Technology Boom Impacts News Industry


written by:
Mr. Desmond Seales. MBE, Chief Executive, Cayman Net News Group

Huge strides have taken place in information technology, affecting every sphere of society. The Internet has changed family life vastly in just one generation. Even the elderly are beginning to try communicating online.

The revolutionary effects of the Internet have changed businesses and industry even more. The World Wide Web, email, VoIP, online video conferencing and other technologies have made us more productive.

Nearly every office in the Cayman Islands has email, most businesses have websites and the Internet has revolutionized the way our tourist and financial services products are marketed.

The business of news has also changed dramatically, both in terms of how newspapers are produced, and in the exciting new ways consumers receive daily news. All areas of newspaper production have benefited from improved communications. Journalists now have a wealth of information at their fingertips, with immediate access to reports.

Electronic transfer of files by methods such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and email means that printing at remote printing plants is a viable alternative for local media. The changes to production methods are small scale to the huge impact the Internet has had on how consumers keep in touch with news, with information accessible 24 hours per day online. Our hunger for instant news is met by a growing number of news websites worldwide.

We are increasingly seeing Cayman’s residents using local news websites to keep in touch with local events. News websites based here in the Cayman Islands are also extremely popular with Caymanians living overseas, frequent visitors with business interests that wish to keep in touch.

The first online news source for the country was CaymanNetNews.com – now in its sixth year. The publishers of Cayman Net News, recognising the future of news reporting on the Internet, has also developed CaribbeanNetNews.com – an online news service for the entire Caribbean.

There is a trend worldwide for newspapers to develop websites; in fact all newspapers published in the Cayman Islands have websites. CaymanNetNews.com pioneered online news reporting in the Cayman Islands and the importance of this was clearly demonstrated on 11 / 12 September 2004, during Hurricane Ivan. With phone lines down, the only news source for residents, friends and family overseas during the storm was CaymanNetNews.com, which provided updated information throughout.

Technology is evolving further and the latest development in Cayman’s news is video streaming on-line, allowing ‘TV’ style news broadcasts to be watched on computers. Cayman Islands Net TV (CiNTV) is an internet-based video news service that can be accessed at CaymanNetNews.com.

This is the first online news service dedicated to presenting video news reports from Cayman. Top stories from the newspaper edition are made into video news bulletins available online.

The convergence of print, radio, Internet and television is the natural path for modern communications and is taking place worldwide. The future is integrated technology allowing people to receive information in multi-faceted ways. The advancement made by media in the Cayman Islands means we have the most progressive media presence in the Caribbean.

Desmond Seales, MBE has been involved in publishing in the Cayman Islands for over 35 years. Currently the Chief Executive / Publisher / Editor in Chief of the Cayman Net News Group, his previous publishing efforts include the venerable Nor’wester Magazine, Cayman Islands Handbook, Buccaneer, The Pilot and other published works. He introduced local television to the Cayman Islands in 1991.


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