Evening News to be rebuilt from scratch - Vieira Stabroek News April 18, 2000 The Evening News will be rebuilding "from scratch" without its Editor-in-Chief Adam Harris and senior reporter Julia Johnson, but will not be broadcast for at least a month following its closure on April 11, its publisher Anthony Vieira has stated. "The Evening News has fallen far short of my high expectations for quite a few months now and no-one seemed to care. But at the same time, it was getting more and more expensive, and advertising revenue has been falling badly with the decline of the economy," Vieira stated in a letter to Stabroek News. The newscast was closed down last week following a rift between its staff and Vieira over payment for stories. Harris told this newspaper yesterday that he was exploring the possibility of producing another newscast. He said he was not contemplating migrating but will continue to work in Guyana. "There was life for me before the Evening News and life will continue for me after Evening News," he stated. This newspaper understands that those who will not be returning to work with Vieira are looking at the possibility of producing a newscast and buying air time from a local television station to broadcast it. It is reported that several businesses have indicated their willingness to support the newscast with advertising during the programme. Vieira said he met a few employees of the newscast to discuss the ways and means of producing a "high quality" half-hour programme. He said that the newscast required at least 12 minutes of advertising per night at $7,000 per minute to survive. He said that the actual cost of overhead expenses was some $1.6 million and not $850,000 as was stated by Harris. He pointed out that the newscast was popular because no expense was spared to produce it but it was not properly managed and the staff had become complacent and inefficient. "I want to give our viewers the best and I have been keeping my end of the bargain. Unfortunately, it comes at a high price and must be supported." The reporters of the newscast were receiving $500 per story. Vieira said subsequently it was agreed that the senior reporters would receive $600 per story and the junior reporters $400. He was later told that Harris had decided, without consultation, to pay the juniors $500 and the seniors $600 per story. According to the publisher, the reporters submit some 20 stories per month and together with this they are paid a $15,000 productivity bonus. Most of the better reporters earn between $40,000 to $60,000 per month, he stated. Vieira disclosed that his television station owed the Bank of Nova Scotia $45 million and the entire sum was associated with Evening News. He said he told Harris that if the staff could not accept the payment arrangement they had agreed to "they could all go home" and he would continue to meet his obligations under the law. Vieira also reiterated his objections to the state-owned GTV 11 television station being subsidised with taxpayers money, stating that it provided unfair competition to private television stations. (Andrew Richards)