The night before The Tico Times printed its last edition, a last-minute debate arose in the office of publisher Dery Dyer. The photo chosen for the final edition was an image of the Dyer’s mom and other members of The Tico Times putting out the first edition in 1956.
Dyer asked if this was too much coverage “of ourselves.” Did The Tico Times matter that much to the community? Or was it better to run a nature photo? In the end, The Tico Times staff decided to keep the photo of the first edition on the cover.
And did The Tico Times matter to the community? The response to the print edition’s closure has been overwhelming. Hundreds of comments (almost all positive) have come via social media, letters to the editor and phone calls. The Tico Times has been the subject of local and international news reports. A campaign to raise funds for The Tico Times’ online edition has received more than $3,500 in donations, a third of the way to the targeted goal of $10,000.
Feedback from readers included a letter from a former reporter who survived a plane crash in Costa Rica and now works for the Toronto Star. Other readers reminisced about The Times’ coverage of the Contras in Nicaragua decades ago. Readers offered services for free on how to help the website.
Perhaps most impressively was the response from Costa Ricans, who seemed to see the paper as a part of their community. They learned English from it, used it for homework or simply read the news. As the paper moves forward with its online format, we thank readers and advertisers for your continued support.
See a brief summary of the twitter responses we received.
Read our Letters to the Editor.
Learn more about our fundraiser.
