Perfecting the role of the press

By María Josefina Arce

Cuban Press Day finds the workers of the sector engaged in the preparations for their Eleventh Congress, which will take place in Havana next July, and which is preceded by intense debates on present and future challenges, in view of the country's complex economic situation and the constant media attacks against Cuba.

In eastern Cuba, last January, a critical analysis began on how much can be done to improve the role of the press to inform with transparency, immediacy, and that what is published is in accordance with what we live, with the concerns of the people, to whom we owe ourselves.

But also, to strengthen the defense of our sovereignty. And on this path, the battle being waged on social networks, used by some to distort the revolution and incite hatred and violent actions, create chaos in the country, and justify the unjustifiable, an intervention, is of vital importance.

The historic leader of the revolution, Fidel Castro, described journalists as an army of the revolution, and the fact is that the media war against Cuba is not a new phenomenon, nor of the present times, it has been present since the revolutionary triumph itself, even before when the big media in the United States fabricated false information about the counter-offensive that was developing in the Sierra Maestra against the bloody dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

But the advance of new information technologies has made the panorama more complex, that is why the constant preparation of professionals in the sector, to help in the face of material shortages, is a necessity that has been expressed in the various meetings held in the national territory, in preparation for the July meeting.

Hence, the aim is to encourage research and the strengthening of alliances for the benefit of the training of the workers of the written, radio, television and digital press in order to continue gaining space and also respond to the demands of the population, which is to be more involved.

The task is not easy, the whole strategy has been drawn up from and by the United States, which as everyone knows controls the big transnational media companies and finances the so-called independent media.

The Cuban press has also been the target of these attacks. Accounts associated with journalists and media have been blocked by the social network Twitter, which has also labeled them as affiliated to the government, in an action of censorship and stigmatization.

In the midst of all this panorama, the Cuban press is going through the necessary transformation of its work to provide a product that, without losing its essence of truthful information, is more innovative, in accordance with the current scenario and with the demands of the citizenry.

It is also committed to new models of editorial and economic management, which will better position our media, be closer to their audiences, while sustainable from the economic sphere.

The next congress of the Union of Cuban Journalists of will be a good opportunity to go to the necessary renewal of the press, without losing its social role and defense of the revolution.