Splendid Suriname - Know About Its Leading News Organizations

Image Source - wikipedia

Introduction:

Suriname is a northeastern country situated on the Atlantic coast of South America. Officially known as the Republic of Suriname, it has most of its population living in and around the capital- Paramaribo. 

It is the only sovereign country situated outside Europe where its official language, Dutch is coaxed in Governing, media, business, and education. When it comes to media and broadcasting services, all non-governmental-owned media were closed in 1982. But even after the shutdown, various private establishments reinstituted operation. 

The most prominent unconventional daily newspaper print organizations are ‘De Ware Tijd’ which stands for ‘The True Times’ and ‘De West’ which stands for ‘The West’. Both are printed in Dutch as linguistic dominance in Suriname is about 60%. The television and radio stations under the government are mostly in Dutch or the respective local languages.



Image Source: BBC News


What do people say about Suriname?

Image Source - bbc

In a report by the BBC’s reporters, they happened to mention that Suriname has a fair amount of independence in terms of media coverage and freedom. The aforementioned newspapers are Private-run along with the other privately-owned radio and television stations. 

But since the Internet era, access to information, news, and entertainment have become more readily available. This has made most of the countries across the globe adapt to new media technologies for journalism. 

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Hence, Suriname has also adopted social media platforms, documentary film-making, and other types of contemporary technologies to get in touch with their audiences and give up-to-minute updates of the happenings in their nation and around the globe as well. 

As per a recent survey, there were more than five lakh users of the internet in 2017 at Suriname which makes it up to 47% of the population of the nation (Internetworldstats.com).

New Media Adaptations and Usage in Suriname:

As per the statistics and surveys, there were 352.1 thousand internet users in January 2021. Comparatively from 2020 to 2021, due to the circumstances of a global pandemic, there has been an increase of 37 thousand users of the internet.

Image Source - vaticannews.va

There were around 390 thousand social media users as of January 2021. The usage of the internet was of great help for mass communication and is still acting as a great medium for news transmission across the globe during the pandemic or even before this obscene event occurred. 

Several news firms with credibility for their information were held on to the traditional media of communication but did evolve overtime to keep their audiences engaged.

Their Leading News Organisations:

Currently, De Ware Tijd -a daily newspaper along with De West are the two leading newspapers in the country. There are two other government-owned television stations namely, ATV (Algemene Televisie Verzorging) and STVS (Surinaamse Televisie Stichting) which are for commercial use. 

They also have an app for a private-owned radio station known as Radio Apintine. Two other radio stations are privately run and one government-owned. Most of these organizations are constituted in Paramaribo.

De Ware Tijd:

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This very newspaper organization, situated in Paramaribo, was established in 1986 and became known for its literary section called De Ware Tijd Literair started by Michiel Van Kempen. By 2002, it became the largest-circulation newspaper in the entire nation. 

Their primary contender being De West, it boomed its business as it had very independent thinking in its political stand. As per the growth in social media and other new media adaptations, it has been found to have Facebook pages, Instagram posts, YouTube documentaries, and videos that have acted as a building bridge between the happenings and the audience. 

Image Source - waterkant

They also provided their readers with an online newspaper portal that they could access since the involvement of digital media in people was in excess.

ATV:

Image Source - tvtolive

Algemene Televisie Verzorging was the second television company that was established in 1983. It was founded and is still operated by a Telecommunications Company in Telesur. In recent times, as in 2014, ATV switched its network from analog to digital television. 

In the current cyber world, they also made an attempt to expand their network into social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. They are known to provide live news simultaneously on these platforms for the ease and accessibility of the audiences.

Image Source - youtube

Other Media Agencies:

When we look at the rest of the news agencies as well, like the radio stations, they have developed official websites and mobile applications to make information more accessible. 

When we have a look at the data chart of 2021, there were around 1.03 million mobile connections and usage in the citizens of Suriname. The aforementioned, Radio Apintie has developed a mobile app as the mobile connections have been increasing over the years.

In fine, media all around the world, since the time of globalization and the cyber revolution, have been adapting to upcoming trends to deliver news and entertainment. 

Even the most backward of the countries have stepped up in keeping their audience engaged and informed. The state-of-the-art suggests that communication is a two-way road and not just like a ‘Hyper Needle Theory’, where people feed on information and there are no other perspectives to it. 

There have been repercussions in making it a ‘woke’ world where everyone has fed on data to their convenience and formed one-sided opinions but it has made lives increasingly better and accessible to individuals. 

Conclusion:

Suriname is one such country that still believes in its official language and did not give up on traditional media, though they cultivated new mediums. As John Dyer once quoted, “Digital media has destroyed much of the magic and mystery of the medium”

Written By - Amulya Sriharsha

Edited By - Daniel Deepak Charles