PressEthic

"Mercenary" scapegoats?

The New York Times ran a follow-up story Saturday, Sept. 9 on the journalists who were paid by the U.S. government to portray Fidel Castro's Cuban government in a negative light.

Beyond the obviously distressing breach of journalistic ethics on the part of the reporters themselves, the Times reported that editors at the Herald were likely aware of the government payoffs (i.e. possibly complicit):

"Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican congressman and one of Miami’s most stridently anti-Castro voices, said he believed editors at El Nuevo Herald and The Miami Herald had known that the three writers for El Nuevo had worked for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. He pointed to articles from both papers in 2002 that describe Mr. (Pablo) Alfonso as a moderator for a program on Radio Marti and Ms. (Olga) Connor as a paid commentator."

The Miami Herald Media Company went on the record denying prior knowledge of the payments, and promptly fired the reporters involved.

Although there are clear ethical transgressions in accepting government money to report with a negative slant (or any slant, for that matter), one wonders whether those reporters would otherwise have reported positively about the Cuban government.

Miami is not exactly a hotbed for Castro sympathizers, and much of the Spanish-language media generated from there –- not just government sponsored –- is pretty critical of Fidel.

Which raises yet another question: What has the U.S. government really accomplished by buying off journalists?

The Times reported that the Bush administration has spent $37 million this year on Radio and TV Marti, but to little avail:

"The broadcasts appear to reach only a minute number of Cubans. The Cuban government jams the signals. This year the Bush administration spent $10 million on a new plane designed to transmit TV Marti more effectively."

Ostensibly the program is designed to foster a “free press,” and “democracy” in Cuba through the violation of basic journalistic principles. And yet, the very targets of this propaganda are not even getting the broadcasts.

An ulterior motive may be that the Bush administration is more interested in keeping the Cuban community flush with government funding, and therefore grateful to the Republican Party for its generosity.

Obviously it's wrong for journalists to take payoffs and slant their coverage. The more interesting question is this: does the government have an ethical obligation to refrain from buying off journalists?

I think the answer is yes when an administration is tempted to buy off a columnist to pass its political agenda.

On the other hand, I must say that certain foreign policy situations justify government propaganda. If the United States government paid off reporters in Nazi era Germany to overstate Third Reich losses in an attempt to convince German leadership to surrender earlier, would it have been wrong? I don't think so.

I don't believe that the U.S. government paid these journalists to slant their coverage in their own independent media organizations, like the Miami Herald or the El Nuevo Herald. I think these journalists were only paid for the work that they did for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. If I am wrong about this and anyone can prove it to me, I am all ears. Thanks - Todd

THE MIAMI HERALD FROM THE PUBLISHER September 17, 2006

“A free press can require painful choices” By Jesus Diaz Jr. jdiaz@MiamiHerald.com

In order to have democracy, a country must enjoy freedom of the press. [In order to have freedom of the press, the millionaires who own the presses and their lacqueys must convince us that a corporation’s interests also represent the interests of their community or the nation at large.] The past week has been painful for many in the Cuban community and for employees at The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. [It has been principally painful, however, for the 3 journalists you arbitrarily fired and their families. You and your employees, who did not have the basic decency to protest their firings in a formal petition, are the cause of their pain]. Many have questioned the motives behind the dismissal of two El Nuevo Herald reporters and a freelance writer who did a significant amount of work for us while simultaneously working for and being paid by Radio and TV Martí. [By “significant work” what you really mean is fair, impartial and objective work that was beyond reproach. Since you could not impugn their work for The Herald (and didn’t even try), you chose instead to assassinate their character].

I approved the dismissals because, as the publisher of these newspapers, I am deeply committed to the separation between government and a free press. [The only thing that you were “deeply committed” to was beating out the Chicago Tribune on this story. As for yourself, you have yet to explain why it is not a conflict of interests for you to chair the official U.S.-government Cuba Transition commitee ]. Further, our employees violated our conflict-of-interest rules. [You have thus far refused to make public these “conflict of interests rules.” When were they adopted? By whom? How specifically do they apply to these three journalist? Where, in short, does it say in your “Rules” that reporters or freelancers are forbidden from working for government-sponsored foreign broadcasting? It is certainly not in the contracts that these journalists signed]. All of our journalists acknowledge and agree to adhere to our policies, which include this statement: [Which is it, “rules” or “policies.” Rules are not the same thing as policies. Rules are immutable whereas policies are whatever tickles the publisher’s fancy at any time].

We demonstrate our principles by operating with fairness, accuracy and independence, and by avoiding conflicts of interest, as well as the appearance of conflicts of interest. [Like Caesar’s wife?] Our news operations will be diligent in their pursuit of the truth, without regard to special interests. [Then you have certainly violated The Herald’s principles (which is it now? Rules? Policies? Principles?) by acting yourself without “fairness, accuracy or independence” in this matter. You have already admitted, after initially lying about it, that The Herald knew about the journalists’ involvement with Radio Marti as early as 2002, when The Herald actually published a story which presented as a laudable activity what you would later characterize as a conflict of interests and assault on freedom of the press. What were the “rules, policies and principles” in 2002? When did they change? And did you ever apprise anyone that they had changed? I don’t mean the way you “apprised” the 3 journalist 30 minutes before you fired them. The victims of Stalin’s purges were accorded more due process than the 3 reporters you fired].

Our decisions, painful as they were, reaffirm our commitment that reporters and editors at our newspapers are free of even the hint of a conflict of interest. [Well, that’s the second time that you mention how “painful” your decision was. Perhaps it might not have been a “painful” decision if it had been a reasoned and thoughtful decision. But you made it “painful” by your own premature and unmeasured acts. Doesn’t it seem odd to you that no other newspaper in the country has fired or disciplined reporters involved with Radio Marti, VOA or Radio Liberty (not to mention PBS or NPR)? Perhaps they don’t have the same high ethical standards that you do. Or, more likely, they are not as draconian, unfair and undemocratic as you are].

It is by sustaining this transparency [What “transparency?” Due process for these journalists would have been transparency. Kicking them out the back door isn’t transparency.] that we can assure that our reporters will continue to function as impartial and independent watchdogs in our community [Has anyone ever suggested let alone proved that the fired journalists’ reportage was ever anything else?] and tackle investigations leading to stories such as the House of Lies series, which disclosed corruption in the Miami-Dade Housing Authority, and Fire Watch, which uncovered abuses in Miami-Dade’s fire-watch program. [That’s right, pat yourselves on the back; nobody else is going to. Whatever your past scoops may have been, they do not excuse this miscarriage of justice].

As a child in Cuba, I lived under a totalitarian government where freedom of speech did not exist. I remember my parents telling my sister and me, over and over, ‘’Do not say anything bad about the government'’ for fear of reprisal. I do not want my daughter to ever have to say that to her children or to her grandchildren. [You do not live now in a totalitarian regime, although you yourself act with the same star-chamber arbitrariness characteristic of all such regimes, including Fidel Castro’s].

I am committed to fair and independent journalism because I firmly believe that a totalitarian government cannot survive under the spotlight of a free press. [If you are “committed to fair and independent journalism” then you should practice it for a change. What little free press there is in Cuba must struggle across the skies over the Florida Straits to reach Cuba. You would stifle and silence that lonely voice by denying it the support of some of the best U.S. journalists who bring to Radio and TV Marti the fairness and objectivity which, again, none has ever suggested that their reportage lacked]. Throughout this past week, I have been reminded that a dictator such as Fidel Castro would not be in power if Cuba had a free press. [Fidel Castro came to power precisely because the U.S. had a free press. Ever heard of Herbert Matthews? A free press is only as good as the commitment to freedom of individual journalists. The three fired reporters have shown their commitment to freedom in word and deed time and time again. Have you?]

A SHORT JOURNEY [Too short].

History has proved that the journey from an open society to a totalitarian regime can be a short one. [Full of profundities, aren’t you? How exactly did you get your job? I’ve heard of all ten journalists that Corral’s story smeared, but I’ve never heard of you. How did you get to be The Herald’s publisher? By flying under the radar? Well, you did a very good job there]. When journalists receive regular payments for government-sponsored reporting while working for free-press outlets, we take a step down this dangerous path. [Professional journalists, hundreds if not thousands of them, have worked for government-sponsored radio since the Voice of America was founded in 1942. On exactly what “dangerous path” has this taken us? The end of the Cold War and the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe? Why did you specifically target Cuban-American journalists for your censure? Didn’t non-Cuban Latin Americans and Spanish-speaking Anglo experts also appear on Radio and TV Marti? Why weren’t they named? For that matter, why weren’t paid-contributors to the Voice of America and Radio Liberty named? They work for the same government and the checks they receive are also identical].

Let me be clear: [Now you are going to start?].

• The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald are committed to fair and independent reporting. [However many times you repeat it won’t make it true].

• The institutional position of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, as expressed on our editorial pages, has been to support the work and goals of Radio and TV Martí. [Except when you try to sabotage their work by denying them the services of those who allow them to fulfill their mission with professionalism and fairness. Your now often-repeated “support” for Radio Marti includes portraying it as a “propaganda machine” with which no reputable ethical journalist would be connected, and with which The Miami Herald, in particular, is loathe to associate even indirectly. With “friends” like you, Radio and TV Marti better watch their backs].

I also wish to clarify our position on a number of questions and rumors, which we have heard over the past week:

• The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and our parent company, McClatchy, have no plans to open a bureau inside Cuba. [Really, hasn’t that been your expressed objective for many years? Did that objective change at the same time you changed your “rules, objectives, policies”?].

• Cuba rejects or does not respond to our requests for visas for our reporters. [So you are trying?]. As such, any reporting by Miami Herald staff members from Cuba comes from those who have made their way into the country as tourists, requiring us to run their stories without bylines in order to protect their identities. [Wasn’t Oscar Corral recently in Cuba? Is that where he “researched” his Sept. 8 story?].

• We do not know why the Cuban TV program Mesa Redonda commented on the essence of our story before it ran. [So you admit that this “rumor” at least is true].We are confident this information did not come from anyone at The Miami Herald, and we believe that Mesa Redonda may have gained this information from a review of our public-records requests, since these requests are available to the public. [On what grounds are you “confident” that no one at the Miami Herald informed the Castro regime on your story prior to publication? Or, for that matter, how “confident” are you that the flow of information wasn’t the other way? There are no coincidences in this world. As a journalist, you should be a little more inquisitive. That’s “inquisitive,” not inquisitorial].

I am concerned about our readers’ reaction to columnists Carl Hiaasen’s and Ana Menendez’s opinion columns in today’s paper. [Yes, you should be concerned about columns that are inflammatory and unfair. And you shouldn’t write unfair and inflammatory columns yourself like the present one]. My first reaction was to keep both columns, which represent Carl’s and Ana’s opinions, from running in the paper at this time because I believe they may inflame sentiments in the Cuban community. [So you considered practicing censorship because you and you alone know what’s best for the community. Have you ever considered that truth may be what is best?].

LIMITING FREEDOM [At The Herald].

However, many in our organization have told me that doing so would be the equivalent of suffocating the very freedom of the press I was trying to protect when we dismissed the El Nuevo Herald reporters. Therefore, the articles are published in today’s paper. [In this case, you listened to your subalterns’ opinions. You, obviously, were not as openminded about the 3 fired journalists, because several editors, including the executive editor of El Nuevo Herald, objected to your unilateral decision].

I am saddened by the pain [The pain never stops for you, does it?] these events have caused in our community during the past week. [Not that “these events caused,” but that your own actions caused; and you shouldn’t be “saddened,” but sorry]. We are not perfect, [Really? You had us all fooled] but rest assured that we will continue to work diligently for the betterment of our community. [Is that a threat?].

Jesús Diaz Jr. is the publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald.

This is a great critique, Manuel. I also think the Herald's actions are inexplicable. How can they punish their reporters for lack of transparency when, as you have shown, they were aware of collaboration with Radio and TV Marti in 2002? The reporters WERE operating transparently, and therefore this accusation is absurd. You also make a good point that no actual reporting has come under scrutiny. Obviously there are no substantive examples of slanted coverage or bias. It is also interesting that 7 of the 10 reporters implicated kept their jobs. Apparently the majority of media executives involved in this case found nothing wrong with their reporters working for Radio and TV Marti. So the question really is, what is the Miami Herald up to?

I blogged about this because I think Diaz's comments deserve a new post.

Personally, I think we can afford to follow ethical guidelines in newsrooms. If you wanted a McMansion and a BMW, you should've gotten an MBA and started working for financial corporations rather than going into the journalism field. Money is no justification for compromising ethical standards.

Here is a website dedicated exclusively to "Heraldgate," as this affaire is now known among the Herald's critics.

http://heraldwatch.blogspot.com/

Fair Play and the Miami Herald

by Val Prieto

www.babalublog.com

The recent ado between the Miami Herald and the Cuban-American community, vis-a-vis the firing of three journalists for their work with Radio/TV Marti, as covered excellently here on Babalú and on Herald Watch by Henry Gomez, has led a group of concerned Cuban-American citizens to begin a petition drive: Fair Play for Cuban-Americans:

Fair Play for Cuban-Americans is a made up of a group of concerned members of the Cuban-American community in Miami who feel that an injustice has been committed in the case of the three journalists that were fired from The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald. We also protest on behalf of the seven additional Cuban-American journalists whose reputations were attacked and whose integrity was unjustifiably questioned as part of this action. There is no need to explain the long and tortured relationship that has long existed between the Cuban-American community and the only major local newspaper that serves it. We are focusing specifically on this latest outrage in the hope that the new ownership will take our concerns into account and address them with the same respect that they would (or should) address the concerns of any other individual or ethnic group. No more, no less.

It is our belief that a large percentage of the voices that represented us and gave voice to our interests in the pages of The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald have been unfairly and arbitrarily purged and silenced.

Without resorting to a bunker mentality we, nevertheless, feel that this action is one of the most blatant and direct rejections by The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald of our community and of our right to be represented by our own voices in the pages of the newspaper.

The professionals that were summarily dismissed and whose integrity was so publicly questioned are respected by our community and, while we may not have agreed with all their views all the time, we never questioned their respect for our intelligence, our culture, or our opinions.

We feel that the conditions, the timing, the suddenness, and the stated reasons for The Miami Herald’s/El Nuevo Herald’s action will not withstand close and unbiased scrutiny. All subsequent attempts by them on this issue and to expound self-righteous justifications for their actions have been disingenuous and have only added insult to injury.

These journalists, in working for TV or Radio Marti in their spare time, have done exactly what respected American journalists have done for Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America since the days of the Cold War. Furthermore, their activities were known and tacitly permitted by their supervisors and The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald. In some cases, it had even appeared in print in the pages of the same newspaper that fired them. If there was a clause or a policy against it, they were not informed. Does that sound like fair play to you?

This website has been set up in the hope that, if you share our opinions, you will also be moved to take a stand on behalf of fair play.

At their website, there's a call for the following:

We respectfully request that you do the following: 1. Add your name to the on-line petition that you will find below. 2. Press “click” on the link that says LETTER TO McClatchy, print out the letter on your printer (or write your own letter if ours did not fully represent your opinion). 3. Sign it and mail it TODAY to the name and address shown. 4. Inform your friends of this website and ask them to do the same. (Click here to e-mail)

Please do sign the petition. It may not force the Herald or McClatchy to do anything, but it will voice the opinions that the newspaper and apparently it's parent company want to stifle.

Via Blog for Cuba, you can also find more at Apoyo a Periodistas del Nuevo Herald.

OPEN LETTER TO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE McCLATCHY COMPANY AND THE MIAMI HERALD

http://www.apoyoaperiodistasdelnuevoherald.blogspot.com/

On Thursday, September 7th, the president of The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald, Jesus Diaz, arbitrarily fired El Nuevo Herald reporters Pablo Alfonso, Wilfredo Cancio and freelance contributor Olga Connor for an alleged ethics violation. The three offered their professional services to Radio and TV Marti, media financed with federal funds.

We recognize the company’s legal right to act in the way it sees fit. But we hereby make clear our strong disagreement with the irresponsible handling of the article, which damaged without reason the reputation of honest and dedicated colleagues.

Our objections are:

1.- The tone of the article smacks of yellow journalism. The incomplete manner in which the information is presented creates the false impression that the professional work of these colleagues was a clandestine political operation. The comparison with the Armstrong Williams case implies that they were selling the content of their commentaries. There is nothing farther from the truth.

2.- Their collaboration with Radio and TV Marti was a continuation of their professional duties and wasn’t subordinate to government agendas. In the same fashion that The Miami Herald insists that its association with the radio station WLRN, owned by the Miami-Dade public school system, does not compromise its journalist coverage of said entity.

3.- Absent from the story published in The Miami Herald is the fact that the collaboration of these journalists in media financed – totally or partially – by federal funds is common and there are plenty of examples available. The practice isn’t necessarily a violation of ethics of a breach of professional independence.

4.- Journalists from such well known publications as Time or The Hartford Courant receive or have received economic compensation for decades foe their participation on shows by Voice of America, which operates under the same legal and financial framework as Radio and TV Marti.

5.- Contrary to what the article in question states, none of the professionals mentioned had kept secret his or her participation on Radio and TV Marti, which had been consulted with their supervisors. Like many other colleagues, they appeared on both of those media entities with their name and identified as journalists from El Nuevo Herald.

6.- We find unfair the treatment that this company has given three veteran professionals. Cancio and Connor have doctorate degrees, Alfonso is the author of several books on Cuba. Despite a stellar career, none was given the opportunity to defend himself. Asking them to admit to serious accusations at 4 pm, hours before the article was posted online and just after being fired isn’t ethical, it’s not journalistically fair. Especial within the framework of an investigation that began two years ago.

7.- We are truly worried about the harm that this crisis is causing to our fired colleagues’ reputations, that of El Nuevo Herald and that of those journalists that still work there.

We respectfully ask that you reconsider your decision and that you repair before your readers - with the same emphasis that was given to the published article – the damaged caused to these professionals.

1) Jeannete Rivera-Lyles Reporter Orlando Sentinel (El Nuevo Herald Alumn) Orlando, Florida

2) Zoe Valdes Escritora Caballero de la Orden de las Artes y las Letras de la Legión de Honor Paris, Francia

3) Raul Rivero Poeta y Escritor Doctor honoris causa/Universidad de Miami Madrid, Espana

4) Carlos Victoria Editor de Mesa El Nuevo Herald

5) Jose Cabaleiro City Editor El Nuevo Herald

6) Pedro Portal Fotoreportero El Nuevo Herald

7) Emilio Suri Quesada Escritor y periodista Miami

8) Prof. Lester Tome Independent Journalist The University of the Arts Philadelphia

9) Janet Comellas Freelance Journalist Miami

10) Jeovanny Salamanca Editor de Deportes El Nuevo Herald

11) Emilio J. Sanchez Freelance Journalist Miami

12) Luis Piedra Publisher/Editor Southern Festivals Newspaper Trebird Publishing Miami Beach

13) Manolo Hernandez Editor de Deportes El Nuevo Herald

14) Félix Lizárraga Editor El Nuevo Herald

15) Jorge A. Sanguinetty, Ph.D. President & CEO DevTech Systemas Inc. Miami

16) Miguel Rivero Periodista cubano Lisboa, Portugal

17) Ileana Medina Hernández Periodista y profesora Tenerife, España

18) Juan Abreu Escritor

19) Juan Carlos Sánchez Reyes Periodista y Consultor Islas Canarias, España

20) Dulce María Rodríguez Profesora de Televisión/Universidad Modelo Mérida, México

21) Carmelo Mesa-Lago Catedratico de Servicio Distinguido Emerito en Economia Universidad de Pittsburgh

22) Marcos Nelson Suarez Director General El Hispano News Dallas, Texas

23) Annette Sánchez (El Nuevo Herald Alumn) Periodista Agencia EFE Miami

24) Rolando Nápoles Periodista y productor de televisión cubano Miami

25) Isis Wirth critica de danza Munich, Alemania

26) Silvia Dorfsman Blue Door Fine Arts, Inc. Miami

27) Maria C. Werlau Researcher / Writer Chatham, New Jersey

28) Bertha Mola-Soto Escritora

29) Jesus Vega Escritor, traductor y critico Miami

30) Roberto J. Alvarez Editor de Mesa El Nuevo Herald

31) Salvador Gonzalez Paginador El Nuevo Herald

32) Félix Mutiz Profesor Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

33) Manuel A Alvarez Casado Ingeniero de Comunicaciones Miami

34) Aracelis Perez Copy Editor El Nuevo Herald

35) Yanitzia Canetti Escritora y editora Boston, Massachusetts

36) Ketty Rodriguez Reportera El Nuevo Herald

37) Viviana Munoz Reportera El Nuevo Herald

38) Pablo Diaz Espi Editor Diario Encuentro en la Red Madrid, Espana

39) Federico Rodriguez Traductor Miami

40) Raul Rodriguez Editor de Deportes El Nuevo Herald

41) German Guerra Poeta, editor y disenador grafico El Nuevo Herald

42) Karelia Vazquez Periodista Madrid, Espana

43) Adela Junco Correctora de Estilo El Nuevo Herald

44) Omero Ciai Corresponsal para America Latina La Repubblica Roma, Italia

45) Rafael Rojas Historiador y ensayista cubano Investigador del Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE). Premio Anagrana de Ensayo 2006. Ciudad Mexico, Mexico

46) Osmin Martinez Assistant Copy Desk Chief El Nuevo Herald

47) Larry Daley Professor Biochemistry and Biophysics of Plant Germplasm Corvallis, Oregon

48) Jaums Sutton Interviewer & assistant producer AB Independent Productions Silver Spring, Maryland

49) Agustin Blazquez Writer & producer/director of the documentay series "Covering Cuba" AB Independent Productions Silver Spring, Maryland

50) Orlando Rodríguez (Rossardi) Poeta y dramaturgo ex Director y Director Adjunto de Radio Martí Miami

51) Alberto Muller Escritor Miami

52) Luis de la Paz escritor y periodista Miami, Florida

53) Milan Balinda (The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald Alumn) Managing Editor TABLOID, Belgrade