Analysis of the News Story about Fidel Castros Recovery - Term Paper Example

Analysis of the news story about Fidel Castro’s recovery Fidel Castro is the current president of Cuba and after 1965 when he was First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba , he started the transformation of his country into a socialistic republic. He established another system based only on one party, thing that permitted him to control everything. His personality has two sides , one is shaped inside of Cuba and the other one outlined outside Cuba, especially in relation with The United States of America. On July 31, 2006 Fidel Castro announced that he was transferring the power to Raul Castro, because of an intestinal surgery. On August 6, 2006, Castro presented a material, a letter for his people in which he was calming down the Cubans and all those who were worried for his health. This news was formed by several parts: a message , apparently written by Fidel , but read by his brother, some images with him after the surgery and the statements of some friends. The news about Fidel Castro’s recovery was a well-done Cuban story . All the foreign televisions, newspapers, radios and web-sites took over the news from the Cuban sources, or from their correspondents in this country. Cuba tried to cool down the people, showing it some images , but this news story is not objective from the beginning. Even if the objectivity is controversial(thing demonstrated by the way in which Cuban sources presented the information), the story itself is very well built. Every good news must be formed by a beginning, a middle, an end and must have an antagonist and a protagonist. Cubans also knew that drama, especially in television , sells very good and has a certain impact. From this point of view Cubans knew how to present this news to obtain a great impact from their people. The beginning is like a history , because Fidel Castro is their leader for years and the Cubans love him very much. The intrigue is his illness and the end is the latest news about his recovery. Drama also requires controversy and in his message , Castro refers to the conflict with U.S. This conflict is very well known and it started in 1960 when Cuba signed an agreement with former Soviet Union to buy oil from them, and U.S broke off diplomatic relations with the Cuban government. In the present the relations are very cold because U.S and President Bush plead for a change in the political system, for fair and democratic elections. But the Cubans don’t agree with the American intervention and because of that Fidel Castro reported on his message to the enemies, didn’t forget to mention that the troupes were ready to defend the country. I can not make up good news, because that would be unethical; and if there were bad news, these will only be of a benefit to the enemy. Given the specific situation facing Cuba and the plans designed by the empire, the information about my health condition becomes a state secret that can not be continuously disseminated; and my compatriots should understand that.(…)The important thing is that everything in our country is going on and will continue to go on very smoothly. The Revolutionary Armed Forces and the people are ready to defend the country. (…)(Fidel Castro, 2006) All these news about Fidel Castro’s recovery were meant to show the entire world that the communist period is far to be at the end. So the news comes from a very insecure and far from objective nucleus . The Cubans tried to present an objective news (they presented opinions of some leaders , a TV material, a message ,photos), but the boundary between objectivity and bias is very thin and in this case objectivity is destroyed by the bias marks. The most cited source from Cuba, regarding this story is “Granma”. It cannot be said this is fair and objective because, as it is written in its electronic edition, this newspaper belongs to the Communist Party of Cuba. Here the conflict US-Cuba is presented in many articles , besides Castro’s message . Although it is a means of the power, “Granma” seems to be a free newspaper, by encouraging readers to write their opinions. There are many letters around the world , but the strange thing is that none is against Fidel Castro or against the system. Readers cheer Fidel Castro, its involvement in the Katrina hurricane and on the other hand US, and president Bush are presented in bad terms. All the articles related to Fidel Castro’s health or to the political system have as a background two main ideas: Cubans around the world love Castro and hate America and the ones inside Cuba don’t want the Americans involvement. Another Cuban source that related about Fidel’s recovery was a web-site: Lanuevacuba. Even if it is said to be the first independent online newspaper from Cuba the information doesn’t differ too much from the “Granma” news. As a plus of objectivity they have an online chat where people can sustain their ideas. So, this news about Fidel Castro was made inside of Cuba. Objectivity implies many things, not just relating a news as the writer wants, and the bias can be very rapidly observed. The Cuban sources did not present quotes from different persons with different opinions(it seems that everyone around the globe loves Fidel Castro, and everyone believes in his good state, even if an official medical statement was not presented anywhere).A news can be considered true only when the journalist consults two or even three sources, but in this case not even one source cannot be demonstrated. Many have said that the images could have been gerrymandered and the message could have been written by someone else. An objective newspaper always allows its readers to express their opinion. “Granma “ newspaper apparently does that, and the letters for Fidel might be true , but it is very hard to believe that there was not a single message criticizing something in Cuba or doubting the veracity of Castro’s health. When a bias must be identified the author’s socio political position is very important. This detail is very well known and it is obvious that The Communist Party gained after this news: they calmed down spirits assuring people that everything was going well in the country and nothing had to be changed. The Cuban articles don’t present different points of view and they don’t have strong arguments. Another obvious bias sign is that the Cuban journalists use positive words and images to describe their opinions and negative words and images to describe other ones ideas. (thing present in every article about the conflict USA-Cuba) Visual bias is also used in the making of this news story. An image can move much more than words and this was the reason for which the Cuban television transmitted images with “El Comandante”. Many have denied their authenticity , but the newspapers from Cuba didn’t say a word about this doubt. It was important to present first the way in which Cuban newspapers and television presented the story because we had to deal with a Cuban news and there were some contradiction with the way in which other foreign newspapers presented it. B.B.C. News is a trust that took over Fidel Castro’s message . After a short summarize regarding Cuba , Fidel Castro and what happened to him, this trust presented opinions of Cubans and the position of the White House . One of the most important things highlighted was that some Cuban exiles from Miami celebrated on streets, hoping in a change now that Fidel Castro delivered power. Neither the U.S.A position , nor these rebellion manifestation were posted in the Cuban newspapers. B.B.C related all the events with the help of a correspondent , thing that made the news more objective and more credible. This trust let its readers to say their opinions and there are pros and cons messages. This, in a way assures us that the impulse ”Send us your comments “ is not only for show. Wanting to present its readers a complete and objective news B.B.C had some extra links regarding this issue: Castro’s profile, general things about Cuba, etc. B.B.C news is a major part of the B.B.C television, radio and website and it has been an objective and respected trust in the world and in the U.K. Being a U.K source they wouldn’t have anything to gain from presenting information in a certain way. We cannot accuse the online B.B.C from a visual bias: they are presenting only two photos with Fidel Castro and the other one with the president and his brother . An American web-site posted a very suggestive Cuban photo, but that could have been a way of bias, because it presented a very poor Cuban man walking in a cart, and in the background we could see a huge poster with Fidel Castro. This photo suggested that while the Cubans were very poor and walk in carts the government had money for a poster with their president. If someone could accuse that source of bias maybe others would have considered it an objective way of presenting the truth. So, the frontier is very thin and the angle from which you see the issue is very important. An American trust that took over the news about Fidel Castro and presented it was Fox News. They catalogued the Cuban news as the most optimistic since Castro got ill. Hugo Chavez’s statement was also present and they described the article from “Granma” as too succinct and obscure. The Fox News Channel is an American group formed by a web-site, T.V channel, and radio. It was criticized by the American media being suspected of presenting conservatives views more favorably than the liberal ones. In this case it is important to know that the president of the Fox News Channel is Roger Alies , a Conservative Republican and a media consultant for the G. W. Bush’s campaign. The owner’s socio-political position may lead to the conclusion that the news is in a certain way biased: it is an American source supporting the American president. Even if we have this suspicion we have to analyze things correctly. Maybe Fox News didn’t lie or do anything obviously in this respect , but they might have influenced the public. Fox News only takes over the story without consulting with a correspondent, but it cites president G. W. Bush, bringing the two sides together, showing different point of views. If the Cuban authorities were concerned about the Cubans in the U.S Fox news presented a quote from the American authorities saying that they would help Cubans in any situation. They also have external links and photos, but their bias, if there is one, it is more an allusive one that tends to inoculate de idea that Cuba might be lying about Fidel Castro’s health and about the American-Cuban conflict . This news, regarding Fidel Castro and Cuba’s state cannot be considered objective. Mainly because it is a story produced by a Communist dictatorship. The proof in this respect is the way in which the story is made up: it fits perfectly to the communist desires and wishes. For an international reader the truth is much more obvious from those living in Cuba or in America, because he reads the information with a critic eye, trying to reach the bias signs. A news cannot be totally true or totally false, but the journalist must present the facts as much objective as he can and the reader must always be attentive to bias traps. References Message sent by the commander in chief to the people of Cuba and friends from all over the world , El diario Granma, August, 1, 2006, http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2006/ing/f010806i.html Read More