Trinidad’s daily Newsday closes 

One of Trinidad and Tobago’s longest running daily newspapers is preparing to cease operations, marking the end of an era in the country’s print media landscape. After more than three decades in circulation, Newsday has begun legal steps to wind up its business amid sustained financial and industry pressures.

Court filings indicate that a petition was submitted on December 31, 2025, seeking to wind up Daily News Limited, the parent company of Newsday. The first hearing in the matter is scheduled for January 19, 2026. The company later confirmed the move publicly in a Facebook statement issued on January 9, announcing that the legal process to close the business had formally begun.

Managing Director Grant Taylor said the decision followed years of mounting difficulty rather than a sudden collapse. He described the closure as the result of overlapping pressures that gradually made operations unsustainable. Among them were long term financial losses, declining public trust in traditional media, political hostility toward the press, and changing patterns in how audiences consume news.

Taylor explained that Newsday faced particular vulnerability because it operated independently rather than as part of a larger media conglomerate. Without the financial backing or cross subsidisation available to other outlets, the newspaper absorbed the full impact of falling sales and advertising revenue year after year.

The challenges intensified during the COVID 19 pandemic, when lockdowns forced the temporary suspension of operations and triggered a sharp drop in advertising, the primary revenue stream for print newspapers. Although the paper returned to the market after restrictions eased, the recovery was hindered by rising costs for essential raw materials, including newsprint, as well as higher maintenance and production expenses.

Staffing costs also weighed heavily on the company’s finances, with hundreds of employees required to sustain daily production throughout the year. In an attempt to offset losses, the cover price of the newspaper was increased from $2 to $3. Taylor said the move backfired, leading to a readership decline of 40 per cent. Advertising revenue fell by 75 per cent, further eroding the company’s ability to continue.

“This was not something that just happened,” Taylor said, noting that the closure reflected a decade long convergence of damaging forces rather than a single decision point.

Despite the outcome, Taylor expressed gratitude to readers, staff, and advertisers, and said the Newsday team remains proud of the newspaper’s reputation for editorial independence and public service journalism.

Founded in 1993 by a group of journalists led by Therese Mills and the Caribbean Camera’s Raynier Maharaj, Newsday quickly established itself in a competitive market alongside the Express and Guardian. At its peak, it became the country’s leading daily newspaper.

Its closure adds to the growing list of print media outlets worldwide struggling to survive amid the rise of digital platforms and social media

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