The Virginia Slims cigarette company once had an advertising jingle: You’ve come a long way baby.
That’s how we feel today as Cayman Free Press celebrates its 40th anniversary.
We’ve certainly come a long way.
We’ve gone from typewriters, typesetters, paste-up boards and sticky columns of news type to high-tech computers, sleek image setters and the only newspaper printing press in the Cayman Islands.
Through the years the newspaper product has been reworked and honed to the premiere product it is today.
And we’re not resting on our laurels.
We know we have a long way to go.
Just as this company has strived the past 40 years to bring the fairest and balanced reporting to the Cayman Islands, it will spend the next 40 years committed to newspaper excellence and being the best publishing company in this country.
Following is our history and a brief look at all this company offers the Cayman Islands and the world.
In 1965, the Cayman Publishing Company was established. At that time, the company produced the once a week Caymanian Weekly (launched 6 October, 1965). This continued until 1972 when it became twice weekly. During the late 60s, to help support the operation, the company introduced job printing, which became the main financial foundation until the early 1970s.
In 1973, one of the principle shareholders of the company (who was also the managing editor) started up an opposition newspaper called the Cayman Compass, which was published by Instant Print and Photography. Both publications were printed on island and in 1974, the two newspapers were combined into the Caymanian Compass, published twice a week.
Within a year, the Compass was being published three times per week.
To bolster the company’s output, the late 70s saw Cayman Free Press launching additional publications into the tourism industry with the introduction of an Annual Map and Visitors Guide and the Tourist Weekly (a forerunner to the Key to Cayman magazine.) The Cayman Islands Yearbook was also introduced as a representative of the financial industry.
On Tuesday, 6 October 1981, the Caymanian Compass went daily.
The company continued to grow and in 1990 a new publication, The Key to Cayman Magazine was introduced to Cayman to meet demand from the tourist industry.
The turn of the millennium saw Cayman Free Press once again increasing its output. In 2002 two new publications were introduced – The Cayman Islands Journal, Cayman’s leading in-depth business broadsheet and InsideOut magazine a full colour glossy magazine, which rapidly became Cayman’s premier home and living publication.
Following Hurricane Ivan, 11-12 September, 2004, Cayman Free Press offices were severely damaged.
With a skeleton staff working out of a small remaining office and using just two laptop computers we began publishing the Caymanian Compass newspaper by printing through the Jamaica Gleaner presses in Kingston and flying them to Grand Cayman.
On 17 September, five days after the storm, the first post Ivan Caymanian Compass was delivered to the people of Cayman. From 19 October we began to produce two editions a week.
Remediation work carried out by our staff as well as tireless efforts by a team of just five reporters continued throughout the remainder of 2004, until on Wednesday, 1 December, the Caymanian Compass once again returned to daily publishing with an afternoon edition.
The company continued to grow back to pre-Ivan size and on 14 March the Caymanian Compass resumed publishing its daily morning edition. Other publications were brought back online from this time.
Today Cayman Free Press publishes the Caymanian Compass, a weekly TV Guide, a range of supplements and features, Inside Out – Cayman’s premier home and living magazine, the Key to Cayman, the Cayman Islands Journal, the Map and Visitor’s Guide and our website www.caycompass.com brings news to the world 24/7.
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