Looking through the Museo de la Revolucion in downtown Havana, tourist and Cubans alike are to be found marvelling at the artefacts, documents and antique weapons of Castro’s 1950s revolution.
The famous yacht Granma, used to bring 81 revolutionaries across the turbulent Caribbean from Mexico, has been repaired and placed in a kind of exhibit-greenhouse across the way from the museum. Visitors struggling with the Caribbean heat can climb onto a plinth and squint through at the old boat under the watchful gaze of deadly earnest young soldiers. Parked around the hulking and encased vessel are tanks, planes and military vehicles of the era. A bright red truck stands out from the rest, with ‘Rapid Delivery’ painted in English on the side. The relic is riddled with bullet holes, leaving the visitor to wonder what in fact the truck delivered with so much haste.
Curios aside, the enduring image of this place is undoubtedly the man photographed at every stage of the revolution. Battling up jungle mountain paths lugging weapons and equipment, perched atop the advancing tanks, through thick and thin, Fidel’s determined countenance never appears anything but imperious. He towers over his warriors in each grainy still: a forceful young man in black and white, commanding, indomitable, bullet-proof and immune to defeat.
Romanticised image and idealised courage have been tools shrewdly employed by the state, of course, in the great tradition of communist propaganda. Fidel, like Stalin and Mao before him, is well-versed in the cult of personality and has elevated his companeros to hero status. Che Guevara, forever the symbol of rebellious resistance - Hasta la Victoria Siempre! - and his loyal comrade Camilo Cienfuegos, are forever enshrined and immortalized in a thousand street names, statues and iconic black and whites.
More recently Cuba added Vilma Espin Galois to the pantheon of patriotic heroes. The recently-deceased President of the Federation of Cuban Women was wife to Raul Castro and active participant in the 1950s revolutionary battles. Her death marked another milestone in the passing of the Cuban old guard and the perpetuation of the national myth.
Every town in Cuba paid tribute to Vilma midway through June 2007. She was eulogised as the creator of the ‘revolution within the revolution’: a campaigner for women’s rights and guiding figure for rights and dignity within Cuba. Having played her own part in the uncertain actions of the 1950s, she later went on to establish the ‘Circulos Infantiles’, a national system of crèches where women could leave their children in care in order to work.
Amidst genuine sadness and international tributes, inside the country the familiar party propaganda machine could be felt moving into high gear. Emotionally charged documentaries were aired and powerful interviews with the common people of Cuba filmed to emphasize sorrowful solidarity. Granma, Cuba’s state-run newspaper, was given over almost in its entirety to obituary and testament, and on camera representatives of the nation mournfully extolled Vilma’s saintly qualities. Behind the shots could always be seen hundreds upon hundreds of grief-stricken people, filing past as one to pay tribute and lay flowers.
Moments like this demonstrate how anachronistic Cuba has survived thus far in a world of consumerism and democracy. The leaders, be they dead or fast aging, have been carefully portrayed as benign and shining role models, impossibly heroic. Duty, sacrifice and solidarity have become the binding concrete of the nation state. But as admirable as these values may be, the overall sense is of a nation stuck socially and politically in another age. As such, it is a model surely doomed to a sad demise.
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Monday, 17 September 2007
Down the Garden Path
The case of missing Madeleine McCann has taken another dramatic twist with the naming of her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, as formal suspects. The development has brought shock and confusion to press and public alike and now, whatever the outcome, a price will have to be paid.
Until 6 September the human interest story of the summer, so beloved by the tabloids, was getting less and less coverage. The three-year old who went missing from the family’s holiday villa in Portugal on 3 May was the subject of an unprecedented campaign created by her parents. Massive media interest and public sympathy as a result meant hundreds of thousands of pounds donated to the Find Madeleine (Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd) fund. Car windows, local shops, national supermarkets, international airports and the mass media were enlisted at every opportunity, issuing appeals and using striking ‘Find Maddie’ posters. The new British Prime Minister and even Pope Benedict XVI publicly offered their consolation and messages of hope to the McCanns.
In many ways the story was made for the British press: small defenceless blonde child of hard-working respectable British parents goes missing in foreign location, with the shadowy suggestion of a paedophile attack. Horror and heartstrings sell papers, so we were bombarded with pictures of ‘Maddie’ and offers of thousands of pounds in reward for information.
Recent events, however, have changed the tone. The outpouring of sympathy and good will towards the McCanns is now suddenly replaced by a more circumspect approach. Kay Burley of Sky News quickly replaced her emotional and somewhat obnoxious ‘find missing Maddie’ epithet with a rather more foreboding ‘missing Madeleine McCann case.’
Since the 12-hour questioning of Kate McCann and subsequent announcement of both parents as ‘arguidos’ or formal suspects, the reaction of the media has changed from vote of sympathy to outright feeding frenzy. Massive mobs of reporters have camped outside the respective McCann residences in the resort town of Praia da Luz and the McCann’s home town of Rothley, Leicestershire. The McCanns, for their part have described the situation as “surreal, unbearable…an unending nightmare.”
To date Portuguese ‘sources’ have revealed that tests on DNA material allegedly found in the McCann hire-car have tested an 88% positive match for Madeleine. And amid repeated speculation, the BBC learned yesterday that the Portuguese police indeed got hold of a laptop belonging to Gerry McCann, and ‘a copy’ of Kate McCann’s diary. The Portuguese prosecutor based in Portimao has now handed a dossier of evidence to a judge who reportedly has 10 days to consider whether to bring a case.
The few confirmed developments have fuelled wild speculation in the press. Theories include the idea that the body was dumped by the parents after Madeleine was given an overdose of sleeping pills which killed her, accidentally or otherwise. Another postulation suggests that the Portuguese police bungled the forensic collection of the DNA material from the car, somehow cross-contaminating the vehicle from material they had collected previously. Some Portuguese newspapers have been reporting on the quality of parenting Madeleine may have received, alleging that Kate McCann seems ‘cold’ and that her diary contained passages where she described how ‘hyperactive’ her children were in the events leading up to the disappearance.
Few offices and pub conversations can have escaped the morbid fascination as we argue for and against the people in the middle of all of this. Jonathan Freedland described the widespread moral confusion in Wednesday’s Guardian:
“…the McCanns have now either suffered the cruellest fate imaginable - not only to have innocently lost their beloved daughter but also to have been publicly accused of a wicked crime - or they are guilty of the most elaborate and heinous confidence trick in history…”
It is now very hard to see anything positive coming from this case, however it may end. If the parents are found guilty, somehow our British values and trust itself will have taken a public battering. If they are found guilty unsatisfactorily, or it emerges the Portuguese police have bungled or -God forbid- framed the McCanns, how will Britain react to Portugal?
The proper job of the press, given the current situation, is to report only the facts and respect the McCanns as they approach what appears to be their most serious trial yet. We need balanced, non-hysterical reporting although what we will get may well be quite the opposite.
Until 6 September the human interest story of the summer, so beloved by the tabloids, was getting less and less coverage. The three-year old who went missing from the family’s holiday villa in Portugal on 3 May was the subject of an unprecedented campaign created by her parents. Massive media interest and public sympathy as a result meant hundreds of thousands of pounds donated to the Find Madeleine (Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd) fund. Car windows, local shops, national supermarkets, international airports and the mass media were enlisted at every opportunity, issuing appeals and using striking ‘Find Maddie’ posters. The new British Prime Minister and even Pope Benedict XVI publicly offered their consolation and messages of hope to the McCanns.
In many ways the story was made for the British press: small defenceless blonde child of hard-working respectable British parents goes missing in foreign location, with the shadowy suggestion of a paedophile attack. Horror and heartstrings sell papers, so we were bombarded with pictures of ‘Maddie’ and offers of thousands of pounds in reward for information.
Recent events, however, have changed the tone. The outpouring of sympathy and good will towards the McCanns is now suddenly replaced by a more circumspect approach. Kay Burley of Sky News quickly replaced her emotional and somewhat obnoxious ‘find missing Maddie’ epithet with a rather more foreboding ‘missing Madeleine McCann case.’
Since the 12-hour questioning of Kate McCann and subsequent announcement of both parents as ‘arguidos’ or formal suspects, the reaction of the media has changed from vote of sympathy to outright feeding frenzy. Massive mobs of reporters have camped outside the respective McCann residences in the resort town of Praia da Luz and the McCann’s home town of Rothley, Leicestershire. The McCanns, for their part have described the situation as “surreal, unbearable…an unending nightmare.”
To date Portuguese ‘sources’ have revealed that tests on DNA material allegedly found in the McCann hire-car have tested an 88% positive match for Madeleine. And amid repeated speculation, the BBC learned yesterday that the Portuguese police indeed got hold of a laptop belonging to Gerry McCann, and ‘a copy’ of Kate McCann’s diary. The Portuguese prosecutor based in Portimao has now handed a dossier of evidence to a judge who reportedly has 10 days to consider whether to bring a case.
The few confirmed developments have fuelled wild speculation in the press. Theories include the idea that the body was dumped by the parents after Madeleine was given an overdose of sleeping pills which killed her, accidentally or otherwise. Another postulation suggests that the Portuguese police bungled the forensic collection of the DNA material from the car, somehow cross-contaminating the vehicle from material they had collected previously. Some Portuguese newspapers have been reporting on the quality of parenting Madeleine may have received, alleging that Kate McCann seems ‘cold’ and that her diary contained passages where she described how ‘hyperactive’ her children were in the events leading up to the disappearance.
Few offices and pub conversations can have escaped the morbid fascination as we argue for and against the people in the middle of all of this. Jonathan Freedland described the widespread moral confusion in Wednesday’s Guardian:
“…the McCanns have now either suffered the cruellest fate imaginable - not only to have innocently lost their beloved daughter but also to have been publicly accused of a wicked crime - or they are guilty of the most elaborate and heinous confidence trick in history…”
It is now very hard to see anything positive coming from this case, however it may end. If the parents are found guilty, somehow our British values and trust itself will have taken a public battering. If they are found guilty unsatisfactorily, or it emerges the Portuguese police have bungled or -God forbid- framed the McCanns, how will Britain react to Portugal?
The proper job of the press, given the current situation, is to report only the facts and respect the McCanns as they approach what appears to be their most serious trial yet. We need balanced, non-hysterical reporting although what we will get may well be quite the opposite.
Sunday, 9 September 2007
The Joys of Travelling by Train
Some good, some bad and some ugly this week from the world of train travel.
From Monday the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport called strikes on the London underground network which prompted bitter recrimination in the London press and from politicians. Gordon Brown labelled the strikes ''wholly unjustified'' and the shadow secretary for Transport Theresa Villiers remarked, "They are just trying to throw their weight around and London commuters are the people who will suffer." Letters poured into the News International-owned London Paper condemning the carnage, and mirroring the popular political point as stations were closed and thousands of Londoners jammed onto buses :
"Sack all those on strike. They don't deserve their jobs after not only the inconvenience but also the danger they've put people in – crushing, commuters and staff getting violent, I could go on and on. If I didn't go into work, I wouldn't get work in my industry again!" (Laura from Ealing)
"I understand the strikers' fears but we all risk losing our jobs in life. They shouldn't prevent millions of Londoners from doing theirs! Holding the capital at ransom is selfish and wrong. Let's hope they don't do it again next week!" (Alexa from Fulham)
However, it wasn't all one sided with some contributors citing as reasons both the mismanagement of Metronet and the rights of workers to protect their interests through action.
Metronet operated the bulk of the London underground lines until going into administration in July. Union members voted for strike action after failing to receive "unequivocal guarantees" over jobs, forced transfers and pension rights. In the words of one Transport for London employee, ''They are worried about their pensions. This has become political. So far they have only got the assurances from a man in a suit, nothing written down...it could mean the difference between getting a pension of £1000 and only £60-70 a week.''
The beginning of last week was transport chaos throughout the capital but happily negotiations have made some progress and strikes planned for next week have been cancelled. London awaits the outcome.
Grim findings for Network Rail, which will undergo a dramatic review of track maintenance procedures. This follows the findings of the investigation into the Grayrigg train derailment of February which killed one and resulted in another 20 injured. It was found that a broken set of points and missing spacer bars, not picked up on routine checks carried out by the company, were the culprits for sending Virgin Pendolino London-Glasgow off the track and down an embankment. Network Rail publicly admitted this week to "poorly planned and poorly managed" changes to local track inspections, track patrollers and supervisor's lack of co-ordination and lapsed safety certification for some track inspectors.
More travel misery also for 19 year old student Kathleen Jennings, taken to court for having been caught with her feet on the seat travelling on a Merseyrail train. The magistrate in question, having given the tearful Ms Jennings an absolute discharge, pointed out that perhaps a less draconian method could be employed to penalise offenders who put their foot in it. Her father, Tony, a former JCB driver, said of the affair: "It is ridiculous. They just pick on the easy targets. If it was a 6ft yob who had told them to eff off, they would not have been here today."
Ending on a lighter note, Paris has just become closer. The Eurostar, operating on its new high-speed line between Paris' Gare du Nord and the revamped London St Pancras, recorded a new fastest time of 2 hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds. When the line is open to the public from November 14 it is expected that passengers will be able to travel from London to Lille in 1 hour 20, London to Brussels in 1 hour 51 and London to the City of Light in 2 hours 15. Richard Brown, CEO of Eurostar celebrated, "It's as quick and more frequent [as flying] and we will be matching airline prices." Good news if you live in London then, not so good for those hailing from more provincial parts.
From Monday the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport called strikes on the London underground network which prompted bitter recrimination in the London press and from politicians. Gordon Brown labelled the strikes ''wholly unjustified'' and the shadow secretary for Transport Theresa Villiers remarked, "They are just trying to throw their weight around and London commuters are the people who will suffer." Letters poured into the News International-owned London Paper condemning the carnage, and mirroring the popular political point as stations were closed and thousands of Londoners jammed onto buses :
"Sack all those on strike. They don't deserve their jobs after not only the inconvenience but also the danger they've put people in – crushing, commuters and staff getting violent, I could go on and on. If I didn't go into work, I wouldn't get work in my industry again!" (Laura from Ealing)
"I understand the strikers' fears but we all risk losing our jobs in life. They shouldn't prevent millions of Londoners from doing theirs! Holding the capital at ransom is selfish and wrong. Let's hope they don't do it again next week!" (Alexa from Fulham)
However, it wasn't all one sided with some contributors citing as reasons both the mismanagement of Metronet and the rights of workers to protect their interests through action.
Metronet operated the bulk of the London underground lines until going into administration in July. Union members voted for strike action after failing to receive "unequivocal guarantees" over jobs, forced transfers and pension rights. In the words of one Transport for London employee, ''They are worried about their pensions. This has become political. So far they have only got the assurances from a man in a suit, nothing written down...it could mean the difference between getting a pension of £1000 and only £60-70 a week.''
The beginning of last week was transport chaos throughout the capital but happily negotiations have made some progress and strikes planned for next week have been cancelled. London awaits the outcome.
Grim findings for Network Rail, which will undergo a dramatic review of track maintenance procedures. This follows the findings of the investigation into the Grayrigg train derailment of February which killed one and resulted in another 20 injured. It was found that a broken set of points and missing spacer bars, not picked up on routine checks carried out by the company, were the culprits for sending Virgin Pendolino London-Glasgow off the track and down an embankment. Network Rail publicly admitted this week to "poorly planned and poorly managed" changes to local track inspections, track patrollers and supervisor's lack of co-ordination and lapsed safety certification for some track inspectors.
More travel misery also for 19 year old student Kathleen Jennings, taken to court for having been caught with her feet on the seat travelling on a Merseyrail train. The magistrate in question, having given the tearful Ms Jennings an absolute discharge, pointed out that perhaps a less draconian method could be employed to penalise offenders who put their foot in it. Her father, Tony, a former JCB driver, said of the affair: "It is ridiculous. They just pick on the easy targets. If it was a 6ft yob who had told them to eff off, they would not have been here today."
Ending on a lighter note, Paris has just become closer. The Eurostar, operating on its new high-speed line between Paris' Gare du Nord and the revamped London St Pancras, recorded a new fastest time of 2 hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds. When the line is open to the public from November 14 it is expected that passengers will be able to travel from London to Lille in 1 hour 20, London to Brussels in 1 hour 51 and London to the City of Light in 2 hours 15. Richard Brown, CEO of Eurostar celebrated, "It's as quick and more frequent [as flying] and we will be matching airline prices." Good news if you live in London then, not so good for those hailing from more provincial parts.
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
Burning Ambitions
Towards the end of August large parts of Greece have been reduced to ash by raging forest fires, but not just the climate is to blame for the conflagration.
Extreme weather conditions are making the news like never before. Hurricane Dean, billed as potentially one of the largest and most destructive tropical storms in living memory, mercifully missed the Mexican tourist resorts of Cancun and Cozumel last week but still left a death toll of 13 in the Caribbean. The UK news agenda has been dominated by the floods this summer which have left around 3000 people homeless and caused millions in damage. Also this week we have seen painful memories and renewed accusations leveled at the US government at the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The devastation in New Orleans left a staggering 1600 people dead in the USA in August 2006.
This week, attention has shifted to Greece where startling summer temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius combined with windy and drought conditions have fuelled widespread forest fires resulting in the deaths of 63 people. Press reports have focused on the popular fury which is directed firmly towards the government as a result of perceived failures in dealing with the crisis. But is it fair to squarely blame ministers, or is this just more evidence that our changing climate signifies a future more fraught?
The fires in Greece have raged over a devastatingly wide area. The Peloponnese Peninsula has been the main focus of the over 120 fire centres but also the eastern island of Evia has been particularly heavily hit. On the mainland, the capital itself has been beating back the flames along with areas surrounding ancient Olympia and towns towards the south. Flame fronts, driven by the wind and aided by tinderbox dry conditions are still proving incredibly difficult to put out and quickly become unmanageable for the teams still struggling to gain the upper hand.
The government, quickly overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, within days requested aid from European Union countries. Fire fighting crews and planes capable of dropping vast amounts of water on the fires were brought in from EU and neighbouring countries. Emergency aid packages totaling some 72 million euros was made available to around 20,000 people this week, and yet scarcely had the money been distributed that 15 people were arrested on suspicion of making fraudulent claims for the aid money. Widespread criticism of the government’s handling of the crisis culminated in Wednesday’s protest in Athens attended by thousands of people, placing increasing pressure on the Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, who faces re-election next month.
Criticism is to be expected from people who have seen their entire communities devastated by fire. It is claimed the government response was far too slow in getting going and in many cases came too late for people who were literally driven from their homes by the encroaching inferno. The Greek government for its part claimed that the scale and sheer number of fires left it with few options. Furthermore it claimed there was the strong possibility of arson in many cases. In several news items the so called ‘culture of arson’ was discussed: ruthless property developers blamed for setting the fires in order to exploit the land set aside for conservation and parkland.
Something given little attention in press coverage this week is that the intentional clearing of land by fire is nothing new in Greece. Laws mean wooded lands may be legally protected whereas those areas without trees suffer fewer constraints. For years, unscrupulous individuals -not necessarily large-scale developers- have employed this method as a way of reclaiming land. Before this record-breaking summer, it was a common practice for those wishing to increase their holdings: set a fire, profess ignorance to the authorities and then develop once the land is cleared.
It may well prove that arsonists operating under the motivation of profit unwittingly threw the spark to the disaster waiting to happen, but authorities in Greece must now respond to a changing world living with the effects of global warming. As was painfully apparent with Hurricane Katrina in the States, the Greek contingency plan proved inadequate to deal with the extent and the nature of the August fires. In Greece it needs to be recognized that conditions are changing but also that the greed of individuals must in some way be dealt with. Complacence of both citizens and government towards the ambitions of those at the root of this problem must end in order to avoid another disaster on this scale. It remains to be seen whether politicians will pay the price in Greece and, more widely, whether nations can learn to adapt to ever more unsettled natural environments.
Extreme weather conditions are making the news like never before. Hurricane Dean, billed as potentially one of the largest and most destructive tropical storms in living memory, mercifully missed the Mexican tourist resorts of Cancun and Cozumel last week but still left a death toll of 13 in the Caribbean. The UK news agenda has been dominated by the floods this summer which have left around 3000 people homeless and caused millions in damage. Also this week we have seen painful memories and renewed accusations leveled at the US government at the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The devastation in New Orleans left a staggering 1600 people dead in the USA in August 2006.
This week, attention has shifted to Greece where startling summer temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius combined with windy and drought conditions have fuelled widespread forest fires resulting in the deaths of 63 people. Press reports have focused on the popular fury which is directed firmly towards the government as a result of perceived failures in dealing with the crisis. But is it fair to squarely blame ministers, or is this just more evidence that our changing climate signifies a future more fraught?
The fires in Greece have raged over a devastatingly wide area. The Peloponnese Peninsula has been the main focus of the over 120 fire centres but also the eastern island of Evia has been particularly heavily hit. On the mainland, the capital itself has been beating back the flames along with areas surrounding ancient Olympia and towns towards the south. Flame fronts, driven by the wind and aided by tinderbox dry conditions are still proving incredibly difficult to put out and quickly become unmanageable for the teams still struggling to gain the upper hand.
The government, quickly overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, within days requested aid from European Union countries. Fire fighting crews and planes capable of dropping vast amounts of water on the fires were brought in from EU and neighbouring countries. Emergency aid packages totaling some 72 million euros was made available to around 20,000 people this week, and yet scarcely had the money been distributed that 15 people were arrested on suspicion of making fraudulent claims for the aid money. Widespread criticism of the government’s handling of the crisis culminated in Wednesday’s protest in Athens attended by thousands of people, placing increasing pressure on the Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, who faces re-election next month.
Criticism is to be expected from people who have seen their entire communities devastated by fire. It is claimed the government response was far too slow in getting going and in many cases came too late for people who were literally driven from their homes by the encroaching inferno. The Greek government for its part claimed that the scale and sheer number of fires left it with few options. Furthermore it claimed there was the strong possibility of arson in many cases. In several news items the so called ‘culture of arson’ was discussed: ruthless property developers blamed for setting the fires in order to exploit the land set aside for conservation and parkland.
Something given little attention in press coverage this week is that the intentional clearing of land by fire is nothing new in Greece. Laws mean wooded lands may be legally protected whereas those areas without trees suffer fewer constraints. For years, unscrupulous individuals -not necessarily large-scale developers- have employed this method as a way of reclaiming land. Before this record-breaking summer, it was a common practice for those wishing to increase their holdings: set a fire, profess ignorance to the authorities and then develop once the land is cleared.
It may well prove that arsonists operating under the motivation of profit unwittingly threw the spark to the disaster waiting to happen, but authorities in Greece must now respond to a changing world living with the effects of global warming. As was painfully apparent with Hurricane Katrina in the States, the Greek contingency plan proved inadequate to deal with the extent and the nature of the August fires. In Greece it needs to be recognized that conditions are changing but also that the greed of individuals must in some way be dealt with. Complacence of both citizens and government towards the ambitions of those at the root of this problem must end in order to avoid another disaster on this scale. It remains to be seen whether politicians will pay the price in Greece and, more widely, whether nations can learn to adapt to ever more unsettled natural environments.
Sunday, 26 August 2007
Hold the Front Page!
Recent tragedies have highlighted continuing problems in society, but the massive overreaction by the media will only confuse the situation and exacerbate the problem.
The cases of Madeleine McCann and this week Rhys Jones have been propelled into the public consciousness. The media-endorsed campaign to 'find Maddie' came complete with exhaustive coverage of every minute-by-minute development. Posters were installed in international airports and promises of massive awards pledged by rich persons of note. Yesterday we were witness to the undeniably moving but nevertheless spectacle-like quality of the Jones' family's appearance at Goodison Park before Everton's home game.
Also this week a number of figures have come out and criticised media coverage as excessive and damaging, not least Gerry McCann in his speech yesterday at the Edinburgh Television Festival. So, are we the subject to ever increasing sensationalization and what might be the effects of a media with an increasing tendency to emphasize emotion over hard facts and views over news?
Shock value and emotional appeals for action have come to dominate certain parts of the British media. One of Tony Blair's parting shots at his last Labour conference was aimed directly at the media, his now infamous 'feral beast' speech highlighting the falling standards and lack of reliability in the press. He discusses:
''...a media that increasingly and to a dangerous degree is driven by "impact". Impact is what matters. It is all that can distinguish, can rise above the clamour, can get noticed. Impact gives competitive edge. Of course the accuracy of a story counts. But it is secondary to impact. It is this necessary devotion to impact that is unravelling standards, driving them down, making the diversity of the media not the strength it should be but an impulsion towards sensation above all else. ''
Upon publicisation of the speech, inevitable criticisms from media outlets were levelled interestingly on Blair himself, not the overall subject of his speech.
Jeremy Paxman has also weighed in this week with criticisms of availability of stories over gravity of content and what he referred to as the ''media circus''. The coverage of Paris Hilton over the flooding in the UK was highlighted alongside the massive gathering in Portugal's Algarve over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Of that Paxman said: "everyone was there because everyone else was there", and, "at times like this, when the television hurricane hits a story, it too often sucks good sense and consideration out of the brains of those involved."
Which brings us back onto Gerry McCann himself, this week saying how unpleasant the massive media interest had become and how it was not necessary for the media to "bombard people on a daily basis with Madeleine's image".
In the light of such views Mr Blair, Paxman and McCann must be prepared to field some criticism regarding their own shrewd use of the press. However, the claims ring true and much is at stake. Editorial choices and the setting of the news agenda now broadly define daily life in the UK and furthermore is coming to have an increasing effect on our leaders. TV news editors work viewers into a frenzy and then demand politicians' or police action with immediate effect. Faced with the daunting prospect of going in the face of such popular outcry, leaders are bound to make snap decisions and implement scarcely-considered laws that will in the end affect all of us. An argument therefore must now be made for a full debate on the accountability of the press in public life.
The cases of Madeleine McCann and this week Rhys Jones have been propelled into the public consciousness. The media-endorsed campaign to 'find Maddie' came complete with exhaustive coverage of every minute-by-minute development. Posters were installed in international airports and promises of massive awards pledged by rich persons of note. Yesterday we were witness to the undeniably moving but nevertheless spectacle-like quality of the Jones' family's appearance at Goodison Park before Everton's home game.
Also this week a number of figures have come out and criticised media coverage as excessive and damaging, not least Gerry McCann in his speech yesterday at the Edinburgh Television Festival. So, are we the subject to ever increasing sensationalization and what might be the effects of a media with an increasing tendency to emphasize emotion over hard facts and views over news?
Shock value and emotional appeals for action have come to dominate certain parts of the British media. One of Tony Blair's parting shots at his last Labour conference was aimed directly at the media, his now infamous 'feral beast' speech highlighting the falling standards and lack of reliability in the press. He discusses:
''...a media that increasingly and to a dangerous degree is driven by "impact". Impact is what matters. It is all that can distinguish, can rise above the clamour, can get noticed. Impact gives competitive edge. Of course the accuracy of a story counts. But it is secondary to impact. It is this necessary devotion to impact that is unravelling standards, driving them down, making the diversity of the media not the strength it should be but an impulsion towards sensation above all else. ''
Upon publicisation of the speech, inevitable criticisms from media outlets were levelled interestingly on Blair himself, not the overall subject of his speech.
Jeremy Paxman has also weighed in this week with criticisms of availability of stories over gravity of content and what he referred to as the ''media circus''. The coverage of Paris Hilton over the flooding in the UK was highlighted alongside the massive gathering in Portugal's Algarve over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Of that Paxman said: "everyone was there because everyone else was there", and, "at times like this, when the television hurricane hits a story, it too often sucks good sense and consideration out of the brains of those involved."
Which brings us back onto Gerry McCann himself, this week saying how unpleasant the massive media interest had become and how it was not necessary for the media to "bombard people on a daily basis with Madeleine's image".
In the light of such views Mr Blair, Paxman and McCann must be prepared to field some criticism regarding their own shrewd use of the press. However, the claims ring true and much is at stake. Editorial choices and the setting of the news agenda now broadly define daily life in the UK and furthermore is coming to have an increasing effect on our leaders. TV news editors work viewers into a frenzy and then demand politicians' or police action with immediate effect. Faced with the daunting prospect of going in the face of such popular outcry, leaders are bound to make snap decisions and implement scarcely-considered laws that will in the end affect all of us. An argument therefore must now be made for a full debate on the accountability of the press in public life.
Friday, 27 July 2007
Cuba part two: Revolution!
The story of the Cuban revolution is one you couldn't make up. Fidel Castro Ruz, a young student radical, organises his first strike against the corrupt pro-American regime of Batista on 23rd of July 1953 at the Moncada barracks near Santiago de Cuba. After the raid, which goes disastrously wrong, Castro escapes but is eventually captured and hauled before a military court where instead of meeting his end he delivers the now famous 'History will absolve me' speech:
'' I warn you, I am just beginning! If there is in your hearts a vestige of love for your country, love for humanity, love for justice, listen carefully... I know that the regime will try to suppress the truth by all possible means; I know that there will be a conspiracy to bury me in oblivion. But my voice will not be stifled – it will rise from my breast even when I feel most alone, and my heart will give it all the fire that callous cowards deny it... Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me. ''
What should have been a routine trial and sentence of death is turned into a defining moment by the legally-trained Castro. Sentenced to prison for 15 years, Castro and his immediate entourage devoted themselves to planning further the revolution. Released after 2 years through political amnesty, Castro, fearing assassination flees to Mexico where he begins in earnest his preparations for war. Here he meets for the first time Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, and prepares to cross the Caribbean. A recreational yacht, the Granma, is used to take 81 revolutionaries over to Cuba from Tuxpan in Mexico.
Again disaster strikes at the landing. Che Guevara later referred to the revolutionaries' arrival as ''not as a landing, but a shipwreck.'' Attacked and dispersed, and sustaining heavy losses the remaining revolutionaries are forced to take to the Sierra Maestra mountains to seek shelter and regroup. There Castro begins to transmit radio messages to the population advocating the downfall of Batista and gathering supporters in preparation for the breakout. Finally, by 1 January 1959, Castro's guerrillas had won several important victories, overwhelming Batista's weakening troops and removing the dictator himself. From the point of defeat Castro managed yet another momentous reverse, this time leading to the formation of his new government: a government that this time, owed nothing to no-one.
'' I warn you, I am just beginning! If there is in your hearts a vestige of love for your country, love for humanity, love for justice, listen carefully... I know that the regime will try to suppress the truth by all possible means; I know that there will be a conspiracy to bury me in oblivion. But my voice will not be stifled – it will rise from my breast even when I feel most alone, and my heart will give it all the fire that callous cowards deny it... Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me. ''
What should have been a routine trial and sentence of death is turned into a defining moment by the legally-trained Castro. Sentenced to prison for 15 years, Castro and his immediate entourage devoted themselves to planning further the revolution. Released after 2 years through political amnesty, Castro, fearing assassination flees to Mexico where he begins in earnest his preparations for war. Here he meets for the first time Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, and prepares to cross the Caribbean. A recreational yacht, the Granma, is used to take 81 revolutionaries over to Cuba from Tuxpan in Mexico.
Again disaster strikes at the landing. Che Guevara later referred to the revolutionaries' arrival as ''not as a landing, but a shipwreck.'' Attacked and dispersed, and sustaining heavy losses the remaining revolutionaries are forced to take to the Sierra Maestra mountains to seek shelter and regroup. There Castro begins to transmit radio messages to the population advocating the downfall of Batista and gathering supporters in preparation for the breakout. Finally, by 1 January 1959, Castro's guerrillas had won several important victories, overwhelming Batista's weakening troops and removing the dictator himself. From the point of defeat Castro managed yet another momentous reverse, this time leading to the formation of his new government: a government that this time, owed nothing to no-one.
Sunday, 22 July 2007
Cuba, part one: Die Hard With A Vengeance
Fidel Castro, at almost 81 years of age, having been in charge of the Cuban state for almost 50 years (the world's longest serving political leader) is still breathing fire. Below is a translated extract from his radio discourse to the people of Cuba,17 June 2007. It is entitled ''No Tendran jamas a Cuba!'' (''They will never have Cuba!'')
'' In spite of everything, we will keep growing the necessary and possible means.
'Liberty costs a great deal and it is necessary to buy it at the price it costs or [if not,] resign oneself to living without it', said Marti [a revered figure of the 19th century Cuban wars for Independence].
'Whoever tries to appropriate Cuba will pick up the dust of its earth drenched in [their] blood, if they don't perish in the attempt', proclaimed Maceo [another revolutionary figure].
We are not the first revolutionaries to think this way! And we won't be the last!
A man can be bought, but never a people.
For many years I have survived, through luck, the killing machines of the [North American]empire. Soon it will be one year since I became ill, and when I was between life and death I expressed in the Proclamation of the 31st of July, 2006:
''I do not harbour the least doubt that our people and our revolution will fight until the last drop of blood.''
Do no doubt it, Mr Bush!
I assure you that you will never have Cuba! ''
So much for the notion of feeble old age. One can almost imagine Fidel, in an imaginary US invasion, strapped to a heavy machine gun opposite the beach head, blasting away at the terrified Marines until he was removed by a tactical Patriot missile strike.
Against all odds socialist Cuba has survived the nineties and trudges on in the new century, beleaguered yet seemingly resolute. Yet it is hard to countenance the project having functioned even half as long as it has done without the devastating force that is Fidel. He is the be-all and end-all of the continuing Cuban revolution. Forget Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, Raul Castro, and the Soviet Union: it was the charisma of one remarkable man that provided the dynamo for a society standing apart.
'' In spite of everything, we will keep growing the necessary and possible means.
'Liberty costs a great deal and it is necessary to buy it at the price it costs or [if not,] resign oneself to living without it', said Marti [a revered figure of the 19th century Cuban wars for Independence].
'Whoever tries to appropriate Cuba will pick up the dust of its earth drenched in [their] blood, if they don't perish in the attempt', proclaimed Maceo [another revolutionary figure].
We are not the first revolutionaries to think this way! And we won't be the last!
A man can be bought, but never a people.
For many years I have survived, through luck, the killing machines of the [North American]empire. Soon it will be one year since I became ill, and when I was between life and death I expressed in the Proclamation of the 31st of July, 2006:
''I do not harbour the least doubt that our people and our revolution will fight until the last drop of blood.''
Do no doubt it, Mr Bush!
I assure you that you will never have Cuba! ''
So much for the notion of feeble old age. One can almost imagine Fidel, in an imaginary US invasion, strapped to a heavy machine gun opposite the beach head, blasting away at the terrified Marines until he was removed by a tactical Patriot missile strike.
Against all odds socialist Cuba has survived the nineties and trudges on in the new century, beleaguered yet seemingly resolute. Yet it is hard to countenance the project having functioned even half as long as it has done without the devastating force that is Fidel. He is the be-all and end-all of the continuing Cuban revolution. Forget Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, Raul Castro, and the Soviet Union: it was the charisma of one remarkable man that provided the dynamo for a society standing apart.
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