De West

What is De West?

De West is a daily newspaper. Its site carries the masthead “Dagblad DE WEST” and the description: “Het laatste nieuws uit en voor Suriname. Dagblad DE WEST uit en voor Suriname. De oudste krant van Suriname.”^[2] The description of itself as the oldest newspaper in Suriname is the paper's own claim, and no independent source for it was retrieved.

Its contact page gives the address Mr. J.C. De Miranda St # 2-6, Paramaribo, and describes the paper as “Dagblad uit en voor Suriname”.^[3] The site's footer reads “Copyright 2026 Dagblad DE WEST Suriname”.^[1] No publisher, company or owner is named on the pages retrieved.

Reporters Without Borders, in its 2026 index entry for Suriname, states: “The country enjoys a pluralist media landscape. The two major private papers are De Ware Tijd and De West.”^[4] That is the monitoring body's characterisation.

What does De West cover?

The paper publishes sport on the path dagbladdewest.com/sport. As retrieved on 26 September 2026, its most recent sport items dated from 13 June to 18 August 2026.^[1]

Football. Items on the 2026 FIFA World Cup included “Mexico – Zuid Afrika 2-0 bij WK opening” (13 June 2026), “HORECA HOEFT GEEN TOESTEMMING OM WK UIT TE ZENDEN” (13 June 2026) and “Spanje voor tweede maal wereldkampioen voetbal” (20 July 2026).^[1]

Other sport. On 18 August 2026 it published “Team Suriname sluit Goodwill Swimming Championships af met zeven medailles”, on swimming, and an item on a running event; earlier items concerned a karate seminar, a savanna running series and a bridge pairs event.^[1]

The swimming report states that a Surinamese team took part in the 30th Goodwill Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, from 14 to 16 August 2026, with a national selection of eight swimmers, and that it won seven individual medals: one gold, five silver and one bronze. The article closes with the Surinaamse Zwembond's appreciation of the swimmers and those accompanying them.^[5]

The site's other sections, as listed on its home page, are Nieuws, Lokaal, Keerpunt, Buitenland, Olie & Gas and Advertenties.^[2]

How large is De West's audience?

No television-audience currency, readership survey or audited web measurement for Suriname was retrieved, so no audience figure is given. De West's site, as retrieved, publishes no circulation, readership or traffic figure.^[2]

The only external assessment retrieved is Reporters Without Borders' description, in its 2026 entry, of De West and De Ware Tijd as “The two major private papers”. RSF gives no figure for either paper.^[4]

Since when has De West existed?

The paper's site describes it as “De oudste krant van Suriname” but gives no founding year on the pages retrieved.^[2] No founding year was retrieved from an independent source, and none is given here.

Why does De West matter in Suriname's sport?

De West is one of the two private newspapers that Reporters Without Borders names in its 2026 entry for Suriname, and it maintains a sport section on its own site.^[4][1] Its sport coverage retrieved runs from international football to Surinamese swimmers abroad and domestic running, karate and bridge events.^[1]

RSF's same entry states of the legal framework: “The Constitution guarantees freedom of the press. However, an extremely harsh defamation law provides for penalties of up to seven years in prison for 'public expression of hate' toward the government.” That is the monitoring body's statement, not a finding about this paper.^[4]