Virgin Islands Daily News
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Daily News Publishing Co. |
| Founded | 1930 |
| Headquarters | 9155 Estate Thomas St. Thomas, V.I. 00802 |
| Circulation | 17,000 Daily |
| Website | virginislandsdailynews.com |
The Virgin Islands Daily News is a daily newspaper in the United States Virgin Islands headquartered on the island of Saint Thomas. In 1995 the newspaper became one of the smallest ever to win journalism's most prestigious award, the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The newspaper is published every day except Sunday. The paper maintains its main office on Saint Thomas and a smaller bureau on Saint Croix.
The Virgin Islands Daily News was founded by Ariel Melchior Sr. in 1930, with business partner J. Antonio Jarvis leveraging a tourist brochure financed with a bank loan cosigned by friend Adolph Achille Gereau. With the success of the brochure he was able to attract further advertising and convince his family and the bank to extend a larger loan. He first produced an updated guide to the island and with the proceeds bought a second hand press. With the profits of the newspaper, he repaid the bank. Melchior was just 21 at the time. The paper was founded with the motto "More and Better Business for St. Thomas." In 1940, Melchior bought out Jarvis's share of the company.
In 1978, after serving as publisher for nearly 48 years, Melchior sold the newspaper to the Gannett Company for $3.5 million. Melchior is credited with instilling the newspapers aggressive journalism. After the sale, Melchior remained involved with the paper. Under Gannett, the paper won a Pulitzer Prize, but in 1997, Jeffrey L. Prosser, a businessman of whom the newspaper had been critical offered Gannett $17 million for the paper.
On July 31, 2006 Prosser's company Innovative Communications Corp. declared bankruptcy after defaulting on loans. In February 2007, a trustee was appointed to manage the assets, including the Virgin Island Daily News.Times-Shamrock Communications bought the paper in 2008.
In October 2014, Times-Shamrock announced it was selling the paper to Virgin Islands businessman Archie Nahigian.
In 1994, the paper had a circulation of 16,400 and a staff of 18 full-time editors and reporters. In June 1994 the newspaper began to inquire about why there had been little investigation into the death of a policeman known for his integrity. The reports resulted in a 10-part series "Virgin Island Crime: Who's to Blame?" The series determined that the police were catching too few criminals, that prosecutors were losing too many cases, and that judges were handing out light sentences. The sole reporter of the series, Melvin Claxton, received such severe threats that he relocated his family to the U.S. mainland.
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