The folks at mediabistro.com have confirmed from CNN that they did in fact put out the memo I posted a couple of days ago which was intended to give that network’s reporters and anchors “guidance on Fidel”. This is no surprise to me because I wouldn’t have posted it if it wasn’t legit, but some folks did question its legitimacy.
But what’s astounding is how CNN continues to stand by that memo.
CNN spokesperson Christa Robinson confirms the email is from Flexner, telling TVNewser, “The exchange of ideas, thoughts and background between colleagues is all part of the journalistic process. We stand by our on-air and on-line coverage of this story.”
This is some of that coverage:
Christiane Amanpour says that the terrible economic and political conditions in Cuba “offsets some of the genuine progress that [castro’s] made in terms of education and healthcare.”
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln how did you enjoy the play?
Even at the bitter end these people are going to insist that at least Mussolini made the trains run on time. Jebus.
Wherever there is a jackboot stomping on a human face there will be a well-heeled Western liberal to explain that the face does, after all, enjoy free health care and 100 percent literacy.
-John Derbyshire of National Review
But in none of those comments about the “great health care” will they ever mention that as regards health care, Caudillo Fidel’s “inheritance” of a country in 1959 that had ~1000 inhabitants/ MD, better than many countries in Europe. Caudillo Fidel’s taking over a country with so many MDs reminds me of Jim Hightower’s crack about George HW Bush: “He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple.”
Here’s a copy of the comment I left on Liz Donovan’s blog, regarding her call for “balanced” reporting about Castro…
“SANTIAGO, Chile — Like a modern Mussolini, Chile’s former military ruler Gen. Augusto Pinochet has defenders, here and abroad, who excuse his brutal governing style since it brought increased efficiency to a bloated and underproductive economy.â€
Where did this little gem of “balanced†reporting come from? Why, none other than The Miami Herald, March 18, 1998. Amazing what a little googling can turn up (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/42a/086.html). So, to say something good about a right-wing dictatorship is to “excuse†brutality, but to say something good about a left-wing dictatorship is to be “balanced.†It seems the obsession of the press with “balance†is itself in need of balance. Oh, the hypocrisy.
Sorry guys, I still haven’t figured out which punctuation marks this site will accept. So, once again, here’s my comment, sans quotation marks…
QUOTE: SANTIAGO, Chile — Like a modern Mussolini, Chile’s former military ruler Gen. Augusto Pinochet has defenders, here and abroad, who excuse his brutal governing style since it brought increased efficiency to a bloated and underproductive economy… END QUOTE.
Where did this little gem of balanced reporting come from? Why, none other than The Miami Herald, March 18, 1998. Amazing what a little googling can turn up (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/42a/086.html). So, to say something good about a right-wing dictatorship is to excuse brutality, but to say something good about a left-wing dictatorship is to be balanced. It seems the obsession of the press with balance is itself in need of balance. Oh, the hypocrisy.
Yeah! Education is sooooo great that one wonders why Cuban parents are fed up with the poor education their children are being provided with. Imagine! What a bunch of ingrates… Don’t they know Cuba has made great strides in education since 1959? Jeesh! At least you would think they should be grateful that their children (elementary and junior high school) have 17 year olds teaching them. After all… Don’t teenagers know everything? Besides, just because every now and then the teachers take it upon themselves to provide a bit more discipline than usual is no cause for alarm. What’s one more dead student when you have soooo many?
Tell that to the parents of 12 year old Daniel Castañeda Alayo, who was killed by his seventeen year old teacher Rolando, who broke a chair over his head. Well… If there’s any consolation to the parents, they should a least be grateful that Daniel was provided with a free and -greater than average education- till the day he died.
http://miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/article.asp?artID=13892