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Tom Fiedler. Executive Editor. Posted on Sun, Oct. 20, 2002
in The
Miami Herald.
HAVANA - Had it come in any other setting, the question from the American
newspaper editor to his foreign counterpart would have been seen as a softball
triggering a predictable response.
''Do you wish you had more freedom to print stories that could be of
interest to a great many of your readers?'' the American asked, lobbing what
seemed an inviting pitch.
But this was Cuba and the question shot through the room like a chin-high
fastball. The follow-ups came even harder.
How could it be, the American editor went on, that 10,000 Cubans could
legally petition their government for democratic reforms and no word about the
petition had been written? How could it be that an alleged killer was on trial
for murdering five people in a nearby city and nothing had appeared in print?
The top leaders of the Cuban journalists' union shifted uncomfortably in
their dais seats and stared at their hands. After an awkward pause, an elderly
colleague rose in the back of the room and took the microphone.
''We cannot be part of something that will subvert the order of the
country,'' the old man thundered, a reference to the Varela Project being pushed
by Cuban dissidents. As for the alleged murderer's trial: 'It is not the style
in our country to publish 'yellow' news.''
Perhaps it's because I am a journalist that this exchange crystallized in a
few moments the dichotomy that existed between the two groups in that room and,
ultimately, our governments. It illustrated as well the difficulties that remain
ahead in achieving what is euphemistically called normalization.
Of course normalization seems a worthy goal. But who will define the terms?
I came to Havana as part of a group from the American Society of Newspaper
Editors with the broad aim of learning more about Cuba, about experiencing it
firsthand, taking its measure. A few of us also carried the hope of impressing
upon the Cuban government our newspapers' particular interest in opening bureaus
so as to greatly expand the flow of news and information between the island and
our readers.
Currently just three U.S. newspapers -- the Chicago Tribune, The Dallas
Morning News and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- and The Associated Press are
licensed by the Cuban government to base correspondents here. The Herald's
requests to open a similar office have been denied or ignored for years.
But a thaw seemed possible.
Recently the Cuban government allowed several dozen U.S. reporters
(including The Herald's Nancy San Martin) to cover an agricultural-products
trade fair attended by many American companies.
Earlier this month, President Fidel Castro sat down for a rare interview
with Barbara Walters, broadcast on ABC's 20/20. He then allowed it to be
rebroadcast in Cuba.
Castro also gave wide media access to a gathering in Havana last weekend of
Russian, Cuban and American historians who came to share memories of the 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis.
And in a meeting with our group on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez
Roque described the expansion of such contacts as "very positive.''
In reply to a question about allowing other newspapers to open offices in
Cuba, he answered: "Are we looking forward to more relations with [news]
organizations in the United States? Yes, we do. Do we want to facilitate their
work in Cuba? Yes, we do.''
Similar messages envisioning openness -- perhaps a long-awaited Cuban
Perestroika -- came from Ricardo Alarcón, president of the Cuban National
Assembly, and the senior officials who frequently accompanied us, who spoke of
''bridges'' between the nations.
Our every encounter was cordial (typically lubricated by mojitos, the
national rum drink). We were reminded often that, despite the chill between
governments, no Cuban has ever burned an American flag. And we were told
incorrectly that no American blood has been shed by Cuban action -- a claim that
overlooks the MiG attacks on the Brothers to the Rescue planes and the
post-revolution firing squads.
Still, the overall mood seemed encouraging. The message that was echoed in
each of our many meetings was one of common bonds, not divisions. As the tense
meeting with the leaders of the Cuban journalists ended, one of them urged that
we remember that we work toward the same goal: a society that treats its people
humanely, that cares for its children and its elderly, that fights crime and
drug addiction.
All of which is true.
But to focus on the goal alone would be to ignore the different paths that
we've chosen to follow toward it, as journalists and as citizens.
The foundation of journalism in an open, democratic society is the belief
that a well-informed people will render good, judicious judgments. The Herald's
goal every day -- and that of any responsible news medium -- is to provide
readers with an honest, objective account of the day's significant news, free of
partisanship or bias.
Sometimes that news is unsettling to those who hold public power; sometimes
the news is ugly, as when it involves murder or disaster. But we have a bargain
with the people to give it to them straight, and we trust them to act in the
best interests of all. The history of the United States suggests this
journalistic paradigm has served the nation well.
Clearly, as I was reminded this week, that is not the way in Cuba. Cuba's
official media has concluded that the Cuban people cannot be trusted to learn
that at least 10,000 fellow citizens had petitioned the Cuban Assembly to give
them basic freedoms. Armed with such knowledge, they might "subvert the
order of the country.''
The message here is that only the government can be trusted with such
information. The people could only have instruction, not information.
Oswaldo Payá, author of the Varela Project and a prominent dissident,
told us that the real embargo destroying Cuba isn't the one imposed by the
United States against trade; it's the one imposed by the Cuban government
against the Cuban people in providing news and information.
So we American editors have been left in an awkward place. We are eager to
be another bridge. We hunger to gather news about this island and the struggles
of its people. We believe that, in learning more about Cuba, Americans will
insist that their government seek a sensible and just policy.
But as I leave Cuba to return to Miami, I carry this question: If that
bridge is built, will the news only travel in one direction?
tfiedler@herald.com | 
