Yesterday Humberto posted an interesting item about the Herald’s web site. He found an article there from ACN. ACN is one of Cuba’s many official “news” outlets. That is to say that it’s controlled by the government (and communist party) and serves only to put out official regime propaganda.
It’s interesting that the article is being hosted in a directory that seems reserved for Associated Press items:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/AP/story/969447.html
Herald.com has republished this item that originated in the regime as if it were news from a credible source and, in fact, a reader might believe it’s coming from the Associated Press.
Those of us who blog and care about Cuba often allege that lazy journalists pick up items from the Cuban “news” services (Castro’s public relations agencies) and make a minor modification and publish them. This takes the cake. Herald.com is hosting an article produced 100% by the regime without any disclaimer whatsoever as to the validity of the source. I’m sure most readers have no idea what ACN is and assume that it’s one of the many partners of the Herald who provide legitimate content.
I did a search for other ACN content at Herald.com and found that this wasn’t an isolated incident. Here’s several articles from ACN currently being hosted by Herald.com:
Safer houses for hurricane victims in Cuba
Tobacco Harvest in Pinar del Rio in Final Stage
Fidel Castro: I was right about baseball tourney
Fidel Castro writes about Cuban baseball team
Remains of the Yucatan meteorite found in Cuba
The Arab Union of Cuba to celebrate its 30th anniversary
I’ve put in an email to Executive Editor of the Herald and the Online Editor asking them when the Herald became an official distributor of regime propaganda.
“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”
Capt. Renault — Casablanca
Gee, I wonder what El Nuevo Herald will have to say about this exceedingly dubious matter. I mean, it’s supposed to be totally independent from the English-language Herald, or so one hears…
This is good info, Henry. I hadn’t the foggiest idea about this link. And to be quite frank, I know some of their writers to be decent folks, good at what they do. However, this sort of information seriously puts the paper’s editorial integrity into question.
Thanks.
Henry, be sure to update your post on Herald Watch with the additional info posted here, documenting that this is not an isolated incident and backing that up with other examples of the same practice. Basically, it clearly appears that either the Herald is completely out to lunch, or it wants to run and propagate official Castro, Inc. propaganda as factual information. This is a very serious matter. If Nuevo Herald is worth anything, it MUST address this.