About The Islander Newspaper

The first edition of The Islander.

Founded on April 30^th, 1971, The Islander newspaper recently celebrated its 25th anniversary - a quarter of a century of the news! So what, you might think. Except that The Islander isn't just another island institution: it is, and always has been, entirely voluntarily run. Which makes the combined efforts of some 60 editors and countless printers and contributors quite some achievement!

The first newspaper published on Ascension was a single sheet called "The 877 News". This appeared on the 21st August 1942 and was described by the British Government Representative as; "A sheet of world news, articles and nonesense columns." This was edited by Chaplain W.E.Capricorn US Army, assisted by Mr. M.M. Baker, an American Red Cross worker. Published daily for the US troops, over 4000 copies were printed. The name was taken from the Army Post Office number for Ascension, still on the war-time secret list. The name obviously lacked a certain "pizzaz" on the newspaper stands, and a competition to think of a better one was suggested. The prizes of a flash-light, (useful for midnight walks through the clinker to the latrines), and 3 gallons of fresh water for a bath were offered to the winner. The paper was expanded to a double-sided sheet named "The Wide-awake News", but this was changed to "The Daily News" at the insistence of the US censorship authorities. A few months later the paper was again renamed as "Task" , and had grown to some 8 pages with cartoons and news reports, both about island life and the wide world outside. By the 5th March 1944 it had reached it's zenith of a full 10 pages, requiring the skill of 75 servicemen to produce each weekly issue.

The final edition came out on the 9th September 1945, when the front page carried farewell messages from both the Government Representative and Colenel John D Torrey, the C.O of the US Forces. In an article about the island, walkers were advised that the overland trail to Letterbox "was very dangerous and should not be attempted without a St Helenian guide".

And that was it. The sound of pounding type-writers and the scratching of pens ceased. There were several attempts to produce a newspaper when the island was again invaded in the sixties. Appearing at irregular intervals, The "Klinka Times" was a fairly scurrilous rag full of innuendoes which only made sense to those with an ear for scandal. This said, it prepared the ground for the next paper.

A new tooth-puller, Tom Harman-Smith, besides trying to inflict culture on the island by the way of theatrical offerings, had yearnings of a literary nature.

A small plaque in the Exiles Club, donated by founding editor Tom Harman Smith on the occasion of the papers's 1000th issue, commemorates the "birth of the news". Over a few drinks, Tom and a few friends decided that the island needed a newspaper. Meetings followed, an enthusiastic band of volunteers was soon recruited.

(Article adapted from an article which appeared in issue The Islander in April 1996).

The first issue of "The Islander" appeared on the island on the 30th April 1971. It was produced using the Cable & Wireless facilities by kind permission of the General Manager, Basil Leighton. The birth was nearly still-born when the Cable & Wireless Head Office mandarins had cold feet about allowing people to print a newspaper on their equipment which might be used to criticise The Administrator, or - worse still - Cable & Wireless. The second issue was postponed until these production difficulties were overcome.

In 1991, true to his promise, Tom Harman Smith returned in time to deliver the 1000th issue in person.

The inscription on this plaque hanging in the Exiles Club reads:

On the occasion of the publication of the 1000th issue of The Islander,on the 2nd of November 1990, the Administrator of the day, His Honour J.J Beale wrote;

"Why has The Islander survived? Because it fulfills a need. What is that? To be a shop-window where people can seek public support for ideas and events, where they can advertise their chattels and their opinions, and where our own local news can be circula ted and recorded in lapidary style".

The Fort Hayes musem and the office of The Islander Newspaper.

Communications are important. World news is brought to us by the BBC World Service and BFBS TV - newspapers are imported for us by Ascension Island Services - gossip spreads fast by word of mouth, feeding on itself, often to the discomfiture of those concerned - but The Islander, a community newspaper produced by the voluntary efforts of so many over so many years, fills what would otherwise be a gap and has tried to serve our local needs from the days of it's origins.

HERE'S TO THE NEXT THOUSAND ISSUES !

The Islander now.