The San Juan Star was not only Puerto Rico's only English language daily, running for almost 50 years, it is also highly regarded for having once employed Pulitzer Prize winning author William Kennedy.
Owner Gerry Angulo said after years of losing money with the San Juan Star, it was time to call it quits.
I'm not going to subsidize the paper. The paper has to hold its own.
That is a logical statement. However, I did notice that its website was really poorly done compared with modern standards. Perhaps, like other organizations in Puerto Rico often give the impression, the San Juan Star was lacking leadership to take it into the next generation?
Unionized workers, of which I am personally not a big fan, did not do much to help matters according to the news briefs. Striking and causing missed publication days is certainly enough to cause any wealthy businessman to close up shop, particularly one who was apparently keeping the paper running out of pocket.
For those who want a printed English language paper, it's going to have to be the weekly "Carribbean Business".
While not having much information on Gerry Angulo to base an opinion, I will give him thumbs up for not playing games with the union. In reality, it's a win-win situation. For him, he gets out of a business that is losing money in which he is not prepared to move into the next generation. For the employees whether their demands were justified or not, is an opportunity to move on in their career.
So I ask the question: With that many skilled and experienced workers from the publishing industry, is there not someone among them who can start a new English language daily? Rather than a bad deal, I think this really created a HUGE opportunity.
Until that happens, blogs like this one and the many others will play a role in delivering the new breed of English language news and opinion for Puerto Rico. Maybe MC Don Dees said it best:
Does it now follow that English bloggers in Puerto Rico are the last bastion of journalism for Puerto Rico? Regardless of what may be the popular opinion about bloggers, our qualifications, our objectivity, our bias, or our amateur status, let's face it. We are all that is left! What does this mean? Is this an opportunity for someone? Is this our new burden?
The Insider
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