While broadcast stations play a vital role in the dissemination of information and in helping to shape the views of Bahamians scattered across the archipelago, the country also has several dailies that have withstood the test of time.
The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune, established more than 100 years ago, are the oldest dailies. The Bahama Journal, a smaller paper that began as a weekly but later became a daily, has been publishing more than 20 years now.
They are all Bahamian owned.
The Bahamas does not have a tradition of Sunday papers, so the dailies are printed six days a week.
In the main, they are staffed by reporters with several years’ experience in the field. Media in The Bahamas have been largely unable to retain seasoned professionals, for various reasons.
Journalists often suffer from burnout and are lured to other professions by more attractive salaries. Others are frustrated by limited resources. The country is small. That means the advertising pool is small.
Media houses in The Bahamas do not see the kinds of profits that would be needed to sustain newsrooms with greater numbers of seasoned journalists, including investigative reporters who can be pulled out of the system for weeks on end to focus on research and in-depth reporting.
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With great access to political heavyweights and those who control the nation’s economic wealth, some journalists easily use the contacts they make to pursue other opportunities.
This negatively impacts ‘the power of the press’ but has not derailed media stability or freedom in The Bahamas.
Protection
While there has been talk about providing greater statutory media protections, there has been little action.
Ahead of the country’s 40th anniversary of independence in 2013, Prime Minister Perry Christie created a Constitutional Commission, chaired by a former attorney general, Sean McWeeney. McWeeney is widely respected by supporters of both the governing Progressive Liberal Party and the opposition Free National Movement.
The commission, which reported to the prime minister in July 2013, recommended a constitutional amendment protecting freedom of the press.
Article 23 of The Bahamas Constitution already protects freedom of expression. “A corollary of the right of free speech is the right to have access to public information,” the commission said in its report.
Leader of the Official Opposition of The Bahamas Dr. Hubert Minnis (center) signs a petition demanding that the Government of The Bahamas enact a Freedom of Information Act. A FOIA was passed under the former administration, but never enacted. At left is Hubert Chipman, an opposition member of Parliament, and at right is Diane Phillips, a public relations specialist who participated in a demonstration outside the House of Assembly on June 11, 2014.