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Friday, October 11, 2013

New editors for leading Cuban newspapers - “too much triumphalism and too apologetic”

Thursday, October 10th 2013 - 01:11 UTC

New editors for leading Cuban newspapers: "too much triumphalism and too
apologetic"
Cuba has appointed new editors for the country's two main newspapers -
Granma and Juventud Rebelde. The shake up in the island's tightly
controlled media was described by the Communist Party as a "renewal".

The new editor of Granma - Pelayo Terry - is seen as less of a hardliner
than his predecessor. He has a Twitter account and has spoken in favour
of using social media to promote dialogue.
The decision to replace the editorial command of the two papers was
taken by the Communist Party's Politburo. Granma is the Politburo's
official newspaper and Juventud Rebelde the daily of the Party's youth wing.
At the Party's congress in the summer, politicians called for a new type
of journalism in Cuba, with less self-censorship and secrecy. This is
seen as the first important development in that direction.
But news coverage in Cuban papers and television is still dominated by
the official party line, with reports of official visits and positive
reports about the country's economy.
President Raul Castro has described the country's media as
"triumphalism" and "apologetic".
The new editor of Granma is a former war correspondent in Ethiopia. He
replaces Lazaro Barredo, who had been in the job for eight years. Mr
Terry is also the previous editor of Juventud Rebelde. He is being
replaced there by his deputy, Marina Menendez.
Raul Castro has introduced a number of moderate economic and political
changes since taking over from his brother, Fidel, who resigned in 2008
for health reasons.
As part of the reforms, Cuba eased restrictions on its citizens
travelling abroad. One of the high profile beneficiaries was Generation
Y blogger Yoani Sanchez, who is critical of the government. She embarked
on a three-month tour to several countries and returned to Havana at the
end of May.

Source: "New editors for leading Cuban newspapers: "too much
triumphalism and too apologetic" — MercoPress" -
http://en.mercopress.com/2013/10/10/new-editors-for-leading-cuban-newspapers-too-much-triumphalism-and-too-apologetic?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=latin-america&utm_campaign=rss

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