Last U.S. Newspaper Bureau in Cuba to Close

[Mika]

Last U.S. Newspaper Bureau in Cuba to Close
http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/?q=en/node/3495

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is shutting its bureau in Havana and bringing back to Fort Lauderdale reporter Ray Sanchez, the New Times reports.

Since the Dallas Morning News closed its Cuba bureau in 2004, the Sun-Sentinel's Havana bureau, jointly run with the Chicago Tribune, has been the only U.S. newspaper operation on the island. But the Tribune pulled its funding for the Havana bureau, and the Sun-Sentinel is cutting costs of its own, including 12 layoffs, spelling the end of the Havana bureau, writes Bob Norman for the New Times.

The only American news organizations left with a presence on the island are the Associated Press and CNN.

Sanchez, who writes the twice-weekly column Direct from Havana, published his first piece from Cuba in 2006.

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Too Bad About the Dallas Morning News Pulling Out Earlier

Too bad about the Dallas Morning News closing its Cuban news bureau earlier. The News published some good articles about Cuba.

[Mika]

2. Yep. Just when we are coming closer to modifications in Cuba policy we get a media blackout.

Just when we need it most, we get less. :argh:

[Judi Lynn]

3. The timing is too wierd to be coincidental.

CNN is not celebrated for its fabulous Cuban news coverage.

One would'd expect them to be INCREASING the people they have there, instead.

The last time they had a lot of American reporters in Cuba was the Pope's visit, during Clinton's Presidency, when they were swarming all over Havana waiting for the Pope to arrive, then suddenly, badda bing, someone broke the Monica Lewinsky story, and they INSTANTLY tore out there like bats out of hell, heading for Washington to cover the news overload we got with that debacle.

That left virtually NO ONE there in Cuba to cover the Pope's comments that the embargo should be dropped immediately, and Cuba should be freed from crippling economic sanctions. No stories coming out from "man in the street" interviews, or interviews with American Catholics who went there for their own personal reasons, no high-impact news photos of the Pope shaking hands with Fidel Castro, or the Archbishop of Havana, Jaime Ortega.

They were able to neatly sidestep the revelation there were ALWAYS churches, etc. in Cuba, which contradicts the claim made by propagandists that the revolutionary government was the creation of fire-breathing atheists who would persecute religious Cubans.