Directors of new newspaper are hotel owner and Premier's relatives
Chief Fire Officer Vincent Hollinsid and Coco Reef owner John Jefferis are two of the names behind a new company planning to launch Bermuda's second daily newspaper.
Vista Mar Ltd. was set up by Government Senator Walton Brown, cousin of Premier Ewart Brown, last November and is currently advertising for a general manager to "run Bermuda's newest daily newspaper".
Its register of directors and officers shows that Sen. Brown is a director and president of the company, hotelier Mr. Jefferis is a director and vice president and Mr. Hollinsid, the Premier's half-brother, is a director.
Lawyer Wendell Hollis is named as secretary of the company and Coson Corporate Services Ltd. is listed as assistant secretary.
The Registrar of Companies record for the firm shows that it had $2.5 million worth of shares as of April this year, with Sen. Brown as the sole shareholder with 10,000 ordinary shares. Mr. Hollis said the rest of the shares had not been issued yet.
Meanwhile, Sen. Brown's Bermuda Network News (BNN) website is due to relaunch on Monday, featuring an online diary from the Premier.
Sen. Brown told The Royal Gazette yesterday that he struggled to make the site profitable in its first two years, leading to it lying dormant since May.
But he said he now has a new marketing and revenue-generating plan in place which he is convinced will work.
"I want it to become a household name," he said. "The new model will build on a framework that will have very low overheads and doesn't rely exclusively on advertising.
"I needed to take some time to figure out how best to structure it and I'm very pleased with the way it has evolved. I'm looking forward to the launch."
The site will have daily news updates as well as style and fashion articles, the Premier's blog and an "Interesting Facts about Bermuda" section.
Sen. Brown said BNN's parent company, MediaCom, in which he held 90 per cent of the shares, no longer exists. BNN is now being run by his market research firm Research Innovations Ltd., in which he holds 80 per cent of the shares.
