The Tribune

TANYA Smith-Cartwright was a journalist who gave her all. She was a veteran in a journalism field sometimes short of veterans, she was a talented writer and, perhaps most of all, she was passionate about what she did.

The news of Tanya’s death was a shock. The acting news director at ZNS was known widely throughout the field – and beyond. Tributes started to flow – Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas executive chairman Picewell Forbes calling her newsgathering “second to none”, and the ZNS Network calling her “one of the legends of producing here in The Bahamas”.

For The Tribune, this is the loss of one of our own too. Tanya worked at The Tribune – most notably during the period of COVID-19. She was an experienced voice, and plunged wholeheartedly into all manner of stories. She also laughed, and made others laugh around her.

She talked of how she became friends with former Tribune managing editor Eugene Duffy – and on his passing in 2022 she wrote about their “crazy, but very respectful friendship” in her column, As I See It.

She wrote of how she “froze in disbelief” on hearing of his passing, a sensation we feel today at the news of Tanya’s death. She wrote: “Just when I was about to break down in the worst level of emotional display, a calming spirit passed through me. I could almost hear his voice telling me to suck it up and so that is what I did.”

She said Eugene told her: “Any time you want to start feeling stupid about yourself, take a look at that fantastic resumé, girl.”

He was right. Her resumé took her through all parts of the nation’s bastions of journalism. She was a writer of the Insight column here at The Tribune. She spoke up for press freedom, talking on Journalism Under Surveillance at an event organised by the Bahamas Press Club 2014 and the US Embassy for World Press Freedom Day in 2022. She broke stories, she kept in touch with those involved, she told their stories over time and not just for one moment and then gone. She showed the wider picture.

After moving away, she kept in touch. Earlier this year, she was in touch with The Tribune discussing her As I See It column, and whether there might be a way to give it a home in our pages once more.

Tanya genuinely cared about journalism, and about getting the job done. Even when a story might come along that might take a bit more work or be a bit more frustrating to work on, she would step up to the plate. Out would emerge the story, polished and great to read.

Equally, she had no fear in taking on the powerful when needed, and holding them to account when necessary.

We hope she will forgive us for not taking Eugene’s advice too quickly in her case. We will mourn first before we suck it up.

Tanya’s loss will be felt wherever her presence was known. Thank you for letting us see the world as you saw it.