BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
By Linnell Abbott, Editor, The BVI Beacon
24 February 2003

As the British Virgin Islands territory has developed and grown, so has its newspaper industry.

For decades this had been a one-newspaper town. Currently, The BVI Beacon and two other weekly tabloids, The Island Sun and The B.V.I. StandPoint, serve these Virgin Islands.

All three have established web sites offering varying levels of information.

The Sun, started in 1962, remained unchallenged until June 1984 when The Beacon was founded. Two years ago, a two-year-old shopper, Pennysaver, converted to the StandPoint. The (US) Virgin Islands Daily News also circulates here.

Early forays into newspaper publishing produced the mimeographed Torch, beginning in 1948, and the weekly Tortola Times, circa 1959, both of which were short-lived.

The BVI has had an active press since the mid-1980s, and gradually the community, including major newsmakers such as the government, appears to be coming to terms with active journalism.

Freedom of the press exists in principle, but continues to be more discouraged than encouraged. Through subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle intimidation and reprisals, some government leaders and other officials will control the media and, by extension, freedom of expression, if they can.

Last year, for example, one radio talk show was promptly yanked from the airwaves for criticizing a government minister, after the minister met with the station's owner. The show has yet to resume.

Nor are attempts to control the press limited to politicians.

A newspaper editor last year was threatened with arrest for photographing a traffic accident on a public road. And a principal summarily evicted a reporter from his office for asking questions about violence in school.

These anecdotes pale by comparison, of course, with the punitive experiences recounted by fellow journalists in other countries. But they demonstrate a lack of full subscription to freedom of the press here.

Absent any Freedom of Information Act, reprisals and control often come in the form of withholding information even when that information and/or records are supposed to be public.

While we know of no immediate threat or inclination by government to regulate the local press, The BVI Beacon is subscribing to the newly formed Eastern Caribbean Press Council, which mandates self-regulation among its members.

Besides newspapers, the BVI media include three radio stations, a local television station and a cable television operator.