Dominic Kalipersad ( ;) is a veteran

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, and one of the most recognizable faces in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. He is the Group Head of News at Caribbean Communications Network (CCN) Limited in Port-of-Spain, where he has taken the flagship television arm, CCN TV6, under his wing. Kalipersad was previously the Editor In Chief of the ''

Trinidad Guardian The ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' (together with the ''Sunday Guardian'') is the oldest daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper is considered the newspaper of record for Trinidad and Tobago. History Its first edition was published ...

'' newspaper(24 January 2007
Soondarsingh vs Raphael A tale of two presidents
''

'', Retrieved December 10, 2010 (article notes subject with that title for the paper) which he modernized from its old

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

format into a

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft * ''Ta ...

. He was also the Programme Director at Trinidad Broadcasting Company Ltd after serving as News Director there. Kalipersad is best known as the principal news anchor of ''Panorama'', the 7:00 pm flagship newscast of the now defunct Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT), from the late 1970s to early 1990s. He was later Programme Director at the

Trinidad Broadcasting Company The Trinidad Broadcasting Company (TBC) Radio Network is a network of radio stations in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana owned and operated by Guardian Media Limited. It is headquartered at 22-24 St. Vincent Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobag ...

, and the News Director and anchor at CCN TV6, the position of which he is again the holder. While heading the Trinidad Guardian for eleven years, he also served at Cable News Channel Three (CNC3) as a news anchor filling in for then news anchor,

Carla Foderingham Carla Foderingham is a former television news presenter in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. She is a former anchorwoman at CCN TV6, Gayelle - The Channel and Cable News Channel 3. She is also a former CEO of the Film Company of Trinidad and ...

with

Shelly Dass Shelly Dass-Manning is a Trinidadian journalist who worked as a television news presenter in Trinidad and Tobago through May 2010.Ali, Ken (28 May 2010). Shelly Dass signs off, ''Trinidad Guardian'', Retrieved December 21, 2010 She was anchor of ...

. Kalipersad is widely regarded as the journalist most feared by politicians. He has had explosive interviews with politicians like Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and is even known to have pulled a live interview with Health Minister Jerry Narace off the air. In addition his television commentaries, 'Lord, Put A Hand!', are respected for their biting, incisive, profound style, In 1990, Dominic Kalipersad was one of the hostages at Trinidad and Tobago Television during the

Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt The Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt was an attempt to overthrow the government of Trinidad and Tobago, instigated on Friday, 27 July 1990. Over the course of six days, Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical extremist Islamist group, held hostages (in ...

.Baldeosingh, Kevin (27 July 2008)
"Journalist recalls TT's 'Days of Wrath'"
''

Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday ''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. ''Newsday'' is the newest of the three daily papers after the ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' and the ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'' respectively. The newspaper was fo ...

'', Retrieved December 10, 2010 He famously refused to be specially selected for release in an exchange negotiated between the then NAR government and the hostage-takers, declaring: "I am not leaving unless everyone (his fellow hostages) else leaves!" Ironically, it was a decision that saved his life as, it is reported, the hostage-takers had planned to 'take him out', if he had accepted the deal. Kalipersad, a BBC-trained professional, broke the story of the assassination of state prosecutor Dana Seetahal SC on May 4, 2014, and was on the air with the story at six o'clock that morning. He remains the longest-serving broadcast journalist still on the air in 2017 and still commanding the respect of modern audiences.

References

Trinidad and Tobago television personalities Living people Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent Year of birth missing (living people) {{tv-bio-stub