Thursday, December 11, 2008

A Post of Two Headlines

An earlier post highlighted the pernicious effects of naive or cynical reporting, to wit- the AP article. Well, the Miami Herald, which newspaper more than any other in the world should be aware of the trampling of human rights in Cuba, picked up the Anita Snow story online... with headline intact:

Foreign Minister: Cuba can be Proud of its Rights Record

Contrast that to the AFP story posted on NASDAQ:

Cuba Defends Rights Records; Opposition Denounces Arrests

Now which of the two is more accurate? It is bad enough that the AP chooses to publish this tripe, but that the Miami Herald should propagate it is beyond all belief. One is left to surmise that A) the Miami Herald believes that the hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles who came to these shores with only the shirts of their backs are liars, B) the management of the Miami Herald has such an antipathy toward Cubans that it is willing to perpetuate what it knows to be a misleading story, or C) the organization is so slipshod in its journalism that it publishes said story. As far as I can see, their is no alternative.

3 comments:

Ms Calabaza said...

The Miami Herald? Are they still around?

Sharpshooter said...

Ah yes, Anita Snow the great AP reporter who wrote from Cuba how she was so happy to live for a month as a regular Cuban and found the food plentiful and very nurishing even though meat or fish were nowhere to be found. And all of this was done with the miserable ration book, which Cubans have been enduring for nearly 48 years, of course.

rsnlk said...

I was thrilled with that series, I can tell you. Thanks for stopping by.