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American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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After 20 years, Cuba revokes Spanish journalist’s creds

Mauricio Vicent, reporter for Spain’s El País for 20 years, has had his credentials revoked “irrevocably“, for his alleged bias and negative reporting.

Since 2007, the Cuban government has prohibited reporting by foreign correspondents from the Chicago Tribune, the BBC and El Universal in México.

This year, the Communist regime has denounced the Wall Street Journal, removed CNN En Español from hotel cable service, and accused Reuters of arranging meeting between spies in the island.

In addition to pulling Vicent’s creds, this week Cuba denied Agence France Press’ correspondent, Juan Castro Olivera, a visa,

Authorities have been especially sensitive about stories on Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a political prisoner who died in 2009 after a hunger strike, and Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, a dissident who died after an alleged police beating in May, said the journalists.

Foreign journalists in Havana have reported virtually nothing on the recent spate of complaints by dissidents in eastern Cuba of violent crackdowns by pro-government mobs and security agents against opposition activists.

CPI officials also have tightened some of the regulations on correspondents, such as those governing the purchases of cars and equipment such as air conditioners, according to the journalists, who all requested anonymity to avoid government retaliations.

The Communist regime knows all these news agencies are on Fidel’s death watch. The agencies want to have a correspondent on the island when Fidel’s death is finally announced. Denying an entry visa is a gesture, but revoking Vicent’s creds after twenty years telegraphs the message “You better toe the line, or you’ll miss out on The Big Story.”

Related:
The reforms of the Castro dictatorship in numbers: 243 & 2,221 & 1,091

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Political journalist Wilfred Ojeda murdered in Venezuela

Venezuelan political journalist murdered

Venezuelan police found the murdered body of a newspaper columnist and opposition political activist dumped on wasteland, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Wilfred Ojeda, 56, wrote a column for the El Clarin newspaper in the town of La Victoria and was a long-time activist for the Democratic Action political party that opposes President Hugo Chavez.
…
Ojeda had a hood placed over his head, was beaten and showed signs of torture, prosecutors said. He was killed by single a bullet to the head.

Via Babalu, which says, And that’s the way it’s done in Venezuela (and Cuba)

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Hitchens has cancer

Christopher Hitchens has posted a brief note,

I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus. This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice.

I wish him a full and complete recovery, and along with many of his readers hold him in my prayers – something which most probably irk him.

Commentary from Don Surber.

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And now, a bailout for the newspapers

He who pays the piper calls the tune, and more so with the media. Not surprisingly, after taking over the banks, the automakers, and attempting to take over 17% of the economy with the healthcare bill, now comes this:
Obama open to newspaper bailout bill

The president said he is “happy to look at” bills before Congress that would give struggling news organizations tax breaks if they were to restructure as nonprofit businesses.

“I haven’t seen detailed proposals yet, but I’ll be happy to look at them,” Obama told the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade in an interview.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called “Newspaper Revitalization Act,” that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin’s Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D)/

Which in plain English means that the newspapers would incorporate as non-profits, as if they were NGOs, only under the government teat.

Obama’s “concerned” about the blogosphere:

Obama said that good journalism is “critical to the health of our democracy,” but expressed concern toward growing tends in reporting — especially on political blogs, from which a groundswell of support for his campaign emerged during the presidential election.

“I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding,” he said.

Owning the press will certainly come in handy during election season.

What next?

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The first rule of JournoList is you don’t talk about JournoList?

First, the Emanuel, Carville, Stephanopoulos and Begala early morning call. Now the JournoList.

The what?

JournoList: Inside the echo chamber

For the past two years, several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics have talked stories and compared notes in an off-the-record online meeting space called JournoList.

Proof of a vast liberal media conspiracy?

Not at all, says Ezra Klein, the 24-year-old American Prospect blogging wunderkind who formed JournoList in February 2007. “Basically,” he says, “it’s just a list where journalists and policy wonks can discuss issues freely.”

But some of the journalists who participate in the online discussion say — off the record, of course — that it has been a great help in their work. On the record, The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin acknowledged that a Talk of the Town piece — he won’t say which one — got its start in part via a conversation on JournoList. And JLister Eric Alterman, The Nation writer and CUNY professor, said he’s seen discussions that start on the list seep into the world beyond.

The first rule of JournoList is you don’t talk about JournoList?

Yup:

POLITICO contacted nearly three dozen current JList members for this story. The majority either declined to comment or didn’t respond to interview requests — and then returned to JList to post items on why they wouldn’t be talking to POLITICO about what goes on there.

But…“No one’s pushing an agenda,” said Toobin.

Of course not. Any conservatives in the list?

Bueller?… Bueller?… Bueller?

Where are the conservative lists?

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CNN’s Patricia Janiot: Chávez is “very attractive”

Via Noticias24,
Senior anchor for CNN en Español Patricia Janiot declared in an interview with journalist Cristian Savio that Chávez is “very attractive,” and has “overwhelming charisma,”
(My translation: If you use this translation please link to this post)

CS: What political leader impressed you the most?
PJ: Beyond his political position – I believe that a politician, the more he shows himself as a person and further away from the gods of Olympus, the better – there’s no doubt that Hugo Chávez os “the character.” He’s the epitome of the populist leader, with plain tastes, overwhelming charisma and the ability to involve himself in his sorroundings since he has a point of reference that also interests you. He’s a combination comedian, military, President and religious leader: a very appealing combination, even more so than his oratorial ability. He’s very attractive to any journalist.

CS: And [Argentinian President] Cristina Fernández?
PJ: She made a very good impression, I met her before she became president. Beyond her strong personality, she comes across as letting you know what to expect of her. She tells you what she means to your face. She’ll tell you outright if she doesn’t want to answer a question. She won’t evade it or change the subject.

CS: What are your thoughts on the turn to the left in Latin American politics?
PJ: It strikes me as a natural swing after the neoliberal decade that left so many of us in ruins. It’s a natural process in any country: when something doesn’t work, we look for the opposite. But nowadays the difference between the Left and the Right is how distanced they are from the United States. Even the governments on the Right are closer to fighting inequality and poverty, so the difference is the degree of alienation from the US.

Readers of this blog may remember that CNN en Español’s freelancer Mauricio Funes is the Communist party candidate running for President of El Salvador.

Janiot follows in the steps of tyrant-worshiper Barbara Walters, who idolizes Fidel Castro,

Another distinguished CNN alumna, Lucia Newman, is now working for al-Jazeera.

These and other headlines from the region in today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern . Chat’s open by 10:45AM. See you there!

UPDATE
Welcome, NewsBusters readers!

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“Sometimes a President Is Just a President”

Sometimes a President Is Just a President

The other night I dreamt of Barack Obama. He was taking a shower right when I needed to get into the bathroom to shave my legs, and then he was being yelled at by my husband, Max, for smoking in the house. It was not clear whether Max was feeling protective of the president’s health or jealous because of the cigarette.

Stop right there.

A married woman, employed by the NYT as a journalist, finds absolutely nothing wrong with revealing a sexual fantasy involving the President of the United States.

Who does she think she is, Chris Matthews?

Brutally Honest has more.

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At Real Clear World, and today at 11AM Eastern: Latin American headlines on the Obama inauguration

Today’s 15 Minutes on Latin America: The Obama inauguration in Latin American headlines. I’ll be talking about how newspapers in Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico covered the inauguration.

Right now I’m working on a related post for Real Clear World Blog, and will link to it shortly.

The post is up at RCW: Latin America Headlines on the Inaugural

Podcast chat opens at 10:45AM, and the call-in number is 646 652-2639. See you there!

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