Tips and story ideas for Guyana newspapers

It was my first time travelling through Suriname and Guyana,  and to get to understand a nation starts with an understanding of its local news. For me, as someone with an above-average interest for news and journalism it was great to get a chance to feel, read and examine the most read newspapers in the Guyana’s.

The newspapers I had a closer look at in Suriname are: De Ware Tijd, The Times of Suriname and Dagblad Suriname, in Guyana I bought Stabroek News and Kaieteur News.

Unfortunately the journalistic skills seem to still be very basic, there is a lack of investigative stories and stories are often unbalanced and not to the point. Besides some hints and tips I’ve compiled a list of story ideas, just some articles and topics that I thought are missing in the Guyanese papers. And yes, I am willing to travel back and write them all  

The list
-    STINASU (Suriname Nature Conservation): what are they doing about mismanagement in Bronsberg Nature Reserve and why are the people from Bronsweg village angry with the staff at the Reserve? Something smells fishy here…

-    What is being done about illegal gold and diamond mining in the interior? We spend four days in Bronsberg Nature Reserve and heard dynamite explosions and gun shots (apparently people are illegally hunting for bush meat)

-    Deeper into the interior, from say Atjoni onwards, there is a problem with safety regulations on the water. Boatmen are not supposed to be on the water after dark, it is too dangerous (especially with tourists and children), but this practice is still  happening

-    The fast flowing river is by many villages used as a waste bin. Great if you are one of the villages at the top of the river but not so nice when you are downstream. Plastic is an issue, make an investigative report about the situation as is and look at the long-term implications

-    Write about this little annoying habit of ‘bakra-tax’. This self-imposed tax means that white people have to pay a bit extra on groceries, clothing and booze. The habit is laughed at but becoming more of an issue with the increasing amounts of (white) tourists

-    Do a check-up on the health clinics in the interior: are there really runny smoothly? Do an investigation into malaria, dengue and other tropical disease

-    There is an increasing amount of Chinese people setting up shop in the interior. The villagers are happy because the Chinese food is cheaper but the Surinamese shopkeepers are struggling to make a living. There is a stunning emotional story to be written here

Educate and localise news
-    Try educate Surinamese people about animals and nature. There are many misconceptions. I can give one example, it took place in Nickerie. A local Rasta captured a young Anaconda while it was eating one of its chickens. Rasta people use the snake oil for medical treatments, so he kept it in a blue drum. As visitors we were allowed a peek into the drum. I asked a local onlooker “Is that an Anaconda?”, his answer was: “No, this is a waterboa, I have seen the movie Anaconda and those kind of snakes we don’t have here!”.  Ai

-    Surinam harbours an eclectic amount of cultural differences that need to be celebrated. Why not make a weekly portrait series (with good photographs) of the things that are normal to some and unknown to others. What I mean? Well, a portrait series of men who walk around with a little singing bird in a cage (and treat those better then their wives) or a series about old men sitting at the Waterkant discussing politics. Maybe portraits of a number of Chinese shopkeepers, people who keep monkeys as pets, tour operators, frustrated road workers, Brazilian gold diggers and street gangs

-    What about serious science stories? Rockets are being launched in neighbouring country French-Guyana, scientific research with remarkable results is done in nature reserves: write about the outcomes

-    Try to localise news. For instance, the news about the world economy and recession can easily be localised. Research the impact of the recession on Surinam or the Guyana’s on a big and small scale: the country’s economical growth and a shop owners’ turnover or people’s spending

-    In the case of Surinam, try to incorporate as many languages, peoples and cultures as possible. There are currently no newspapers who offer news in Chinese or news in Hindi. Also, there is not much (serious) news about China, India or Africa. Why not? You can also do a weekly immigrant’s profile

-    There is no explanation of political, economic and scientific terms. It is easy enough to highlight ten words used in the newspaper and to put them in a separate column (maybe on the puzzle page) with an explanation

-    Put citizens who are making a positive difference in the spotlight. A weekly profile with photo and small interview with that one person who has done something special to help the community

Involve your readers
-    Involve your readers by not just publishing their letters but also publishing short comments on previous articles and by involving them in choosing a citizen of the year, encourage them to send in photos and phone with news to a special hotline/ SMS number

-    Finally, as a journalist: get involved in your community, travel with local transport, visit the interior, keep networking and make sure you have good contacts with certain police and ministers and other key sources (and make sure they know it is you who makes the news, they can’t be writing their own articles).

All the newspapers have incredible potential but at the moment there is just not enough training and the budgets are too small. The above ideas might assist in unleashing some of the papers potential without costing to much effort and money.

Regards,
Elvira