The ghost of some old 20th century reporter would remind us, in a sobering tone, that the journalist should never be news, because the press can talk about a whole galaxy of subjects and events, but not about itself.
On rare occasions, however, the media should be allowed to take a few minutes in the spotlight and take stock of the successes and failures of their work, not so that we journalists can shine on our navels, nor to justify what goes wrong, but because the reader, by devoting part of his or her time to us, also deserves some explanations.
To this end, Invasor explores the work of the press in Ciego de Ávila, and its steps and missteps, in these years of deep economic and cultural crisis. Hopefully, these lines will serve as a pretext to put ourselves in front of the mirror.
QUALITY IS KEY
For the young professor Samuel Ernesto Viamonte Sardiñas, from the Department of Journalism at the Marta Abreu de Las Villas Central University, it is evident that the problems of the Cuban press are due to a great variety of internal and external mediations, caused, in part, by the harsh situation the country is facing.
«From visible deformations in the productive routines of the media, to the deterioration of internal life in the newsrooms or the low retention of young journalists, our press has to deal with a myriad of issues, which do not always have an easy solution, but it is essential to try to fix them,» he explains.
«Getting the Cuban press out of the doldrums is no small task. In a world with so much information available, if we are not able to present a finished, quality product that adds value to the news, we don’t really do anything.
«The press has to get closer to science, to communication studies, because you can’t continue to do journalism with your back to good practices, with earmuffs so that you can’t see the sides,» says Samuel.
Within these renewal efforts, journalistic quality is key. This is recognised by Yadán Galañena León, who has been studying this subject for more than a decade and is currently working on his doctoral thesis.
«One of the main indicators of journalistic quality is, in my opinion, the pragmatic adaptation of the discourse to the context, which means that the press must construct its agendas giving priority to the problems of social reality, so that it is the public that drives the fundamental issues to be dealt with.
«Unfortunately, the current media dynamics prefer grey, triumphalist, falsely encouraging and communicatively ineffective discourses. No wonder, then, that there is an overwhelming decline in media credibility.
«Certainly, the quality of our press has improved in formal terms, as the technological infrastructure is superior to that of the 1990s. However, in terms of content, there has been a decline compared to the pre-revolutionary press or the press of the 60s and 70s of the last century,» he adds.
DOING JOURNALISM WITHOUT JOURNALISTS?
A brief glance at Avila’s newsrooms can give an account of what, in recent years, has emerged as an existential challenge for the functioning of the media in the province: the lack of reporters and other professionals who have an impact on the editorial processes of the press.
Alden Hernández Díaz, chief correspondent of the Cuban News Agency in Ciego de Ávila, does not exaggerate when he describes the consequences of the shortage of journalistic personnel.
«The media in Avila are very depressed, the newsrooms are almost empty, and this means that the few remaining journalists are overloaded with work. The content, of course, often does not meet the required quality, and sometimes we have stopped covering certain news, because it is humanly impossible to be in several places at the same time,» the young director comments.
His analysis coincides very much with that of Roberto Carlos Delgado Burgos, director of Invasor, a medium that has experienced a considerable exodus of journalists in recent years, which makes it extremely difficult to publish its printed weekly and update its website on a daily basis.
«Today we only have two reporters out of 12 available positions. We also have two moonlighters, who help to alleviate the problem, but they are not the definitive solution.
«We are trying to maintain quality and to continue to report on economic issues, but it is very difficult with such a small team. In any case, the solution depends on bringing in new journalists,» he says.
But from where, we would have to ask ourselves. And, more importantly, how can we guarantee the material – and spiritual – conditions to stop the drain of professionals to other, better paid sectors or abroad? Perhaps therein lies the crux of a dilemma that affects too many newsrooms throughout Cuba…
AMIDST SHORTCOMINGS, THE COMMITMENT
Alfredo Fernández Arcia, provincial director of Cadena de Radio in Ciego de Ávila, says it is essential to get closer to the audience and guarantee worthy audiovisual products where listeners can speak out and express their concerns.
«In radio, we are hit hard by the lack of artistic personnel, to achieve, for example, a variety of voices and sound designs in keeping with the times. There is also a lack of self-preparation, a shortage of reporters in our stations, and a lack of better work with journalism students during their pre-professional internships.
Something similar is happening at Televisión Avileña, where material shortages and a shortage of professionals in key areas are hampering the work of this medium. For Nayrobi Terri Segrera, the channel’s director, making television in times of economic crisis is doubly difficult.
«A minute on screen requires a script that is coherent with the subject to be dealt with, a presenter with enough general knowledge to hold attractive conversations, good make-up, costumes, lighting, scenery, camera… In other words, an excellent combination of technological, ethical and aesthetic elements is needed.
«Moreover, despite the Law on Social Communication, there are still officials who refuse to appear before our cameras, and often leave us with an empty chair,» laments Nayrobi.
These dysfunctions are also felt in the Ciudad del Gallo. Kenia López Martínez, head of Programming and the News Department of the municipal channel Morón Tevé, comments on the enormous effort of her collective to keep on air a diversity of spaces where the people of Morón can see themselves reflected.
«We are working practically without journalists, but also without cameramen, which adds another degree of difficulty to our daily work. We do our journalism with mobile phones, which, of course, is detrimental to quality.
In most media, transportation difficulties are also among the main concerns, since their availability defines whether or not a story is covered.
Similarly, technological obsolescence and continuous power outages are factors that negatively affect the journalism that is done, and the motivation and performance of news professionals.
STEPS FORWARD
«In recent years in Cuba, we have taken important conceptual steps forward in the work of the press, which had been under discussion for years. What happens is that these transformations came at a time of great uncertainty within society, and among so many superimposed crises it is sometimes not easy to see the advances, even though they are there,» says Luis Raúl Vázquez Muñoz, correspondent of the daily Juventud Rebelde in Ciego de Ávila.
«The fact that journalism has a legal framework like the current one also helps to unblock some problems, because unfortunately we come from a situation in which a few entities controlled public information in order to favour their own image.
«However, it is also true that these conflicts will not be totally extinguished by a law. That is why it is so important that journalists know what they should do, and also have enough freedom and autonomy to fulfil their social mission.
«There needs to be a major change of mentality in society as a whole about the role of journalism and against the spiritual inertia of these times. We know that these transformations are not homogeneous, but it is essential that they not be postponed, and that they start from the media itself,» adds Luis Raúl.
At this point, if there is one thing that can be agreed on within the media, it is that the future of the press in Ciego de Avila, as in the rest of Cuba, will depend on its ability to reinvent itself and adapt to the new times, as well as on the support and respect it receives from the country’s public institutions, political decision-makers, information sources and society. It will not be a quick or easy process, but there will be no other way to give the people the press they deserve.
