the years by having many distinguished people. Selfishly, because it has been my department for decades now, today I want to thank those journalists, past and present, who have served The Royal Gazette so well.

Many of the Bermudians who have worked here have gone on either in other media or in another professions to distinguished careers in Bermuda and abroad and those non-Bermudians who have been here and moved on or returned home have never been hampered in any way by their time working in Bermuda.

These days you find former Royal Gazette staffers everywhere from Texas to Sydney and from London to Hong Kong. Many of them have done very well indeed and I was fascinated during coverage of the Gulf War to see just how many of them turned up on television reporting the war.

Our summer student programme, which usually sees six or seven students in our newsroom, has been the best means of entry for Bermudians into journalism. In today's newsroom, myself, the incoming Editor, the News Editor and the Editor of the Mid-Ocean News were all summer students as indeed was the retiring Editor of the Bermuda Sun. The Royal Gazette has become the training ground for Bermuda's journalists. It has been an expensive summer programme over the years but it has been very productive and a contribution by The Royal Gazette Ltd. to education.

We are proud that over the years four of our summer students have turned out to be Rhodes Scholars.

Most of the news organisations, print and broadcast, plus Government Information Services are staffed by a good many people trained here, including the Director of Information Services. Added to that are such people as new Cabinet Minister Paula Cox, former Cabinet Minister John Barritt, both now lawyers, National Trust Director Amanda Outerbridge and Charles Webbe at the Department of Tourism.

We are often asked why there are still non-Bermudian journalists on Par-la-Ville Road. There are many less than there used to be and it is not for lack of trying to get more Bermudians.

Many Bermudians have moved on in the natural course of their careers. These days a Bermudian with the education and the ability to be a good journalist can do much better financially in the business areas of Bermuda. Many people are not keen on working nights, Sundays and public holidays and sticking to their jobs while their friends are out playing.

Then too many Bermudians are frightened of a life in journalism in a small place like Bermuda because of the criticism they take and because of the social and political pressures placed on journalists by people who do not understand how newspapers work. The sad thing is that very little of that is likely to change.

It seems to me that Bermuda has been well served by journalists. By and large they have not been sensationalist nor have they pried into private lives. Just imagine what they might turn up had they subjected Bermudian politicians to the scrutiny now faced by politicians in the US and Britain. They leave visiting celebrities alone for the most part and they seldom deal in gossip.

That is the way The Royal Gazette would have it.

Despite the criticisms and the accusations of plots and prejudices, The Royal Gazette has very seldom had any journalist who was not talented and honourable in doing their job.