Observer now 12 years old as a daily
The Observer is today marking its 12th anniversary as a daily newspaper with a renewed commitment to Jamaica and to continuing the promotion and practice of truth in journalism.
Last week, at a lunch with the newspaper’s editors and section co-ordinators, chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart reiterated his commitment to the Observer, which he co-founded with banker Delory Lindsay in 1992 out of their shared belief that “Jamaica deserved another newspaper” to break the monopoly that had existed.
“This newspaper is here to stay,” Stewart said, adding that he had started formulating a policy to ensure the Observer’s perpetuity.
He congratulated the editors and their staff for the job they were doing and expressed pride at the number of products the Observer has introduced that have been copied by the competition. Among them:
. The CXC/GSAT Study Centre;
. Teenage Magazine;
. The Business Observer;
. Splash Magazine;
. Sporting World;
. The Arts;
. Page 2; and
. Clovis Rewind.
Stewart also thanked the team for lifting the newspaper’s national profile by staging events such as the Observer Table Talk Food Awards, the Observer Business Leader Awards and the Observer Style Awards, which promote and recognise excellence in their
respective fields.
The Observer became modern Jamaica’s fourth daily newspaper on December 11, 1994 after publishing first as a weekly from March 7, 1993 to June 30 that same year when the first edition of the Wednesday Observer – later to become known as the Midweek Observer – hit the streets.
At that time, the newspaper was being printed at Florida Offset in Miramar, Miami.
Since going daily, the newspaper has sought to keep pace with the wishes of its readers and has changed its design, fonts and size, most notably on its relaunch on February 8, 2004.
“So we set new standards,” Stewart said at the relaunch. “It was a monumental task. No newspaper before had managed to survive. But we said we would survive.”
The foundation has been built to ensure the future success of the paper, he said, citing the Observer’s reputation as “fearless” and “uncompromising”.
