Yesterday’s National Public Radio segment on Cuban dissident Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet’s Presidential Medal of Freedom was a much needed breath of fresh air. Main stream media outlets in the United States have a long history of tacitly supporting the Castro dictatorship, often ignoring stories pointing out egregious human rights violations on the island. NPR’s take on Biscet however was honest and to-the-point.
Morning Edition reporter Tom Gjetlten refers to Biscet as the “most prominent political prisoner in Cuba,” going on describe the human rights champion as a “genuine political prisoner jailed for his defiant opposition to Fidel Castro’s regime.” No white-washing here, folks, just the facts. I believe the Cuban people owe NPR their thanks for reporting the issue in a manner that was both honest and sympathetic.
Babalu readers can catch the two-and-a-half-minute segment by clicking here.
7 thoughts on “NPR’s Tom Gjelten Hails Biscet and Gets it Right”
Comments are closed.
NPR is consistently balanced and fair. I listen to their podcasts all the time and they take great pains to present BOTH sides of most debates. This fact, combined with their own transparency as a news org., make them my #1 source for news.
This is great!
We need more of this. The campaign should continue. Because by ‘shining the light’ on Biscet, we shine the light on ALL THE OTHERS as well!
“FREE BISCET” should be on everyone’s mind and actions. The regime can be put on the defensive internationally and internally, with the potential to also inform all the Cuban people, and hopefully have them rally around this cause -which could then multiply into other democratic issues.
cucurucho,
I dont know what NPR youve been listening to all these years, but the one I know of certainly isnt even close to being “balanced.”
I’m happy about the little NPR segment on Biscet, but it is truly sad, no, PATHETIC, that something like this should be so uncommon, so unusual, that it raises any particular notice. The MSM is unbelievably screwed up.
I’m with asombra. To the ears that do not hear that report will sound like he got the award because he’s pro life and pro embargo like Bush.
Val and Tom –
Exactly – AND – if you do listen further, you learn that the good Doctor is doing 25 years for protesting in a manner that would be quaint “street theatre” in the US, information that SHOULD be embarrassing to the Castro Regime – just NOT embarrassing enough – YET. -S-
Even that somewhat fair report was laced with a little bias. They tie him to Bush by saying he’s the dissident whose views most closely align to the President’s. While there is certainly agreement on the fundamentals how anyone judge who in Cuba is “most aligned” with Bush or anyone else for that matter. To me that’s an attempt to discredit Biscet by tying him to an unpopular president. Also way they allude to his pro life stance seems like in this way they are also saying to American liberals, this guy is anti-abortion and a Bushie. Don’t worry about him or the fact he’s in jail for 25 years.