Today’s Friday Funny comes courtesy of this NPR article via the Miami Herald.
NPR’s article praises the brave “reporters” over at Juventud Rebelde, the other (c)astro, Inc. owned Cuban Newspaper for “pushing beyond the party line.”
Call me a paranoid exile, but the purpose of a “newspaper” in a totalitarian state is to disseminate the party line-read propaganda. If the message is changing, it’s because (r)aúl is changing the party line. If the method of spreading the propaganda is changing it’s because (r)aúl told them to do it differently. If they’re criticizing something in society, it’s because (r)aúl ordered them to criticize something that he has already decided to change so that their collective minded fans at NPR and elsewhere can marvel at the efficiency that a collective press can have on a collective society when they work together with a collective regime to achieve utopia.(NPR’s fantasy)
You would think that a professional journalist would recognize that JR’s reporters are not free to “report” on anything. They are employees, scribes, typists that get paid to write what they are told. Their job, like all of Cuba’s citizens, is to do what they are told. It’s scary that such a cheap and simple propaganda ploy on (r)aúl’s part would drop their collective jaws in awe. I hope these folks don’t ever look up at the clouds during a rainstorm, they just might drown.
On a lighter note, there’s this hilarious quote on the confusion of Juventud Rebelde’s employees when they are asked to write something truthful that will serve (r)aúl’s purposes:
NPR’s article praises the brave “reporters” over at Juventud Rebelde, the other (c)astro, Inc. owned Cuban Newspaper for “pushing beyond the party line.”
Call me a paranoid exile, but the purpose of a “newspaper” in a totalitarian state is to disseminate the party line-read propaganda. If the message is changing, it’s because (r)aúl is changing the party line. If the method of spreading the propaganda is changing it’s because (r)aúl told them to do it differently. If they’re criticizing something in society, it’s because (r)aúl ordered them to criticize something that he has already decided to change so that their collective minded fans at NPR and elsewhere can marvel at the efficiency that a collective press can have on a collective society when they work together with a collective regime to achieve utopia.(NPR’s fantasy)
You would think that a professional journalist would recognize that JR’s reporters are not free to “report” on anything. They are employees, scribes, typists that get paid to write what they are told. Their job, like all of Cuba’s citizens, is to do what they are told. It’s scary that such a cheap and simple propaganda ploy on (r)aúl’s part would drop their collective jaws in awe. I hope these folks don’t ever look up at the clouds during a rainstorm, they just might drown.
On a lighter note, there’s this hilarious quote on the confusion of Juventud Rebelde’s employees when they are asked to write something truthful that will serve (r)aúl’s purposes:
“We’ve made progress, but we have a ways to go, because our reporters have been conditioned to think in a certain way,” he says. “They have inertia in their thinking. This kind of journalism we’re trying to do is hard for us. Throughout our whole lives, we’ve done it in a different way.”
It’s hard to say something truthful when you’ve spent all your life lying
And…here’s a picture of some of Cuba’s “journalists” at an anti U.S. and Posada Carriles rally that their employer, (r)aúl compelled then to attend under the ever watchful eye of “big brother.”
And…here’s a picture of some of Cuba’s “journalists” at an anti U.S. and Posada Carriles rally that their employer, (r)aúl compelled then to attend under the ever watchful eye of “big brother.”
Way to “push beyond the party line!”
CAMBIO
CAMBIO
Sigh.
NPR really screwed the pooch on this one.
JR does tend to be slightly, and I stress slightly, more critical than most Cuban publications. But, as you said, this is likely a calculated move: the government probably knows its popularity with the younger crowd is wavering, so they make some concessions in order to regain support.
Is it working? Sure hope not..
WOW! These Gramma and Juventud Rebelde “Journalists” seem to be very well fed and as for “Juventud”….give me a break.
They all look like a bunch of old farts to me! I guess the only “juventud” (youth) to be found at the newspaper is the name.
Great post! Every liberal I work with is an NPR junkie. They quote it as if it were their Bible. Me? I gave it 30 minutes one day and then went back to Glenn Beck’s show.
Pee. Yuuu.
“juventud”?…geez they look like a bunch of old geezers to me! I guess they can’t get any young people to agree with their point of view.