TOUTED as a 21st century vision that will be a breath of fresh air for the reading public, InFocus newspaper was launched in time for Emancipation celebrations at Hotel Tower, Main Street, Georgetown. Guyana’s first “stress free” newspaper will also be distributed free of cost. Publisher and General Manager, Akash Persaud said he was cognisant of the public need to have a stress free reading experience, noting that
InFocus stayed away from the controversial but instead focused on education, sport, entertainment and more. Stressing that InFocus would be a family oriented newspaper; Persaud said no photographs not fit for the media would be featured.
As stated on the newspaper’s Editorial page, the publishers recognise that InFocus will have to compete with four daily newspapers and a weekly newspaper as far as the advertising dollar is concerned, but they are convinced that their low advertising rates and free distribution across Guyana will give them the cutting edge advantage, since advertisers will have the reassurance of widest product and service promotion. As Persaud reiterated at the launch “Advertisers are guaranteed an audience”.
At present, Infocus is a 24-page newspaper size publication printed on newsprint with 16 pages in full colour and 8 pages black and white and will be published twice monthly.
Among some of the areas that
InFocus will emphasise are Unsung heroes, Sports personalities, Neutral Editorials, Education, Neutral Humour, Opinion Columns, Comic Strip, Creole Recipe, Life in the Country, Crosswords, Sudoku, Advice Columns, Display Advertisements, Inserts from Local Merchants, Banking Institutions, Insurance Companies and more.
The newspaper will be distributed by hand at Market Places, Supermarkets/ gas stations from kiosks and other locations with heavy human traffic.
Television host and master of ceremony of the launch, Reaz Hussain who lauded the publication, said it will highlight the positive side of Guyana, stressing that the publication will never be sold.
Marketing Manager, Vidya Binda who was there to speak about the dissemination of the newspaper expressed the sentiment that InFocus would become “a companion” to its readers.
Commencing from the next issue, InFocus will start the publication of an opinion column where they will publish views submitted by readers.