Trinidad and Tobago Newsday shuts down after 32 years

THE Trinidad and Tobago Newsday is shutting down after more than 32 years of publishing a daily newspaper.

The newspaper, published by Daily News Ltd, has applied to the High Court for an order to wind up the company under the Companies Act, according to an advertisement in the Express.

It is understood that the paper’s last publication was Saturday, January 10, 2026.

The company’s Managing Director Grant Taylor said in a statement published by Newsday last night (January 9) that a “perfect storm of challenges” led to its closure.

However, it is understood that staff were caught by surprise by the announcement.

“Guys, we managers only found out about it very late this afternoon and decided to publish it online, then hold an impromptu meeting with the few staff members still in the newsroom,” a senior editor told staff.

A full staff meeting was scheduled for yesterday, January 12,2026 and will be chaired by Taylor.

In the statement posted online by Newsday Taylor outlined the reasons the newspaper had to close its doors.

“Newsday is no different in most respects from the other players in the market; this is an industry under severe pressure. But one crucial difference is that, as a stand-alone entity which is not part of a media conglomerate, there is nowhere for Newsday to hide the year-on-year losses all the local daily newspapers are suffering,” he said.

“Whilst the scourge of Covid is certainly a factor as the country shut down more than once, and with it, advertising sales fell off dramatically – that was by no means the only nail in the coffin.

“The elements of this perfect storm are as varied as they are damaging, with no single factor exclusively to blame. This is also not a ‘this just suddenly happened’ scenario, but rather, a symphony of events playing out over a decade,” he added. Taylor noted the challenge was not unique to Trinidad and Tobago, as traditional print media have long been under pressure globally. “Some challenges have been causes of our demise; others have hastened it,” he said.

Taylor said the cost of raw materials, particularly paper, the largest expense, has soared over the past decade. In addition to this, he said the cost of machinery and its maintenance has also risen sharply. “The world has also changed, and T&T is no different. The value placed on traditional media has diminished and the political campaign to discredit them for nefarious reasons has ramped up,”Taylor said.

According to Taylor, when Newsday raised its price by $1, from $2 to $3, 40 per cent of its readership said, “No, thank you.”

Taylor noted that even at half the cost of a doubles, many readers felt the price was too steep.

“A newspaper entails hundreds of people working every day of the year, and working around the clock, to keep the public informed- but $3 is too much to ask for that service. Advertising revenue has also decreased significantly over the last decade.

“Advertising in all media is a fraction of what it was then, but for print media, that drop has been most severe. Print advertising has fallen by 75 per cent. In the context of the significant increase in costs, this is the most impactful element of the perfect storm that has been brewing over the last decade,” he said.

Taylor said he was proud of Newsday’s legacy.

“As we become another statistic in the casualties on the print media landscape, we remain proud of our legacy of unwavering independence in keeping the public informed.We are grateful to those who supported Newsday throughout, to long time readers and those who discovered and came to appreciate the paper’s strengths more recently,” he said.

“We are grateful, too, to the dedicated staff of every department who worked every day and night for over two decades, determined that the paper must come out, in the interest of that readership,” he said.

Taylor urged the people of Trinidad and Tobago to continue supporting journalists and media colleagues. “The media are one of the most important elements in any democracy, and it is a telling sign of a democracy itself under threat when the media are under threat,” he said.

He said industrial relations have always been difficult, from aligning all stakeholders to facing rulings that at times ignored the financial realities of companies, often harming both the organisation and its staff.

“It would be remiss, however, not to mention that the courts seem to have changed their approach in more recent times. The cost, however, is in the millions and is a challenge for a small company,” he said.

Founded on September 20, 1993, Newsday was the youngest of the country’s three daily newspapers. Newsday’s main office is on Pembroke Street, Port of Spain. (Source: trinidadexpress. com