The Guyana Times daily newspaper has launched its Berbice supplement which will seek to highlight issues and events in the ancient county. The supplement titled Berbice Times is a weekly edition inserted in the Monday newspaper. With this development, the company has established a Berbice branch office.
On Monday, Berbicians and Guyanese on the whole were introduced to the first edition of the Berbice supplement.
Guyana Times is the sister company of Television Guyana (TVG) and Radio Guyana Inc (RGI), which also transmit news countrywide.
The company will also be heading to Region Five to launch the Berbice Times there, and has expressed intentions of introducing an Essequibo and hinterland supplement, with the aim of highlighting national developments.
Regional Chairman David Armogan welcomed the Berbice Times to the Ancient County, noting that the supplement will advertise Berbice to the wider population and called on its reporters to practise fair and balanced journalism.
The regional chairman said he is not looking for praise, but criticism should be constructive.
Balanced reporting
“When we are doing reporting, we need to be extremely careful on what we are putting in the newspaper… people have a right to fair reporting so that is one of the first things I expect from this newspaper,” Armogan said.
The regional chairman said there are a lot of things happening in Berbice that are not given sufficient prominence, and expressed hope that the Berbice Times will address this deficit.
Berbice Chamber of Commerce (BCC) President Mark Roopnarine, who delivered the feature address, said the Guyana Times daily has already established a presence in Berbice, and with the introduction of the supplement; persons can look forward to in-depth coverage of the region.
On that note, he contended that Guyana Times has created a positive impact on the local print media, calling it a “reader’s digest on larger pages”. Roopnarine also called for unbiased reporting on Berbice. “We would want to advocate that due diligence would be included in your reporting, in your research, in your publishing so that we don’t have issues of biasness and partiality.”
He noted that the supplement will also benefit the corporate society in Berbice, and encouraged them to support what will now be their local newspaper.
Widest spread
Guyana Times Editor Nigel Williams explained that the supplement will cover all aspects of life in Berbice, pointing out that the company’s goal ever since its establishment has always been to provide the widest spread of news coverage on current affairs, features, sports, politics and business.
“Through the Guyana Times, Evening News and most recently Radio Guyana Inc, we have been able to accomplish this task. But life is dynamic and as times change, we must also change and adapt to the changes. We recognised therefore that our current coverage of news in Berbice has been at best routine and one way we thought we could bridge this gap is to dedicate a special supplement which will be produced by Berbicians, featuring Berbicians and designed for Berbicians,” he said.
Williams noted that the company has a dynamic team of young, enterprising reporters who will ensure coverage of all the angles of developing stories, do the requisite follow ups and break new stories.
Voice for all
Guyana Times General Manager Daniel Singh pointed out that the company’s goal is to provide a medium using all three media outlets for the voice of Berbice to be heard nationwide.
“We believe that Berbice has a lot to show and teach the rest of the country and a lot of opportunities for its business community, if the rest of the country can hear about them. I want to promise you that, notwithstanding what you might have heard, we are here to have all the voices from Berbice heard. There will be no ‘silencing’ of anyone,” Singh stated.
Professor Daizal Samad, who will be spearheading the operations in Berbice, said while the supplement will benefit all of Berbice, the business sector will benefit more.
He explained that when businesses place ads in the supplement, television and radio, it will not only reach those in Berbice, but throughout the Caribbean.
Professor Samad encouraged the gathering to support the Guyana Times since it will only serve their interests.
