Tears, Tears, Tears at midnight close of NBN

NBN staffers blasted soca, took a drink, and played all-fours on their last day of work last Friday evening after the final broadcast of TTT News. But it was a show of bravado to cover up the sorrow and uncertainty that most were feeling. We talked to five different people and got five different emotions. But whatever type of reaction they gave Sunday Newsday, it was very much mixed up with other strong feelings, sometimes even contrary emotions. Reporter Kristie Ramnarine told Sunday Newsday: “I’m feeling crying-happy, crying-happy, crying-happy.”

Staffers were sad to have no job and to see the end of a station that spawned so many careers in broadcasting and in show-business, nurtured through shows like Mastana Bahar, Scouting for Talent, and Twelve and Under. Yet there was also relief that one year of uncertainty was finally being resolved. “I’m glad all this @*&% is over,” said one senior reporter. Lisa Wickham shared with Sunday Newsday the difficulty of earlier doing TTT’s last broadcast of TT This Morning. Despite her poise before viewers, she revealed that during a clip of  Party Time, she had actually been in tears. “My thanks to Shurwayne Winchester, because just as I was about to cry, he started singing “Dead or Alive.” Recalling that she had first come to TTT as a six-year-old on Ricky-Ticky, she lamented: “I’ve been crying all week.” She would continue to make shows for her private firm. TTT news anchor, John Victor, said Friday was a very sad day for the country, but he hoped the new firm to replace TTT in six months would be a “come back” that would serve the country even better. He was exploring his options.

Head of News, Errol Pilgrim, was optimistic that most staffers would get new jobs, saying that TTT had very skilled staff who would be in strong demand. He thought the country had many rich sources of material to be explored by various emerging new media. He has spent 37 years in journalism and still has a love for the print media. Pilgrim concluded: “The VSEP is substantial, so we are in a celebratory mood not depression. But it is the end of an era, although change is inevitable.” Reports are that despite staffers’ best efforts to hold back the tears, by the end of Friday evening, many were openly sobbing as they embraced each other as colleagues for the very last time.