Puerto Rico Daily Sun hits newsstands.

The Puerto Rico Daily Sun (PRDS), the island’s first newspaper organized as a cooperative, will publish its first issue on Wednesday, October 22, to address the needs of the local English-language readership.

“We’re writing a new page of the island’s journalism industry, as the Puerto Rico Daily Sun promises to be a daily newspaper that meets all of the needs of our readers, with in-depth and impartial reporting,” said Rafael Matos, Editor of the Puerto Rico Daily Sun. “Our slogan, ‘Objective reporting is our legacy,’ expresses what we feel is our responsibility towards our audience, which is highly intelligent and insistent upon consistent, quality information.”

The English-language newspaper will publish seven days a week, combining full-color and black and white content, with a contemporary look and appeal. Quality editorial and art content is the constant goal.

The leadership team of the new publication includes Marisol Lora, Executive Editor; Rafael Matos, Editor; Kevin Mead, Managing Editor; Onil Suarez, Sales Director and Javier Colon, Circulation Director.

The Puerto Rico Daily Sun newspaper is the concept created by the Cooperativa Prensa Unida, a cooperative of former employees of The San Juan Star newspaper, upon it’s closing on Aug. 29. The employees represent every operational area of the former newspaper – editorial, sales, circulation and printing press — bringing their expertise to the venture. Approximately 90 jobs are being created through the birth of the new media outlet.

“We are betting on this project aiming to cater to a very important segment of the general community and, at the same time, be a job source to our former colleagues and friends of the Star. We do not want to become an additional burden for the government; we are going to make it work,” commented Marisol Lora, executive editor of the PRDS and chairwoman of the board of directors of the Cooperativa Prensa Unida, the group that is spearheading this launch.

This publication is designed to be informative, entertaining and thought-provoking. It will appeal to a broad readership encompassing all segments of the Puerto Rican community, from politicians to athletes. The newspaper will target the niche market of readers whose first language is English or who prefer to read their news in that language. The newspaper’s content will be organized under the sections: “Local,” “US and World,” “Economy,” “Arts and Living,” “Perspectives” and “Sports.”

The cooperative newspaper concept

The Puerto Rico Daily Sun is the first local daily newspaper formed under the cooperative concept, joining the island’s vibrant cooperative community, an important sector of the economy that creates thousands of jobs and significant amounts of goodwill. Cooperatives contribute greatly to the island’s economy, generating some $6.6 billion in assets deposited in 133 financial institutions.

“We’re very happy that the former San Juan Star employees have opted for the cooperative model to satisfy the great demand for a publication for the English-speaking segment of the population,” said Moisés Méndez López, Administrator of the Cooperative Development Administration, who has been instrumental in recent weeks, helping the newspaper’s employees give shape to the cooperative.

“Coops are alternative business models to satisfy consumer demand for products and services in a cost-effective way,” said Méndez.

On the U.S. mainland, newspapers dating back to the 1930s have been established and operated successfully under the cooperative concept. For example, “The Greenbelt News Review” in Maryland has been published weekly without interruptions since its establishment in 1937.