Survivor mentality at Saipan Tribune

Since August 2002, the team at The Saipan Tribune has been proud to say that we are still the first and only media organization in the Northern Marianas that provides local news to our community seven days a week. This commitment has meant a lot more than just bragging rights. It has meant that for the past six years, there have always been members of the Tribune team working to produce a newspaper and keep the community informed and entertained.

Every day for approximately 2,310 days now, there have been hard-working reporters writing stories, advertising staff serving customers, an editor closing the pages, production artists designing layouts, pressmen running the presses, and circulation staff out and about very early every morning to bring you the news.

So as I sat down to write this column, I was thinking that the best approach was to be as straightforward as possible and say that in today’s economic storm, even the strongest of businesses—and yes, even a healthy company like the Saipan Tribune—are impacted by the shrinking of the pie.

There’s no mistaking the fact that this year has not been business as usual and next year is not expected to be any better. Therefore, every business, large and small, every government entity, and even every family should take a look at efficiency and what it will take to survive the bottoming out of the economy.

Survival at an acceptable level means different things to different people, but what this means for Saipan Tribune is this: as one of our own cost-cutting measures, effective November 30, we will temporarily suspend the Sunday newspaper until economic conditions in the CNMI improve. We sincerely hope this will be soon, but regardless of how long it takes, the Saipan Tribune intends to be a survivor.

Survival to us means we are committed to paying our employees and our vendors on time. We are committed to employee care: to providing a smoke-free workplace and healthy activities for our employees. We will stay active in the community and remain committed to being good citizens.

It was extremely timely that we received a copy of the latest economic assessment of the CNMI economy in the past week. The study, titled Economic Impact of Federal Laws on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, may immediately make some people think that this is a political document. The truth is it is a meticulously researched report by two capable and very accomplished economists. The authors, Malcolm McPhee and Dick Conway, are the same people who wrote the highly acclaimed and heavily used 1999 economic study released by Northern Marianas College.

Whether or not you agree with one of the report’s conclusions that new federal laws have already had and will continue to have a profoundly negative impact on the local economy, this 96-page report should be a must-read for everyone in business and policy-making roles in the CNMI. It is an eye-opening account of the rise and fall of the CNMI economy, the meaning of the latest economic indicators, and what we may expect in the coming years.

This report should be read by students and residents who want to understand more about the difficulties we are having today and why. The report notes that we’re in for a rough ride, an economy that will not hit bottom until 2010.

As recently noted by a good friend and colleague, President Jim Arenovski of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the reduction in population in the CNMI is perhaps the most alarming thing that businesses should be concerned with today. The outmigration of people in response to deteriorating economic conditions is aggravating the situation even further. It means very simply: there is less business to go around and there’s no denying this fact.

Although we will miss our Sunday comics and other features, we feel that the temporary reduction in the newspaper schedule from seven days to six only makes sense at this time. You have our assurance that if there’s a breaking story over the weekend that is of importance to the community, Tribune staff will continue to be there and you can read about it in our popular online edition at www.saipantribune.com.

On behalf of Saipan Tribune, thank you to all of our readers, vendors and advertisers. You have our commitment to be a survivor and continue to serve you as we weather this economic storm together.