Former BVI News Owner and trailblazer in the local online news industry, Merrick A. Andrews, declared that Virgin Islands News Online is now the hottest news site in the VI market. Photo: provided

Andrews said VINO, in his estimation, is considered the hottest site because it is new, controversial and breaks a lot of stories. Image: VINO

In an exclusive interview with this news site following a recent announcement that he no longer had a stake in BVI News, Andrews said VINO, in his estimation, is considered the hottest site because it is new, controversial and breaks a lot of stories.

According to Andrews, “In the initial days it used to be BVI News versus BVI Platinum, now you have VINO in the mix. Before VINO arrived, the best site was determined by who post news articles and press releases and breaking news first and faster.”

He noted though, that things have since changed, “Now, it’s mainly about exclusive stories and sensational headlines. The breaking news is still important but you will now find that all three websites all have different material.”

Andrews moved to the Virgin Islands in January, 2003 to take up a reporter position at the BVI Standpoint. He had previously worked in Montserrat for one year.

The former BVI News owner told a disturbing tale of the events that led to the creation of his former news site.

He said while working for ZKING Radio as a News Reporter/Director between 2005-2006, he realized that there was a demand for news from various media houses, especially the newly established ones.

Andrews reasoned that skilled and experienced news reporters in the Virgin Islands are most times not readily available locally so most news organisations are forced to recruit from overseas, which can be quite expensive and risky. He suggested that for small and upcoming media companies, hiring freelance work is cheaper and more flexible. 

According to Andrews, his employers at the time had no issue with his freelancing, once he placed their work first. He added, “there was one issue… doing any other work besides what is stipulated on your work permit is illegal or against government policy so I decided to do the right thing. I inquired about obtaining a trade license.”

He expressed that he was told that he cannot apply for a trade license as a work permit holder, unless written permission was given by his employer.

“I asked my employers and they were not willing to give me permission to apply for one, even though I had no intentions of leaving them. My plan was to continue working full-time for them while working part time for others in the legal way. In addition, I was desperately in need of additional income, especially with a newborn on the way.”

At the time, he said, the newly-created Department of Youth Affairs and Sports launched their after-school programme for which skilled professionals were invited to impart their skills to students after school.

“I joined the programme and offered basic journalism lessons for about four to six months after which the students received certificates, stamped by the government. During this after-school programme, the Department conceptualised a youth magazine called the Buzz and I was tapped as the editor.”

Andrews said he took a ‘huge risk’ in leaving his job at ZKING radio in order to take a contract with the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports to start the youth magazine. He also applied for a trade license.

“I was able to work with the department with permission from the government. My passport was stamped by government, it’s still in my passport, giving me permission to work in the Territory on behalf of the youth department,” Andrews said.

He explained that he was simply doing the right thing in applying for a trade license while not on a work permit.

He related that things were going good with the magazine, however, the contract was only for a short period – three to six months, and he was getting nervous because the trade license was still not processed.

The former BVI News owner said he initially visited and called the trade department every week, sometimes two times a week inquiring about his license because of the risk he had taken.

“With the youth magazine contract winding up, I would’ve been jobless if the license was not approved. I was really getting antsy and worried. I recalled speaking to Chief Minister Dr. D. Orlando Smith personally, the first time being immediately after a press conference at his office. I explained everything to him and he understood and believed I was doing the right thing. He did not make any promises but said he will review the application when he receives it,” Andrews said.

According to Andrews, months passed before the application was finally received by Dr Smith and approved. It was a challenging period, which entailed constant persistence and frustration.

The freelance media license then allowed him to write for several media houses at once and he did news casts for ZCCR, ZROD, CBN, JTV and others where possible.

Andrews started BVI News as a blog, along with another website in the summer of 2006. “I used the blog as a means of posting my freelance work, something as a hobby. So after doing my news roundup I would just post it on the blog.”

Eventually, he said, the website became popular due to controversy.

Andrews also alleged that at the time, another website, which mainly focused on weather reports and a very popular discussion forum, had negative stuff about him on their website.

“Several persons started topics about me saying that I was in the BVI illegally, I got a trade license through illegal means,” he remarked. He also alleged that claims were made that he was running a fraud website in addition to a lot of hurtful and derogatory things, which he said were all lies.

Andrews said he contacted the owner of the website and asked him to pull the discussions because they were untrue and were hurting his reputation, but he refused to do and challenged him to sue. “Now, poor me, I had no money to sue anyone and I was young and timid, so I just had to endure the pain of reading nasty stuff about me which weren’t true,” he related.

Andrews said this ultimately drove persons to his website with questions. “Within three months, I had almost 300,000 to 600,000 hits a month because the controversy was bringing people to my site. And they stayed because they realized I updated my site often with news from my freelance work and many times if there was breaking news in the Territory I would post it,” he stated.

According to Andrews, he even gave the other site news tips on several occasions and never had intentions of being in competition with them.

He said as the criticisms grew, so did his news site.

It was alleged by Andrews that threats came from the Trade Department to have his website shut down. According to Andrews, he was first accused of accepting money illegally for the websites he created, a claim which lacked any evidence.

He also alleged that he was further told that because he was essentially a media house in competition with other news organisations, he needed to apply for a trade license. He was reportedly told that his media license, which allowed him to freelance at the time, would not cover the work that he did on his websites.

Andrews said he lost focus and grew depressed as a result because his name and image were being torn apart on a website while he was being unnecessarily pressured into closing his website. He also suffered as a result of the heavy traffic and hack attacks that met his website.

He related that he tried to close the website on several occasions but received overwhelming support from the website’s large audience against this, with persons also making inquiries on his behalf.

He continued to post stories on the site with his freelance license due to a demand from the public for breaking news and also posted free advertisements, allegedly under pressure from individuals and businesses.

His situation with the Trade Department only grew worse, he said. “First, I was told I can apply 100% ownership in my name but when I did, they did not approve the application. I inquired again, and was told BVIslander ownership must be at least 51 percent of the business. It was sad because I had no partners at the time so I was pressured to find strangers to put on my license.”

He eventually got two BVIslanders to own the 51 percent but the application was again denied because he was told that even if the 51 percent was owned or split between two BVIslanders he would still own the majority, which was not acceptable. Andrews said he applied with one partner owning the 51 percent stake as told and was still denied.

“I got frustrated and more depressed. I was working around the clock on a growing website for almost a year without any income from it. Many times I had no food and money after paying my bills,” he revealed.

Eventually, he said, the whole episode became political. “It was 2007 by then and campaigning was underway. Legislator Andrew Fahie mentioned it during one of his speeches on the VIP platform in Road Town.”

The legislator reportedly said his website was being victimised and that the NDP government was trying to stifle freedom of the press.

“It was a very sad situation because I never asked for it to be a political issue and I know that if it was up to Dr. Smith alone, the license would not have been an issue because he gave me one in the first place,” he disclosed.

Andrews said the license was eventually granted in the name of a trusted friend who was previously refused as a partner in his application as elections drew closer. The government of the day, NDP, subsequently lost the election.

Andrews then formed Alliance News Ltd and granted his friend shares in the company at no cost “as a sign of respect, trust and gratitude”. The company was then licensed in his name with his friend as a full and active partner and not as a silent partner.

Commenting on his experience as a news practitioner in the Virgin Islands, Andrews said, “Compared to many countries around the world, the BVI is an enabling environment for journalists but this comes with many challenges due to the size of the population and the culture of the Territory.

“One thing I love about the BVI,” he added, “is that the government information agencies are more organized and more professional than many Caribbean islands in terms of its dissemination of news-related material to the media. It is more timely, detailed and regular. I have lived in six Caribbean countries and visited many others, and I can say proudly that the BVI’s government information service is one of the best organized and most professional I have experienced.”

“GIS disseminates audio, images, video and stories hours after events,” he continued, “In some islands, you will not get any press release until a day or several days later, even weeks! The BVI was like that before, but it quickly adapted to the growing online news media in the BVI.” 

Most rewarding for Andrews was being the first to, not only commercialise online news and introduce breaking news as it happens in the BVI, but to make it successful. “I have paved the way for other online media including VINO and BVI Hotpress, and other non-news medium. Despite the challenges of being an expat journalist in the BVI and an expat BVI owner, I made it happen,” he said.

Asked why he left the BVI news market, Andrews said, “I felt it was time to move on seeing I have not been living in the BVI for many years and the business relationship with my other director had deteriorated beyond repair. I will not elaborate but I came under immense pressure to sell and I just gave in. But as the saying goes 'you got to lose to win' sometimes, so I will dust off and rise again elsewhere.”

On whether he would return, the veteran journalist said he didn’t believe in the word “never”. He stated, while there was no interest to return right now, he is an open-minded and flexible person and believes anything is possible. He also likes to take advantage of good opportunities.

Andrews said he felt there was always room for growth in the local media sector but this called for innovation, especially in these tough economic times. “The closure of one of the newspapers opens up more opportunities for business,” he said.

According to Andrews, “Newspapers are becoming a thing of the past. They may not become obsolete but they are becoming less popular and irrelevant, thanks to online media. The emergence of the online media in the Caribbean is coming on slowly but strongly. I must credit myself and the British Virgin Islands for readily accepting online media as a commercial tool and an alternative to traditional media.”

Media owners are powerful people, Andrews stated, especially if they have a popular medium. “They can stabilize or destabilize any community, so that power has to be used carefully because it can come and bite us back in the butt.”

With that power, Andrews said he was able to improve peoples’ lives. “I felt honoured to do that… people can be more informed on a daily basis. Previously, getting news immediately was really gossip. Now, it is real news, reality.” He also said knowledge is power and the more informed people are, the better decisions they make. “I am pleased and happy to know that I am an agent of knowledge.”