Sun closure: The Sun raised the bar

Dear Tony,

I’m shocked and saddened by the disappearance of a newspaper that has meant a lot to Bermuda, and by the situation you and your staff find yourselves in.

If you’ll forgive a little reminiscing, I was a reporter at the Gazette when the Sun was founded and Martin Dyer, who had been editor of the Sunday Royal Gazette, became its first editor.

My friend and mentor Major John Barritt, foreign news editor at the Gazette, was its second. I have always regretted not moving over to work with him there. He was a heck of a good editor.

The birth of the Sun was seen at the time as a great thing for freedom of speech in Bermuda.

A lot of very, very good journalists have worked there, and they had the effect of making all the media pull up their socks a little.

Over the years, the Sun has had its ups and downs, but I think Bermudians have always had a bit of a soft spot in their hearts for the little newspaper that went up against Big Boss Gazette, and often won!

Your closure had nothing to do with the quality of your work, we all realize. Newspapers around the world are struggling to survive in an internet-dominated news environment.

I think our friend Pat Burchall over at Bernews is the face of the media’s future.

I’m just sorry you weren’t able to make a transition to her model from the bigger and much more complicated organization that gave you birth, and that published one of those old-time paper newspapers every week. 

Gavin Shorto

Former editor of the Mid-Ocean News