New paper, new hope
p. 24 · Read in the full issue
THE new owners of the Cook Island News are hoping that the promised business expansion in the country will carry them along with it.
The newspaper formerly published by
the governments Cook Islands Broad- Ca m mg rr a r Newspaper Corporation, was sold off by tender and came under pnvate ownership from October 1 last year. The government lost NZ$l6O,OOO °" £ooi Islands hence the sell-ott. The government will now con centrate on radio and television.
The paper’s managing editor, Lawrence Bailey, said the News now sold 1500 copies six days a week and considering Rarotonga has a population of 9000, that is an impressive penetration.
Tenders were called in May and Bailey’s company, Cook Islands News Ltd, was the successful bidder. He was a former journalist with the paper and had then run a photography business.
He is a Cook Islands national. He joined forces with Wendy and Phil Evans, whose skills lay in computer technology, They brought the typesetting skills to the partnership. One of the major lossmaking factors under government own-
ership was the double-key-stroking for all stories; now the News works with de sktop publishing equipment which eli minates one lot of key-stroking. „ was found that the neW spaper would be an uneco momic proposition if inted commer cially. So the company 3ought its own prmdng press . This new equipment can handle tabloid-size pages wi „ a||ow the to grow from News ks nt 12 . pag e, A -4 size, But, sa *d Bailey, that would not mean tabloid-style journalism. He wanted to preserve the readers looking forward to g ettin g the paper in their letterboxes ev erY day. We ave f° Be responsible we have 9 u * te a bit of influence, he sa *d- The company’s hopes were pinned on the Cook Islands taking off economical ly. Apart from the proposed Sheraton Hotel, the arrival of television and its eventual extension to the outer islands, and the modern telephone system, all meant economic and social changes in the country. Bailey said the Cooks was about to become an up-market tourist destination. □