Selective Commendation, Selective Indignation: Recent Media Coverage of Cuba, Emily Kirk, John Kirk and Norman Girvan
1 Comment »On March 31, representatives of over 50 governments and international organizations gathered at the United Nations Haiti Donor Conference to pledge long-term assistance for the rebuilding of Haiti. At the conference, Cuba made arguably the most ambitious and impressive pledge of all countries-to rebuild the entire National Health Service. While the efforts of other government have been praised, those of Cuba, however, have largely been ignored in the media…
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Republished versions
La reciente cobertura de Cuba en los medios:Elogios selectivos, indignación selectiva
Selective Commendation, Selective Indignation CounterPunch
Cut, Out The Selective Reporting Jamaica Observer
Media Blind to Cuba’s Haiti Effort Trinidad Express
Selective Commendation, Selective Indignation PAPDA: Haitian Platform for Development Alternatives
When I read about this of course it is disturbing that the main stream media has not given Cuba the credit they deserve. At the same time, I commend them on what they have done to help a neighbor, likely knowing full well that there would not be any fanfare or praise from others. That is the true market of an act of charity.
At the same time, the world of media has changed dramatically, even since the time this piece was written. Perhaps a social media strategy for this or similar events is more appropriate to provide the true message to the masses. One only has to look at what the likes of Facebook and Youtube have done for residence in the Middle East in the last few months.
It is much easier than ever before for the truth to be told and heard versus filtered, but that’s likely got to happen outside of the controllers of the conventional media channels.