Democrats criticize Radio, TV Martí
Senate Democrats called for Radio and TV Martí to be moved from Miami
and made a part of Voice of America.
By JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
U.S. Senate Democrats, arguing that Radio and TV Martí have failed to
make any visible inroads in Cuba, recommended Monday the stations be
moved from Miami to Washington and folded into Voice of America.
``It's disappointing that after 18 years Radio and TV Martí have failed
to make any discernable inroads into Cuban society or to influence the
Cuban government,'' said Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations, in releasing a committee majority staff
report.
``U.S. civil society programs may have noble objectives, but we need to
examine whether we're achieving them,'' added the Massachusetts
Democrat, who favors easing U.S. sanctions on Cuba and engaging the
island's government.
The report, written by the committee's majority staff, recommended that
the stations and their parent, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), be
moved from Miami to Washington and their operations be ``subordinated''
to Voice of America, the worldwide U.S. government broadcaster to
``ensure that programming is up to VOA standards.''
The stations also should focus on ``quality programming,'' it added, to
better compete with what it described as recent improvements in Cuban
government programming that include shows such as Grey's Anatomy,
Friends and The Sopranos.
`OUT TO KILL OCB'
Pedro Roig, director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, could not be
reached for a comment on the 15-page report, although the Martí
stations' supporters immediately attacked the document.
``John Kerry and his staff are out to kill OCB. They have always tried
to kill it and they continue to try to kill it.
``They lack all credibility on this issue,'' said Republican Rep.
Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Miami.
``As the Cuban regime tightens its hold on the Cuban people, the
Congress should be focused on expanding the flow of uncensored
information about the dictatorship's brutality and gross human rights
abuses,'' said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, another Miami Republican.
``The focus should be on growing and improving, rather than burying into
VOA.''
COMPLAINTS
Speculation that OCB would be moved to Washington and become part of
Voice of America has been around since last summer, after former OCB
chief of staff Alberto Mascaró was hired as director of Voice of
America's Spanish-language division.
The committee staff report, based in interviews with station employees
and several past Congressional investigations of troubles at the two
stations, ticked off a long string of complaints against the Martí
stations over the years,
Although Radio Martí was created in 1983 -- and TV Martí in 1990 -- to
provide Cubans with reliable and unbiased information, it said, there
have been many complaints that they do not ``adhere to generally
accepted journalistic standards'' and use ``offensive and incendiary
language'' in its news broadcasts.
ALLEGATIONS
Their audience remains minuscule -- less than 2 percent of Cubans listen
to Radio Martí, and TV Martí has virtually no viewers at all -- in part
because of Cuban government jamming but also because some Cubans do not
consider them to be ``objective,'' according to the report.
``Finally, allegations of cronyism and malfeasance continue to haunt
OCB,'' it added, noting that Mascaró is Roig's nephew.
TV Martí's former director of programming pleaded guilty in 2007 to
charges of taking about $112,000 in kickbacks from an OCB contractor in
Miami, the report noted, adding, ``These allegations of nepotism and
corruption have harmed morale and led to questions about management's
transparency.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/04/1611636/democrats-criticize-radio-tv-marti.html
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