceptionally talented writer and journalist. I enjoyed working with her and wish her all the very best with her new assignment.”

Duncan is originally from Mesopotamia, St Vincent and the Grenadines. She is married to Vincentian Rohan Duncan, originally from Cedars and together, they have two children. She is the daughter of Helen Davis and the late T.A. ‘Chippy’ Browne.