[LINK] Report: Fla. Journalists On Government Payroll

[Kim Holburn]

Yet another disturbing story from the US.

Report: Fla. Journalists On Government Payroll
http://www.local6.com/news/9812280/detail.html

> Report: Fla. Journalists On Government Payroll
>
> POSTED: 5:13 pm EDT September 8, 2006
> MIAMI -- Ten journalists, including two staffers with The Miami  
> Herald's Spanish-language sister paper, received a total of more  
> than $300,000 from the U.S. government for working on a radio and  
> TV station aimed at undermining Cuba's communist government, the  
> Herald reported Friday.
>
> Pablo Alfonso, who reported on Cuba and wrote an opinion column for  
> El Nuevo Herald, was paid almost $175,000 since 2001 by the U.S.  
> Office of Cuba Broadcasting to host shows on Radio and TV Marti,  
> according to government documents obtained by The Miami Herald.
>
> Olga Connor, a freelance reporter who wrote about Cuban culture for  
> El Nuevo Herald, received about $71,000, and staff reporter  
> Wilfredo Cancio Isla, who covered the Cuban exile community and  
> politics, was paid almost $15,000 in the last five years, The Miami  
> Herald reported.
>
> Alberto Mascaro, chief of staff of the U.S. Cuban broadcasting  
> office, confirmed to The Associated Press that all 10 journalists  
> had received payments but said he did not have the details and  
> declined to comment further.
>
> Alfonso and Cancio were fired and Connor's freelance relationship  
> with the paper was ended.
>
> Alfonso and Cancio declined to comment to the Herald. The three did  
> not respond to e-mails seeking comment sent by the AP.
>
> Jesus Diaz Jr., president of the Miami Herald Media Co. and  
> publisher of both newspapers, said the individuals violated a  
> "sacred trust" between journalists and the public.
>
> "I personally don't believe that integrity and objectivity can be  
> assured if any of our reporters receive monetary compensation from  
> any entity that he or she may cover or have covered, but  
> particularly if it's a government agency," he told the Herald.
>
> Al Tompkins, a professor at the Poynter Institute for journalism,  
> agreed that journalists are obligated to inform their employers  
> before they accept outside work and must avoid even the appearance  
> of a conflict of interest.
>
> But he added that newspapers are responsible for ensuring that  
> everyone in the newsroom understands their ethical standards.
>
> Tompkins said the Marti payments point to an institutional problem,  
> especially when taking into account a recent photo montage in El  
> Nuevo Herald. The paper later acknowledged the montage made it  
> falsely appear as if two Cuban police officers were ignoring  
> prostitutes.
>
> The AP's e-mail and phone messages for Diaz were referred to Robert  
> Beatty, Miami Herald Media's general counsel and vice president of  
> public affairs.
>
> Beatty said the papers' employees have consistently demonstrated a  
> high level of integrity, and that it is their responsibility to  
> disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest.
>
> "We have faith that our employees understand that practice and the  
> principles that underlie that practice," he said. "And when they  
> don't, we take action."
>
> He told the AP that the payments were identified in documents  
> requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
>
> Other journalists who received payments included Diario Las  
> Americas opinion page editor Helen Aguirre Ferre and reporter and  
> columnist Ariel Remos. Ferre told The Miami Herald she didn't see a  
> conflict of interest, and Remos said he enjoyed the freedom to  
> speak his opinion on the stations.
>
> Aguirre is the daughter of the paper's editor Horacio Aguirre, who  
> did not immediately return a message left Friday by the AP.
>
> Also listed as receiving more than $11,400 this year was WJAN-TV  
> reporter Manuel Cao, who got into a videotaped confrontation with  
> Cuban President Fidel Castro in July during the Mercosur Summit in  
> Argentina.
>
> During the fiery exchange, Cao questioned why Castro won't allow a  
> prominent doctor and dissident to leave Cuba.
>
> "Who pays you?" demanded Castro.
>
> "No one pays me to ask questions, that is my job," Cao yelled back.
>
> Cao's news director also received payment but did not immediately  
> return a message.
>
> The Miami journalists are not alone in receiving payments for their  
> time, said Larry Hart, spokesman for the Broadcasting Board of  
> Governors, the independent U.S. agency that overseas Radio and TV  
> Marti, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, among other groups.



--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +61 2 61258620 M: +61 417820641  F: +61 2 6230 6121
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request
Cacert Root Cert: http://www.cacert.org/cacert.crt
Aust. Spam Act: To stop receiving mail from me: reply and let me know.
Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD] http://www.saqqara.demon.co.uk/ 
datefmt.htm

Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961