I find local newspapers to be an insightful form of information wherever I go, so it seems prudent for me to dedicate a posting to our local, Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper, which is referred to as the Daily News.
The Daily News sells for $1.00 and is published 7 days a week. It’s quite popular among the local islanders down here, as it tends to be a common conversation starter during lunch when many people spend their time reading this 65 – 70 page periodical. Like most papers, the Daily News is made up of several different sections but my personal favorites include, the Virgin Islands section and the Caribbean section.
To clarify, the Virgin Island section is dedicated to only the Virgin Islands portion of the Caribbean, so naturally it’s the first section of this paper. These are all the stories that the Daily News leads with. More specifically, stories in this section have recently been dedicated to every single Virgin Island high school graduation that has taken place in the last 2-3 weeks. I’ve literally read stories about graduating classes of 2 people on the front page of the Daily News. And, I can honestly say that just about everyday for the last few weeks, some high school graduation has made the front page – right next to the local hospital embezzlement trial story. In today’s paper, the principle of the island’s most recent graduating class stated that he is most proud of the fact that all 10 of his graduates have been accepted by colleges.
The Caribbean section of the paper is focused on the other Caribbean Island news outside of the Virgin Islands. This captivating section’s headline story was on President Obama’s recent trip to Puerto Rico, which according to the Daily wasn’t received well, since that island has a 16% unemployment rate and skyrocketing crime statistics, yet Obama seemly only came to town (for 4 hours) to receive campaign donations to the tune of $1M. In addition, this section reported that the latest governor elected for Turks and Caicos is a career diplomat from Britain who most recently has been their ambassador to Warsaw, Poland. I wonder how long this guy lobbied for his new, much warmer, gig. Finally, and this may come as a shocker, but the Daily reported today that Hugo Chavez received a visit from Fidel and Raul Castro. According to the Daily, Chavez appeared in photos wearing a track suit while they met to discuss inter-country relations and world issues. No worries…the Chavez and Castro families are coming together to save the world, one track suit at a time.
The paper also includes some interesting information regarding a variety of other topics. For example, it will cover what cruise ships are coming and when. Typically, this includes how many people will be on each ship, so you know how busy the town will be. On the busiest day, a cruise ships could bring roughly 9,000 people to the island. This is a lot considering that there are only about 50,000 people here. There is also a little blurb on crime in the islands that tells you what type of crime has occurred at what time and where. The Daily News includes a brief summary of what will be discussed throughout the week in the local senate. This typically includes a surprisingly equal amount of time split between the island budget committees and the environment.
I can’t help but mention that on Sundays there is a Faith and Religion section that I’m absolutely dying to discuss at length. However, considering the risk involved in my potential to be sarcastic at the expense of the Lord, I’m going to refrain from any comments on this section. However, in case you’re wondering, the “Thou Art Highly Favored” women’s conference will be held at 8:30 on Sunday.
So, that’s it. The Virgin Island Daily News reporting at its best…hot off the press!
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