Pat Ganase
The first time I met Alwin Chow was 1990, after the coup. My friend Penny brought him out to the farm. It was a social visit. I was managing my father's hatchery and poultry farm while raising Orion (then six) and Anjani (four). We chatted with no reference to Alwin's place of work, the Guardian newspapers.
Then I was called to attend an interview and bring along my CV. The interview was in the offices of ANSA McAl on Independence Square south. I felt very 'farm girl' after not working in offices for about three years. I was hired as assistant to the managing director of the Trinidad Publishing Company and given an executive office next to the managing director's (Alwin) and with very little direction or instruction, allowed to roam free in the Editorial offices. I used to call this 'managing by walking around.' Now, I realise I was the cat among the pigeons.
Almost everything I learned about newspapers in the age of desktop publishing was trial and error. I had an ancient LED screen with green types and a blinking cursor. The pagination desk sported all the newest Mac equipment which was intimidating. Alwin's mantra was embrace the technology; he was going to bring the oldest newspaper in the country into the 21st century.
Bigger than his devotion to technology was his strategy to invest the dissemination of 'information for life' with new and innovative human resources. Management trainees were recruited to be shadow reporters in the newsroom and on the subs desk; after a probation period, outstanding candidates would be offered permanent jobs. Training for these new hires (and anyone else interested) was ramped up: Neville Stack (from UK newsrooms), Leara Rhodes (from US journalism schools) were teachers and mentors; alongside George John who was a daily reviewer and coach. How many journalists and communications professionals got their start there?
He invited editors and senior journalists to lunch with the members after each monthly board meeting. Such interactions fostered familiarity with seasoned professionals, and started new conversations. Remember the libel seminars by Lynette Seebaran-Suite? As journalists, we were always learning.
August interns - recent high school graduates and returning university students - were contracted as OJTs and infected with ink in their veins.
He beefed up the features desk with rebel writers like Simon Lee and Raymond Ramcharitar. Then he filled out a whole design and illustration department with artists Christopher Cozier, Wendell McShine, Clint DeLeon and other young artists. American-Trini Sean Drakes for photography. Anna Walcott writing for the newspaper a generation after her father. Corinne Aaron blending technology and text for the TV Guide. Skye Hernandez producing the first pullout Common Entrance practice papers. Weekly supplements for every occasion from Divali to Eid cooking, the opening of new medical centres and mall shopping.
Such a broad and forward-thinking outlook didn't stop the Carnival debacle in 1993 when the ent
