Ten years ago today, on September 29, 2004 Ron and Tamara Sniffin purchased The San Pedro Sun from Dan and Eileen Jamison, who owned the paper for seven years. The island newspaper was first printed on March 14, 1991 and was founded by Bruce and Victoria Collins who sold it to the Jamison’s in 1996.
Publisher Ron Sniffin reflects, “Although it has been much more challenging than we thought, this has been among the most memorable and rewarding ten years of my life”. According to Editor Tamara Sniffin, it’s hard to believe it’s been a decade since they made the life changing decision to purchase the paper. “It is hard to believe we have owned the paper for ten years now. We have seen so many changes on the island, and certainly lots of changes within the paper! From how we go about producing and printing the paper each week, starting a weekly visitor guide that has evolved into a monthly full color travel publication and posting daily news on the www.sanpedrosun.com web site to keep our readers informed at all times, it is all about giving our community what they want, and deserve. But most importantly it is the great responsibility we have to our community to fairly and reliably report the news. At times we fall in the crosshairs of ‘kill the messenger’ when we publish stories that reflect negatively on certain news worthy issues, but we feel that taking a hard look at the truth is the only way we can move forward with change. The more aware a community is of issues that concern us all, the better educated we are to make the right decisions in remedying the problems. It’s all about working together as a community.” And community is a huge part of the equation for the Sniffins. “Belize is our home, and we are passionate about protecting our environment and the rights of the Belizean people. We all deserve to live in a clean and safe environment and are entitled to proper education and health care. If we can make positive changes through what we publish in the paper we all win,” concluded Tamara.
Tamara’s parents first came to Ambergris Caye in 1976 and Tamara first visited the island in 1978. Her parents, Ron and Yvonne Temsik purchased a beach house (where Banana Beach Resort is now located) in 1981 and Tamara first brought Ron Sniffin to the island in 1986. Ron and Tamara Sniffin became citizens of Belize in 2012.