New online newspaper eyes different funding model

Last Updated on Monday, 8 June 2026, 18:40 by Writer

Guyana’s journalism landscape is set to be the home of a new online newspaper that hopes to operate on a different funding model instead of a subscription service, the entity named Kiskadee Watch said on Monday.

“Kiskadee Watch will draw on the financing model of the UK Guardian and the National Public Radio, USA. It is a hybrid model that is based on share ownership and contributors – individuals, organizations/foundations, civil society and the business sector,” the entity, under the leadership of former Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief Anand Persaud, said in a statement.

Kiskadee Watch, billed as an independent news entity, said its content would be freely available to readers but did not say whether Guyanese would have to pay for its “high quality” weekly printed newspaper that is expected before year-end.

The Guyana Publications Inc, publisher of the Stabroek News, ceased operations earlier this year, citing high operational costs combined with a marked shift in advertising from hard copy newspapers to digital platforms, bypassing the need to advertise in local media.

Saying that the “defence of press freedom and free expression comes at a significant cost,” Kiskadee Watch invited Guyanese here and overseas and all others who care about Guyana and the wider Caribbean to contribute to ensuring press freedom and accountability.

Members of the public are being encouraged to contribute to the newspaper through a bank account that would be published at a later date. “Your support will also allow us to keep kiskadeewatch.com free for all readers across Guyana and in the diaspora,” the entity said.

The entity acknowledged that it would be building on the 35-year long legacy of “professional experience and integrity” of the now closed Stabroek News newspaper, promising to be a trusted, independent, fact-based news institution that safeguards editorial freedom and strengthens democratic discourse.

“We chose the kiskadee for our masthead as this bird is common and familiar up and down Guyana. Guyanese are surrounded by the familiar loud cries which gave the bird its name. The kiskadee is hardy and adaptable, as we Guyanese are: it survives the pesticides sprayed indiscriminately on fields and streets, the rarity of clean water in our garbage-infested trenches, the relentless replacement of fruits and flower plants with fence-to-fence concrete,” Kiskadee Watch also said in a statement.

Members of the steering committee are Janette Bulkan, Rhett Gordon, Jocelyne Josiah, GHK Lall, Cheryl Springer and Alissa Trotz.