ANGUILLA
The lone newspaper, the Anguillian, is a weekly and is privately owned. It is independent and publishes with a sense of responsibility on the part of the editor.

ANTIGUA
The three major newspapers are the Observer and the Antigua Sun, which are dailies and Outlet which is a weekly. All three are privately owned. This a politicised island and the two dailies take opposing views. The Observer is seen as anti-government while the Sun is seen as the opposite. But both say that they are independent. Outlet used to be fiercely anti-government and specialised in investigative reporting. However earlier this year there has been an alteration of viewpoint.

THE BAHAMAS
The two major dailies in this country are the Tribune and the Nassau Guardian, which is the flagship paper of the Guardian Group. This group also publishes other newspapers including the Freeport News. There is freedom of the press in the Bahamas and the newspapers display a sense of responsibility.

There have been claims by the Tribune that a previous government had pressured it because of its views and reportage which that government saw as not being favourable to it. The pressure came in several forms including the non-renewal and denial of work permits for journalists and other media workers. Happily that state of affairs does not seem to exist any more.

BARBADOS
In this island there are two dailies, the Nation and the Barbados Advocate. Both are privately owned and operate with a sense of responsibility. Some people claim that the Advocate is supportive of the present government. The Nation is independent.

BELIZE
The two main newspapers here are the Reporter and Amandala. The first names is a respected paper and is viewed as being independent. Amandala is seen as a fearless paper but which has political alignments. Many of the other papers are organs of political parties. There is freedom of the press in this country.

THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
The main newspaper, the Caymanian Compass, a daily, is a responsible, respected newspaper. This country offers freedom of the press and that is not abused by the Press.

DOMINICA
As is the pattern in most of the OECS states, there are three main privately owned newspapers in this island, all of which are weeklies. They are the Chronicle, the Sun and Tropical Star. All display responsibility and there is freedom of the Press in this country.

GRENADA
All the newspapers in this island are weeklies. The three leading publications are the Grenadian Voice, Grenada Today and the Grenadian Informer. All three are privately owned. There are also some political papers. Freedom of the Press exists in Grenada and generally speaking, the privately owned Press display a sense of responsibility.

GUYANA
Of the three major newspapers in this country two are dailies and one twice weekly. The Stabroek News is privately-owned and the Guyana Chronicle is public sector-owned. The Mirror is owned by a public company that is aligned to the ruling People's Progressive Party (PPP) and although it contains general news it reflects the view of the PPP.

The Press in Guyana is free and there is, generally speaking, a great measure of responsibility. In political matters, however, there has been some debate about impartiality. There is freedom of the media but with the myriad of television stations there has been abuse of that freedom it is is unbelievable. As a result the entire media, including, at times the Press, are tarred as being irresponsible.

JAMAICA
This country enjoys freedom of the press and the two dailies, the Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer, both practise responsibility. The weekly independent paper, the Sunday Herald is also a responsible paper. The Gleaner's afternoon paper, the Star, is described as a sensational tabloid and is accused of being irresponsible by some people. There is freedom of the press in this country and the press is unfettered.

MONTSERRAT
There is one major newspaper here, the Montserrat Reporter. A privately owned weekly, this paper is a responsible publication.

ST. KITTS-NEVIS
The privately owned Observer is an independent paper and publishes from Nevis, one of the islands of the twin-island federation. It displays a sense of responsibility. The same cannot be said of the other two newspapers (weeklies) which are politically oriented.

ST. LUCIA
The three main newspapers are all privately owned. They are the Voice (which is published twice weekly), the Star and the Mirror. There is freedom of the Press in this country. All practise responsibility but, because of its style of journalism, in some instances the Star has been accused of being over-zealous.

ST. VINCENT
Like Grenada, there are three weeklies and all are privately owned. There is the News, Searchlight and the Vincentian. All show a sense of responsibility. There is freedom of the press, which is an extension of freedom of expression, but some radio stations in this island have been airing matters that are bordering defamation and in some cases have actually defamed people.

This state of affairs has prompted the Prime Minister of St. Vincent, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, to put forward to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat three proposals concerning the media. One calls for measures to regulate the media, another is for the establishment of an OECS Press Complaints Commission and the third is for a Privacy Act which will safeguard the privacy rights of individuals against intrusions of unscrupulous and over-zealous media.

The first two proposals have raised concern among newspaper publishers and editors of the region. The third has been addressed by senior editors in their drafting of a Code of Ethics for Caribbean journalists at a September 16 meeting in Barbados in 2002. The OECS countries are Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, Antigua and St Kitts-Nevis.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Here there are several newspapers, three dailies and about six weeklies. There are the Trinidad Guardian, the Trinidad and Tobago Express and Newsday which are published every day. Among the weeklies are the Mirror, the Punch, the Bomb, Probe, Chutney Star and the Catholic News.

All but the Catholic News, are privately owned. There is some debate about the independence of the media in this country. There is freedom of the Press, indeed it is included in the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago. Generally speaking, the media function with a sense of responsibility. There is a Media Complaints Council and this has been a positive development in Trinidad and Tobago.

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
The Turks and Caicos Times is owned and published by the Nassau Guardian Group of the Bahamas. It is an independent paper and publishes with a sense of responsibility. There is freedom of the press in this country.

Compiled November 2002