Socialism and Free Speech

Posted: November 22, 2007

I’m back a little earlier than expected because I read something today in The Miami Herald that sparked my interest, “Pro-Chávez lawmaker slaps journalist.” For those of you who don’t know, Hugo Chávez is the president of Venezuela.

Now for a little exposition: Last year, I was told to write a critique of a Flash package for my Advanced Online Media Production class taught by none other than Mindy McAdams. Let me say, this is in no way a criticism toward McAdams, only an observation I have seen in college from more than one professor. McAdams has been the most helpful and genuine professor I have had in all my studies at the University of Florida. I think this is why she had no reservations giving me her opinions and true thoughts on the subject. But it is also the reason why I have thought so long and hard about what she told me.

I decided to do my critique on a very interesting piece by The Miami Herald called “On the trail of Che.” That is of course a reference to Ernesto “Che” Guevara, long-gone, long-heralded revolutionary. It was told through the eyes of former diplomats and CIA agents who vocally oppose the ideas of Che Guevara. Take a look at the story for yourself to gather your own opinions.

McAdams liked the package and the critique. She thought it was a great piece of Flash production, but she called into question the journalism. This is what she wrote on her del.icio.us account about it:

Long video, well produced; excellent gallery of 34 photos; text story, not overlong. Beautiful package design. This is the main feature of interest here, although the story provides fascinating propaganda for the exiles of Cuba…

Now to tie the piece about Che and the story about the lady that attacked the journalist together. I do indeed see a bias here. The Cuban-exile community, and now the Venezuelan-exile community, makes up a significant number of the Miami (city or county) population. These are the people that the newspaper is writing for. It’s not to say that the newspaper should cater to the people, because sometimes the people need to hear things they don’t want to. But it all goes back to writing with confidence and assertion.

The journalists at The Miami Herald aren’t throwing out propaganda to their readers when they criticize the Venezuelan and Cuban governments. They are writing with assertion and confidence, retelling through an analysis of a new event the experiences they have had in countries that no longer value freedom of speech or freedom of the press.

I noticed that The Miami Herald was the only newspaper that I could easily find that at least posted this AP story from Caracas, Venezuela online. I’m sure that the TV stations in Miami were among the few that aired the video. Were other more “liberal” newspapers turning a blind eye, or do they just not care? Honestly, the news probably wouldn’t have caught the eye of many other newspapers’ markets.

I often wonder what professors are thinking when they talk about “conservative views” in The Miami Herald—which true Cuban-exiles like my uncle, my grandfather, etc. actually consider The Miami Herald “basura esquierdista” or leftist trash. Perception is relative.

So yes, I understand that a pro-Castro, pro-socialism, pro-Chávez individual might discard such news stories as biased garbage, but it all goes back to one major criticism that I have of the Castro government, and now more and more the Chávez government; how can any journalist not be at least slightly biased against a place where there is no freedom of speech? How can you support a government that spits in the eye of the truest of the core values of your profession? Doesn’t the term “liberal” mean valuing the rights of the individual?

Thoughts? Comments? Is anyone from The Miami Herald willing to defend their paper?

I once wrote to the editor in charge of the Che story and asked him what he thought about this very subject. He never got back to me. I guess he didn’t care what people think, but I certainly do. That’s why I’m asking these questions.

Here is a video of the Venezuelan lawmaker’s attack.

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