national titles in the 1990s out of a total of seven. Through KREM and the Raiders, Amandalas name remained well-known. However, it did not escape criticisms of partisanship from rivals including the defunct People's Pulse, which derided all things Amandala for much of the 1990s until its closure in 1998, its sponsor the UDP being in power for much of that period. Amandala eventually admitted to a partnership with the then-Opposition PUP established in 1994 and dissolved ten years later. There was also a claim of sensationalism, bias and overhyping of events ascribed to the newspaper. Things got so bad there was an attempt by foreign nationals to buy out the newspaper that was only turned down at the last minute, and KREM Radio even briefly shut down. Despite Amandala'''s troubles, Belizeans faithfully bought the paper, which by this time dated its weekend issue for Sunday instead of Friday. Popular columns included Evan "Mose" Hyde's entertainment column "Chat Bout", educator and activist Silvana Woods "Weh A Gat Fi Seh" (What I Have to Say), Belize's first column written entirely in Belize Creole (prior to its moving to The Reporter), and Los Angeles-based Pam Reyes' "Caribbean Pulse", in addition to Glenn Tillett's "Between the Lines" and Russell Vellos' "Viewpoint". Amandala today The newspaper is a mix of editorial opinion and journalism. News coverage Amandala is noted for sensational stories about violent crime. It is significantly more likely to publish such crime stories than The Reporter, a competing newspaper, based on a random sampling of stories from both papers by a scholar at the Rochester Institute of Technology spanning 2010 to 2014. Editorial positions Amandala is strongly opposed to LGBT rights in Belize. The paper's editorial staff complains of a "gay agenda" that wants to legalize "public displays of their lifestyle, same-sex marriage, and worse." The paper has editorialized against Caleb Orozco and his LGBT rights organization, UNIBAM. Editor-in-chief Russell Vellos has written that he considers homosexuality to be "evil." Current staff Publisher: Evan X Hyde Editor in chief: Russell Vellos Assistant editor: Adele Ramos Lithographer: Cassian Glenn, Roy Lord Layout/design: Victoria Tun, Deshawn Swasey Business manager: Jacinta Hyde Office secretary/Receptionist: Odessa Robinson Collation manager: Jason Barrera Columns Charles Hyde's "Ideas and Opinions", under the name Janus, taking a scholarly look at Belize today; Novelist Colin Hyde's short takes on current topics with humorous dialogue; In Search of Truth, by Henry Gordon,