OPINION: Stabroek News killed by a thousand cuts

Last Updated on Saturday, 14 February 2026, 0:14 by Writer

By GHK Lall

It feels like the loss of a close family member. The shocking pending closure of Stabroek News, one of the last of the few remaining media houses that could be called fiercely independent, frank to the nth degree, and grand in its commitment to truth. It may be seen by some as a tragic development. I do. Others may see what is backhanded bow, and also definitely fitting for the date chosen to make the public announcement. It was Friday the 13th. Whoever said that that is an old wives’ tale; a Dark Ages superstition, just got a jarring shakeup and wake-up call. There is no need to ask for whom the bells toll. It tolls less for SN going out with dignity and class, after a job well done. It tolls more for Guyana, given the broad, sweeping, inestimable nature of this loss to public discourse in the national space.

The dedication to balanced coverage was always pronounced. The editorials largely sober and works of fine craftsmanship. The letter columns, a place for bipartisan expression at its best. With the exception of Kaieteur News and Demerara Waves Online News, none other can so claim; few, if any, did come close. I have had my share of disagreements with some positions and decisions taken by the paper. But I have been privileged to serve as a Sunday columnist 15 years ago, until a personal tragedy prompted the regrettable, unavoidable, decision to discontinue that weekly contribution to fellow citizens.

I think that SN served the citizens of this country well, in an impeccable and consistently forthright manner. But a newspaper that is starved of its revenues can only go on for so long. It is a slicker, less conspicuous move by the powers that control so much to cut off ad revenues earned, then to cut off ads. The latter would raise the interest and wrath of regional and international media watchdog entities. The former can always be blamed on the bureaucracy, which knows how to slow down and stagger its payments for maximum pain. A company that is owed $98 million in advertising revenues had to be gasping for breath, struggling to put one foot in front of the other as the days came by, passed. It is illuminating that in a country where there is so much money for so many things, that $98 million can be cunningly withheld, so that the day that is hoped for arrives earlier than later. In a game of a thousand cuts played by an unscrupulous group in what can only qualify as a repugnant ruling presence, it was a matter of time, and how much pain can be absorbed, how much blood afforded to drain. The distaste is so acute for what has pushed SN to announce its exit from the media scene in Guyana, and its pride of place in the region, that the three letters that identify the mostly rogues and scoundrels cannot be mentioned in this context. To do so would besmirch this writing, this ode to a publication that has left an indelible mark on the profession of journalism in Guyana, and an even more profound imprint on generations of Guyanese.

Love SN or hate what it stood for, there was one thing that could not be denied. It earned every sliver, every hillock, of respect that came its way, and will come in the days ahead. My recommendation to the survivors of the SN departure from the midst, is that they give serious consideration to reinvesting themselves in some form of online presence. Guyanese need that quality, that consistent integrity. Who will be next to fall under the axe of a group of men and women bent on total control of the Guyana environment? There is Kaieteur News which looks like a prime candidate, since it is owed upwards of $100 million in ad revenues that are stuck somewhere between the realm of red tape and the red haze of those who hate truth and light. And then what do Guyanese have? I would assert that it is set to be nothing but the equivalent of what dominates in North Korea and Putin’s Russia. Those Guyanese whose hands are bloodied by this long running battle against the independent media may live to regret what turns out to be a pyrrhic victory for them. To the entire SN family, my very best going forward. The journey will continue somehow.