USA Today partners with local paper to launch Trinidad and Tobago edition

Posted by Savita Sauvin on March 5, 2010 at 2:24 PM

USA Today and Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday have entered into partnership and together launched the Trinidad and Tobago edition of USA Today, T&T's Newsday reported.

The first Trinidad and Tobago edition of the USA Today was printed yesterday in the El Socorro Pressroom and distributed to attendees at an event created around the new partnership. The new edition will be distributed directly to subscribers from Monday to Friday and also be made available at airports, airlines, hotels and several other sales outlets throughout the country, said Therese Mills, CEO and editor in-chief of T&T's Newsday.

Mills also announced the findings of the latest government-sponsored MORI poll that shows Daily News Limited-owned T&T's Newsday is read by 68 percent of readers in the country. An ABC audit conducted last year confirmed USA Today's circulation reached 1.9 million copies daily, T&T's Newsday reported.

"We look forward to a relationship that will enhance the image of the media in Trinidad and Tobago and assist in developing the practice of independent journalism in our time," Mills told Editor & Publisher.

In addition to standard sections like News, Money, Life and Sports, the Trinidad and Tobago edition of USA Today will include advertisers on the islands, according to E&P.

T&T's Newsday is USA Today's second partnership in the English-speaking Caribbean, and brings the number of global print partners for the U.S. daily to eight, including London, Germany, Belgium, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, Cancun (Mexico) and Nassau (the Bahamas), Tom Kelly, circulation vice president told the newspaper.

David L. Hunke, president and publisher of USA Today told E&P that the partnership "allows us to continue our mission to serve as the main information and news source for travelers and tourists everywhere and to expand our business in another competitive market."

USA Today is owned by U.S. publisher Gannett Co.