Searchlight

What is Searchlight?

Searchlight is a newspaper published in Kingstown. Its publisher's page states: “The newspaper Searchlight is published by Interactive Media Limited, which was incorporated in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on March 7, 1995.” The same page, which carries no date, states: “Today, the company is owned by 17 shareholders and is staffed by 13 full-time and two part-time employees.” It lists a board of seven with Corletha Ollivierre as chairman and editor, and describes the company as “an independent news organization”; that is its own description.^[1]

The site's footer reads “Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines”, and the site links an e-edition. Its sports reports are published on a path of the parent site, searchlight.vc/sports.^[4]

The end of the newspaper. Searchlight's editorial dated 25 September 2026 describes itself as the final editorial of the newspaper and states: “This publication ends, but the need for light has not disappeared.”^[2] A column by Adrian Fraser, a director at the company's founding, published the same day, states: “Today, September 25,2026 the paper has reached the end of the line and will be no more.”^[3][1] Neither text says whether the website continues. On 26 September 2026 the sports path carried a new report dated that day.^[4]

What does Searchlight cover?

As retrieved on 26 September 2026, the sports path listed reports dated up to 26 September 2026 on football, cricket, basketball, tennis, cycling and archery, among them an item naming the national men's team's Concacaf Nations League squad.^[4]

Football. It reported on 23 January 2026 the launch of the Vincy Soccer Premier League, which it described as “the flagship division of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation's National Club Championships”.^[6] On 26 September 2026 it reported that the men's team, Vincy Heat, was in Belize for Concacaf Nations League League B, Group D matches, a route to the 2027 Gold Cup.^[7]

Schools. On 18 September 2026 it reported the 2026/27 schools' sports programme, with four new competitions and early registrations of school football and netball teams.^[5]

How large is Searchlight's audience?

No audited circulation, readership survey or audited web-traffic figure for Searchlight was retrieved, and no audience measurement body for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was found. Interactive Media Ltd's page gives no circulation figure.^[1]

The publisher's page states that the paper appeared “on Tuesdays and Fridays”, with the weekend edition in print and in electronic form and the midweek paper as an e-paper only.^[1] Adrian Fraser's column of 25 September 2026 states that “Advertisements which had kept the business alive have found a cheaper and more convenient platform through Social Media”.^[3] That is his account, not a measured figure.

Since when has Searchlight existed?

Interactive Media Ltd's page states that the company was incorporated on 7 March 1995 and that the first edition appeared on “Friday, April 7, 1995.” It names Adrian Fraser as the first chairman, with Sebastian Alexander, Renwick Rose, Oscar Allen and Norma Keizer, managing editor, as the other original directors.^[1] The final editorial states: “Our first editorial, published on April 7, 1995, began simply: 'Searchlight is here.'”^[2] Both dates are the company's own account. The editorial adds: “Our website was established as early as 2004, followed by our e-paper and social-media platforms.”^[2]

The same editorial, dated 25 September 2026, marks the end of the newspaper. The newspaper's own record thus runs from 7 April 1995 to 25 September 2026.^[2]

Why does Searchlight matter in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' sport?

In 2026 Searchlight's sports pages carried the federation's club competitions, the schools' programme and the national men's football team, and its reports are the source retrieved for several of them: the launch of the Vincy Soccer Premier League, the 2026/27 schools' calendar and Vincy Heat's Nations League campaign.^[6][5][7] Its editorial of 25 September 2026 records the end of the newspaper; any later coverage depends on the website, whose continuation neither the editorial nor Fraser's column addresses.^[2][3]

Reporters Without Borders files the Eastern Caribbean islands together under the OECS. Its media-landscape entry states: “On several of the islands, political parties hold majority shares in media companies, undermining journalistic independence throughout the region. Governments also wield significant influence over radio stations, newspapers and online media outlets.” Its legal-framework entry states: “In 2016, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines passed an ambiguous cybercrime law aimed at curbing online press freedom under the guise of criminal defamation.”^[8] Those are RSF's statements; it names no Vincentian outlet in them.