Cubaland Hassles Foreign Press
one of the stories that "got lost" during King Fidel's recent illness (my prediction: he'll be back in charge by the early part of 2007) was the harassment that the foreign press trying to cover the story was subject to.
nothing new there. Cuba harasses foreign journalists that it feels it can't control (freedom of the press? qu'est-ce que c'est?). these are some quotes from Lori Robertson's Cuba Countdown, featured in the American Journalism Review:
Valentin, Robinson and many other[] [foreign journalists] who didn't have the pleasure of sleeping in the airport [while waiting for a flight out after being expelled from Cuba] were turned away by Cuban immigration authorities, who said the visitors couldn't enter the country without journalist visas. These had turned out to be impossible to obtain quickly from the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, an office that had not responded to many phone calls or e-mails or an in-person visit by Robinson.
Some reporters did slip in. One, tipped off that journalists were being deported, stashed reportorial gear in a Cancun airport locker and walked through Cuban immigration at the same time Robinson and Valentin were pleading for entry. The New York Times' Ginger Thompson flew in from Mexico without a hitch, until she was asked to leave the country a week later and escorted to the airport. Miami Herald reporters, veterans of working in Cuba without the journalist visas they're regularly denied, were still contributing to stories in late August.
...
[After hearing the report of Castro's illness on television, Gary Marx] scrambled and wrote the story. About midnight, Marx ran downstairs to get some quotes from people on the street. A block later, he was detained by police. Marx had forgotten his press credentials. It was the fourth time he had been detained in three weeks.
"They can hold you anywhere from an hour to five hours," he says. "Fortunately I was able to call in my quotes that I already had."
...
Reporters are still expelled – or simply not allowed in – for what is deemed to be critical or unfair journalism. Reuters, which has continued to operate a bureau since the 1960s, has had people "pressured out," says Alistair Scrutton, the British company's editor for political and general news about Latin America. Three or four years ago, a Reuters stringer was publicly criticized by Fidel Castro, a sign that the stringer might not be able to stick around much longer. "We decided it was best that he leave," Scrutton says.
so, next time you read or listen to Cuba's carefully crafted and controlled press statements, remember, these guys don't like competition when it comes to their version of the truth.
heck, these guys don't like the truth at all
nothing new there. Cuba harasses foreign journalists that it feels it can't control (freedom of the press? qu'est-ce que c'est?). these are some quotes from Lori Robertson's Cuba Countdown, featured in the American Journalism Review:
Valentin, Robinson and many other[] [foreign journalists] who didn't have the pleasure of sleeping in the airport [while waiting for a flight out after being expelled from Cuba] were turned away by Cuban immigration authorities, who said the visitors couldn't enter the country without journalist visas. These had turned out to be impossible to obtain quickly from the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, an office that had not responded to many phone calls or e-mails or an in-person visit by Robinson.
Some reporters did slip in. One, tipped off that journalists were being deported, stashed reportorial gear in a Cancun airport locker and walked through Cuban immigration at the same time Robinson and Valentin were pleading for entry. The New York Times' Ginger Thompson flew in from Mexico without a hitch, until she was asked to leave the country a week later and escorted to the airport. Miami Herald reporters, veterans of working in Cuba without the journalist visas they're regularly denied, were still contributing to stories in late August.
...
[After hearing the report of Castro's illness on television, Gary Marx] scrambled and wrote the story. About midnight, Marx ran downstairs to get some quotes from people on the street. A block later, he was detained by police. Marx had forgotten his press credentials. It was the fourth time he had been detained in three weeks.
"They can hold you anywhere from an hour to five hours," he says. "Fortunately I was able to call in my quotes that I already had."
...
Reporters are still expelled – or simply not allowed in – for what is deemed to be critical or unfair journalism. Reuters, which has continued to operate a bureau since the 1960s, has had people "pressured out," says Alistair Scrutton, the British company's editor for political and general news about Latin America. Three or four years ago, a Reuters stringer was publicly criticized by Fidel Castro, a sign that the stringer might not be able to stick around much longer. "We decided it was best that he leave," Scrutton says.
so, next time you read or listen to Cuba's carefully crafted and controlled press statements, remember, these guys don't like competition when it comes to their version of the truth.
heck, these guys don't like the truth at all
posted by Yimboro | 7:07 PM
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