From: "Walter Lippmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 05:17:19 -0700 To: "CubaNews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [CubaNews] Press freedom under capitalism (Granma) GRANMA May 10, 2001 The press is not free in hands of capitalists defending their interests � Some 600 Latin American journalists have been assassinated or disappeared for their truthfulness � The information transnationals silence the forums that report on the Third World reality BY SONIA SANCHEZ (Granma International staff writer) WHILE defending our peoples� right to be informed, 600 journalists have been assassinated or disappeared since the Federation of Latin American Journalists (FELAP) formed. This is how real freedom of the press is defined. During the worldwide celebration of International Free Press Day, sponsored each May 3 by UNESCO, well-known journalist Ernesto Vera reaffirmed in Havana the complex aspects of the situation in which journalists work. During a forum entitled Freedom of the Press: Myths and Realities, sponsored by the Journalists Union of Cuba (UPEC) with the participation of distinguished representatives of the sector such as Jos� Luis D�az of Colombia and Osvaldo Burgos of Uruguay, there was consensus that "the free flow of information is nothing more than the free market." Those present agreed that it is impossible to talk about a free press when it�s in the hands of the powerful capitalists who use the media to defend their interests. The same is true of the bias and corruption of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA). The forum stressed that the information transnationals do not cover important events such as the recent meeting of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, or the 18th Congress of the Central Organization of Cuban Trade Unions (CTC), in which issues relevant to the island�s proletariat were discussed. Analyzing stereotypes created by the communications media at the service of imperialism, participants mentioned terms like "embargo" in reference to Washington�s blockade of Cuba, and "rogue states" in reference to North Korea or Iraq. Revolutionary Cuban journalism�"which still has a lot of distance to cover: to exercise more criticism, and oppose everything that might prevent the country from getting ahead"�has its origins in forebears Jos� Mart�, Carlos Manuel de C�spedes, Antonio Maceo and the many who have fought for national sovereignty. Our freedom of the press is the freedom to create and to think, not to let ourselves be overtaken by capitalist propaganda, highlighted Juventud Rebelde columnist Jos� Alejandro Rodr�guez. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
