Creating a New Media Model on the Go

Cuba: Creating a New Media Model on the Go
July 25, 2013 | Print |
Fernando Ravsberg*

HAVANA TIMES — "We can't lay the blame entirely on journalists or
entirely on the media. We must lay the blame on the Party, in the first
place, and we have to begin to criticize ourselves for what we have
failed to do in order to develop our press," said Cuban Vice-President
Miguel Diaz Canel.

He declared this at the close of the 9th Congress of the Cuban
Journalists Association (UPEC). It is the first time anyone in the
leadership of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) acknowledges the Party's
responsibility for the shortcomings and distortions characteristic of
the Cuban press.

The call for self-criticism was accompanied by the election of a new
UPEC leadership, made up of eager journalists of proven professionalism,
who are versed in the use of new information technologies – something
which ought to make them more conscious of the pressing need for changes.

Raul Garces, UPEC's recently-elected vice-chair, stressed that the Cuban
press is going through a critical moment. "There are two paths we can
take: either we fix the problem together once and for all, or the
credibility and persuasive power of the Cuban media will simply collapse."

In his address to the journalist's Congress, he acknowledged that "we
have gradually adopted a model which portrays reality by contrasting the
alleged "hell abroad" with Cuba's supposed "domestic paradise". We have
often substituted reasoned argument with propaganda."

The new UPEC chair, Antonio Molto, sent out a clear message to Cuban
journalists, stating that "all you have to learn is that the media,
knowing what they have to do, should not wait for any sign from above,
that the go-ahead is already there."

According to Molto, however, no few pitfalls are to be found down this
path, for "we've had a lot of claptrap and rubbish. Learning to
communicate with the public, getting to understand a democracy that
isn't only top-down, where diversity has a place and is respected, will
be a long process."

The new model for the media "hasn't been put into writing yet. There are
notes, suggestions, and theses. The model, however, has by no means been
worked out," Molto affirmed.

The fragments of the UPEC Congress sessions broadcast on Cuban
television showed a serious debate, where participants questioned many
aspects of the country's media and proposed old and new ideas to
transform the press into something that society demands and needs.

The Congress questioned the current relationship between the Communist
Party and the press, the salaries of journalists, the lack of equipment,
the refusal of government officials to share public information, the
absence of journalistic legislation, the "thin skin" of some politicians
and the lack of authority of media managers show when faced with
pressure from these politicians.

The Congress, in a last analysis, saw more criticism than laments, more
serious analysis than tantrums, and more proposals than conformism. And
the best part, to quote Molto, is that the new model "hasn't been put
into writing yet. There are notes, suggestions, and theories. The model,
however, has by no means been worked out."

This opens up the possibility of collective action, through which common
journalists can become something more than salaried workers forced to
adhere to pre-established norms, as is the case nearly everywhere around
the world, through which they can take part in the creation of the norms
themselves.

Cuban journalists have all of the professional passion, talent and
knowledge needed to take on this challenge. The two presentations at the
Congress were a demonstration of the knowledge that journalists have in
the area of communications.

Some insist that countries are shaped by their enemies and that this
applies particularly to Cuba, forced to conceal nearly every one of its
steps from the watchful gaze of its northern neighbor, who is always
waiting to use the slightest slip against it.

Caught between foreign aggression and those at home who affirm that
criticisms give "weapons to the enemy", the Cuban press is today what it
was forced to be. To blame everyday journalists for this would be a bit
trivial, superficial and unjust.

At this precise moment, however, it seems as though the entire nation is
conspiring to bring about a new, improved journalism in Cuba. There are
still risks involved, but to let such an opportunity pass without at
least trying to achieve this would be unforgivable.
—–
(*) An authorized HT translation of the original published in Spanish by
BBC Mundo.

Source: "Creating a new model for the Cuban media on the go" -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=96973