18 January 2007

Reporters Without Clues?

I confess I don’t know how the newspaper business works.

…and most bloggers like to pick on reporters and what they write.

I believe Journalism is an honorable profession, a calling if you will. In a country like ours reporters have the luxury to be a little more frivolous, but when they have to, they hold the elected officials and the bad guys’ feet to the fire.

NOBODY gets away with anything.

That’s great.

BUT

This is the second time this week where the title of an article makes me drop my jaw in disbelief.

Who picks the titles? The Reporter, The editor? I honestly don’t know.

The first article that sent my head spinning was

Cuban seems to urge freer press

That title has absolutely nothing to do with reality and even less to do with what the article was about.

Ok. Today there’s this:

Cubans remain subdued about Castro's health
Cubans know that Fidel Castro may die soon, but they are keeping their reactions private.

No Kidding!
Subdued? You tend to be "subdued" when there's hundreds of AK-47's that can be pointed at you at a second's notice.

What do they think that people in a totalitarian country are going to do? Jump for joy?

The article itself is informative and very objective. It even quotes prominent dissidents, which I applaud, no, I give a standing ovation to:

''In Cuba, lots of people have seen or heard about the news reports, but comments are kept at a whisper,'' Laura Pollán, the wife of a jailed dissident, said in a telephone interview from Havana.

``People realize that [Castro] is in bad shape and wonder what will happen when he dies.''''There is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety but, as of yet, reaction does not go beyond that,'' Pollán said

''The most relevant thing is not the [El País] report itself, but the fact that the government hasn't released a single word,'' said Elizardo Sánchez, a human-rights activist in Havana. ``They don't feel obligated to inform the public.''

So what's with the titles over at the Herald?

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