A Timeline of Media in The Bahamas

(edited by Jean W. Joseph)

NEWSPAPER
Newspapers were introduced to "the colony" following the
American Revolution which ended in 1783.
1784 The Bahama Gazette was published by John Wells, a Loyalist from
South Carolina. It was the first newspaper ever published in the
Bahamas. The four-page Bahama Gazette was published twice
weekly and was available to Loyalists who lived on the Out Islands
by subscription.
1789 Alexander Cameron, a Loyalist, began publishing a newspaper
called the Lucayan Herald.
1804 The Royal Gazette appeared and was edited by John Wilson, an
Englishman from New York. The paper was owned jointly by the
Wilson Brothers.
1813 Neil McQueen bought the Royal Gazette, thus amalgamating this
newspaper with the Bahama Gazette. From then the newspaper was
published as the Royal Gazette and Bahama Advertiser. The Royal
Gazette and Bahama Advertiser were published until 1856.
1829 /1831 The first political newspaper, The Bahama Argus," an anti-
emancipation paper.
1844 The Nassau Guardian was founded by Edwin Charles Moseley.

1887 The Freeman wrote about the plight of the blacks in the colony.

late 1880s The Watchman newspaper was founded

1903 The Tribune was founded as a reaction to the Nassau Guardian and
its lack of interest in the majority class (i.e. the working class) by
Leon Dupuch who was an apprentice to Edwin Moseley at the
Guardian.
1920s Feature columns added to the dailies.

1932 The Nassau Tribune began publishing as a daily, establishing links

with Reuters and the Associated Press Caribbean and Latin
American service.
1934 The Nassau Guardian became a daily.

1937 The Bimini Bugle was founded in Alice Town, Bimini. It is the
smallest newspaper in the Bahamas.

RADIO/BROADCASTING
1930 Radio was introduced to the colony late in 1930 making The
Bahamas the first British Caribbean Colony to experiment with
broadcasting. VIBAX becomes The Bahamas' first broadcasting
station.
1936 Formal broadcasting began after the implementation of Radio
facilities in May.
1937 The call letters ZNS, Zephyr Nassau Sunshine, were adopted.

ZNS radio service was started so that weather information could be

given to Bahamian seamen and yachtsmen who had begun to
discover the beauty and charm of the islands. Radio helped, more
than any other medium, to bring the people of The Bahamas
together.
1945 First Out Island remote was broadcast from Harbour Island to
Nassau.
1946 ZNS' frequency changed to 1540 KHz.

1949 Board of Education began broadcasting locally produced

educational programmes.
1950 ZNS began commercial broadcasting.
1962 ZNS2 is established.
1970 The Fergusons of Farm Road, a Bahamian radio soap opera written
by Jeannie Thompson was first aired.
1973 ZNS-3 Radio Bahamas Northern Service began operation in
Freeport.
1993 Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced the discontinuation of
ZNS' broadcasting monopoly and 100 Jamz was the first private
radio station to hit the airwaves in the same year.
1994 Love 97 radio station began broadcasting.

1995 More FM (94.9)

2002 Island FM (102.9)

2006 Gems FM (105.9)

MOVIES
1911 The first movie was shown in Nassau at the Royal and Imperial
Theatres.
1930 The first sound and colour movie was shown in The Bahamas.

1937 Fire destroyed the Nassau Theater on September 30th.

1949 Sidney Poitier made his motion picture debut in the movie 'No Way
Out.'
1950 In January construction began on a new theatre for the Southern
District. This theatre was owned by Mr. Percy Pinder who also
owned the Rainbow Gardens Theatre in East Street South.
1964 Sidney Poitier won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Homer
Smith in the 1963 movie 'Lilies of the Field.'
1976 The Sunshine Twin Theatre on Blue Hill Road opened.

TV
1977 TV Programmes started officially on Channel-13

1990 TV Service to Freeport commenced via CATV cable system.

1993 Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announces breaking of ZNS

broadcasting monopoly
1995 Cable Bahamas launched cable television on New Providence and
other islands of The Bahamas.

MUSIC
1950s George Symonette, The King of Goombay, recorded a number of
Calypso albums. His 10th anniversary album featured songs such as
"Sail on the Sloop John," "Peel, Peel, Peel De Banana," "Delia
Gone," "Uncle Lou," and "The Goombay in Exuma."
1958 Samuel Charters, a blues scholar and professor of music at the
University of California, recorded "Music of The Bahamas -
Volume 1," a compilation of songs performed by Joseph Spence, a
Bahamian musician.
1970 Tony McKay made his first recording with Mercury Records. The
Obeah Man albums received high rankings from Billboard and they
achieved #1 status in Brazil, Honduras and Russia.
1971 Funky Nassau, a funk/disco record by The Beginning of The End
was produced. The record became a dance floor hit.

General
Newspapers were introduced to the colony following the American
Revolution.
The early mass media were elitist and designed for the educated
planter and professional class of Bahamian society.
1892 The Telegraph Dept ( the forerunner of BTC) was founded.

Following World War I, the media became truly mass media with
the completion of and the introduction of electric publishing and
broadcasting equipment.
1926 The first Bahamian handbook, The Nassau Magazine & Journal was
printed.
1931 In a letter to the Editor of The Tribune, a regular patron at the
Fotosho Theatre complains about being asked to change seats
because he was in the white area.
 The Bahamian mass media have been influenced by the US particularly
during the American Civil War, Prohibition, and the Great Depression.
1985 "The media have looked and sounded similar to American mass media but
underlying their sound and appearance, Bahamian mass media have
reflected British concerns and have been unswerving in their support of
Great Britain." Dr. Howard Sidney Pactor
Journalists in the colony depended on news reports supplied via the
government-owned submarine telegraph cable.