Former employees of the Stabroek News Monday said they will launch on Sunday, June 14, a new digital news entity called ‘Kiskadee Watch’.
It will be led by Anand Persaud the former editor- in- chief of the Stabroek newspaper, which shut down on March 15 this year, citing the growing impact of digital platforms, a shift in advertising revenue, and changing market conditions. In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Persaud said he will be joined by a team drawn from Stabroek News ‘whose professional excellence and integrity over 35 years built the legacy of the recently closed newspaper’.
He said the group chose ‘Kiskadee’ as its masthead, because ‘this bird is common and familiar up and down Guyana’.
Persaud said that following the closure of Stabroek News ‘and concerns about the void in credible reporting that this created, a group of Guyanese here and abroad, along with others who care about the future of Guyana, worked together for the launching of Kiskadee Watch.
‘The vision of Kiskadee Watch is the reestablishing in Guyana of a trusted, independent, fact-based news institution that safeguards editorial freedom and strengthens democratic discourse. The production of a high quality, weekly printed newspaper is expected before the end of the year.’
Persaud said the paper will draw on the financing model of the UK Guardian and the National Public Radio in the United States.
‘It is a hybrid model that is based on share ownership and contributors, individuals, organizations/foundations, civil society and the business sector,’ Persaud added.