Editorial
For those of you who know track and field sports, the relay team race is unique. A group of runners working as a team run individual relays in a foot race, passing a baton to each member of the team as they complete their part. Together they win. Or together they lose. The most important thing is that they act together.
On the eve of our move to new, larger and more efficient quarters, we take this opportunity to pause for reflection.
It has been three years since the Cayman Net News first started publication. We've grown much since then and like all business organizations these days, we've had our ups and downs in that time. There has been good and bad.
Thankfully, however, most importantly, most proudly, through it all we have kept our covenant with the people of the Cayman Islands. We've never deviated from the truth. We have never lost our independence. And you, dear reader, have in turn kept the faith and continued supporting us.
Cayman Net News was born out of the idea that the time had come for the Cayman Islands to re-affirm its role on the world stage. To ride the cutting edge of the new information age with not just as a new newspaper but also as an electronic window to the world. A window works two ways: it lets people see out and it also lets people see in. That is what the Worldwide Web does, and, that was the germ of the idea that gave birth to the Cayman Net News as published in both its print and electronic forms.
In a nutshell, it helps us show our face to the world. In turn, the world begins to know Cayman as something much, much more than fictional place in a novel good for money laundering. With the two twin economic pillars of the tourism and financial industries supporting us our country has grown into an economic powerhouse - the envy of many.
The genesis of today's Cayman Net News lies with the ending of another publication that in its time did much the same for Cayman 22 years ago. Many of you will remember the venerable Nor'wester magazine. For those who don't, it was literally the first true professionally produced medium to promote and tell the world all about us and a chronicler of our history. The Nor'wester existed for 15 years - the time of Cayman's developing years.
Given the communications of the times, our efforts helped the Cayman Islands take its place in the world as the premiere offshore financial and vacation destination. This was the fuel that fed Cayman's economic miracle to where despite our problems of today we all enjoy the highest standard of living in the Caribbean and one of the highest in the world.
Our purpose, or more appropriately, our mission is to help Cayman step into the world of tomorrow and prosper. This has always been our promise our covenant with the people of Cayman: to provide that window to the world and do it in a totally objective and balanced manner for the betterment of us all.
We are the people's outlet and we like to think, the people's voice. Given our commitment, we should not have to, but daily struggle to battle for our independence and objectivity. This is ideal, but the truth is not always welcome. Some like to operate in dim places and abhor the light. It is our duty to light the way for the people of the Cayman Islands to know what is happening, when it happens, as it happens.
As we start to sort through files, fill up boxes, move our hi-tech equipment and do all the rest of seemingly thousands of things associated with moving, we reflect on the old Nor'wester, the founding of Cayman Net News.
We think about the growth we have experienced, with many thanks to a dedicated staff, our advertisers and you, our faithful readers. Most personal of all, we think about the support from you, our reader - that has been the foundation upon which we have grown.