By Al Kamen. The Washington Post. Friday, July 14, 2000; Page A21
The Elian fallout never ends. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees federally funded Radio Marti, recently blasted the station for waiting four hours before starting to broadcast news of the April 22 government raid seizing Elian Gonzalez in Miami.
Radio Marti is supposed to provide objective reporting to Cuba to counter the commie propaganda and it's to do so with the "highest professional standards of broadcast journalism," the BBG's resolution last month noted.
But Marti waited until 9 a.m., hours after U.S., international and even Cuban networks reported the seizure and an hour after Attorney General Janet Reno's news conference that morning to discuss the events. All this even though a TV Marti "news crew on the scene . . . telephoned the Radio
Marti newsroom to report the seizure," the board said.
The board's resolution said the "deliberate delay" was "unacceptable and invalid" and it "severely reprimands and censures the Office of Cuba Broadcasting management."
The board also wanted Office of Cuba Broadcasting chief Herminio San Roman to boot Radio Marti director Roberto Rodriguez Tejera out of his job. San Roman refused.
Yesterday, a trio of Cuban American lawmakers--Reps. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.)--fired back. Echoing the views of Radio Marti folks, the three blasted the board for Monday-morning quarterbacking and interfering in the station's news
judgment.
It was a "confrontational meeting," a Hill source said and neither side offered concessions. The lawmakers noted the seizure occurred over Easter weekend and the station wasn't staffed up. In any event, they said, Radio Marti shouldn't be held to news broadcast standards of typical
commercial radio stations.
Radio Marti folks had earlier explained to the board they had been concerned that running the Elian seizure story would be "playing into Castro's hands" and they wanted to make sure they had all the facts before going on the air.
Ah yes, sometimes it can take quite a while to get that spin just right. |