COM 224T: mass media & societY
Travel Course to Cuba
Mass media is all around us; it’s the music we listen to, the games we play, and videos we watch. What individuals don’t often realize is how great of an influence the media plays on society. On a global scale, various media markets alter opinions of different cultures as well as change the beliefs towards different topics whether the viewer is aware of it or not. Governments of different countries employ various media tactics to alter the perception of their citizens as well as foreigners. The United States is self-proclaimed for the constituted freedom of speech and of the press that allows its citizens the independence to express themselves without restraints. Comparatively, Cuba is a country that has functioned under communism for numerous years and have numerous governmental restrictions set in place to limit said freedoms that Americans have. However, both countries demonstrate different regulations and media tactics to persuade the citizens of each country that aren’t often advertised. Through the use of public relations the governments are able to alter the perceptions of the governments as a whole through propaganda campaigns and publicity events to win the support of its citizens. The journalistic tactics in the two countries demonstrate a varied freedom of speech depending on who is financing the media outlets. Finally, the legality of various freedoms of expressions vary between the two countries where the United States experiences a freedom of expression with numerous laws in place to protect the intellectual property where as in Cuba there are multiple restraints on the society on access to the internet and freedom of expression with little to no laws protecting creative property. The field of public relations plays a large factor in the way the government of Cuba interacts with its citizens. Once entering the country it was very clear the message the government was portraying through its minimal billboards and advertisements that the government is conveying the message to support of la revolution. The propaganda is represented in the large artistic representations of revolutionary leaders such as Che Guevara portrayed on the side of various buildings and the numerous memorial billboards commemorating Fidel Castor’s legacy promoting the ideology that his principles and leadership still remains present in the identity of the Cuban people. Similarly, the Cuban governments persuade the community to support the government through the community engagement including the free Rolling Stones concert. This movement to promote a positive perspective towards the government through public relations tactics to sway the view towards supporting the government while masking various hardships that the government is not assisting the general population with; such as the lack of foods that were often times not available at restaurants or even sanitary paper. Additionally, when the class visited Radio Havana Cuba we experienced the radio station attempting to sway the interviews of classmates and of our professor to misrepresent how Americans had initially viewed Cuba before arriving in the country. The interviewer had asked if we had seen the Cuban people suffering on the streets and eating children, an exaggerated perspective of what the American people believed life in Cuba was like. Formatting the question in such a way demonstrated how the Cuban government had lead its people to believe that American’s view Cuba in such a negative light to then compare Cubans to monsters who are suffering to an extent that they feel the need to eat their young. Alternatively, the United States demonstrates a varied form of representing foreign countries as well as the American government itself through the use of public relations. Within the United States the use of public relations is better known on a cooperate level rather than towards the government as a whole. When referring to Cuba in the past, many generations were lead to believe that Cuba should be viewed as the enemy and that they live very deprived lives due to the embargo. In part, the living conditions are subpar, but the government promotes the negative attributes the country faces rather than the positives such as the entirely free health care and education at a college level as well as the foreign support Cuban doctors provide abroad. Teaching students in school that communism and socialism are strictly evil leads to the misguided views towards the beneficial practices the government exercises. Comparatively, the United States government works very hard on promoting a positive view towards government branches such as the military in foreign countries. In Central America the United States had a military ship visiting various countries to provide medical assistance to those who could not afford or have access to health care. The ships also brought a military band that would visit local town centers such as a mall in El Salvador to preform numerous classic songs popular in the US as well as numerous Spanish songs to engage the community. The stride to create a positive perspective towards the military is to demonstrate to the foreign community that the US military is not strictly war and violence is an example of the government using public relation tactics in the form of diplomatic relations to change the perspectives towards the US government. When comparing Cuban and American journalism, the prime difference is what is determined newsworthy. In Cuba the news is primarily determined by what the government wants the public to know. Radio Havana was a prime example of the government’s control over the media’s resources to inform the public, as an on-air anchor was described the process of how the radio gathered information was by demonstrating the various “leads” they are given to be able to pick and choose which stories to air. With the limited access to the Internet, the stories were merely given to the radio station rather than investigated by the journalist themselves. The filter on the journalists in Cuba creates ethnocentrism where the Cuban reporters “portray world events and cultures primarily from [Cuban] point of view” – or the view of the Cuban government wants to portray (Campbell, 490). Additionally the Cuban public has minimal privacy in regards to the Internet where the government restricts access as well as monitors what the users presence online on top of the ban on various Internet sites. The limited access to Internet and the highly filtered news outlets creates a barrier for public journalism where the news becomes more conversational and the public is able to respond to the media. The Trabajadores newspaper demonstrated an attempt on public journalism where the workers in Cuba were able to send in work complaints that would then be published in the paper in attempts to influence the government. However, because the newspaper is still governmentally funded and controlled the general public doesn’t get a direct response to the media as it would in the United States where various sites including social media expand the freedom of expression. Within the United States what is newsworthy is determined by advertisements and businesses that fund the media outlets. When an institution funds a news outlet the journalists are unlikely to report a story that demonstrates their sponsors in a negative fashion. Additionally, various news stations are politically aligned meaning they generally are targeted to democrats or republicans favoring different legislatures that are passed by the government creating various perspectives on the same topic that is being reported creating various biases that can often alter the story depending who is promoting the information. Because news media is not financed by the government there is not guaranteed funding for the business so the stories that are often reported are also decided by what is going to sell papers and get a higher audience rating. The selling of the news means that the news is more likely to promote stories that are intriguing to the audience, which often focuses on events that are out of the ordinary and including deviant behavior. The concentration of what is intriguing to the audience can often alter the perspectives of certain events such as the embargo in Cuba. American’s are often lead to believe a misrepresentation of what Cuba is actually like because of the medias promotion of negative characteristics and event that take place. The magazine OnCuba is an example of how the media creates a bias by changing a previous bias. OnCuba focuses on expanding American cooperate expansion within Cuba, focusing more on “media and entertainment, telecommunications, travel, real estate and other industries” (“About us”). However, the magazine is not permitted to be sold nor viewed in the country of Cuba due to media regulations set up by the government, which continues the deception of how the Americans are changing their perspective towards Cuba. When comparing the media directly between Cuba and the United States the primary focus is on the use of two separate models of expression; the communist or state model compared to the social responsibility model. The communist or state model is defined as the model where the state leaders control the press to serve to the goals of the state (Campbell, 548). The strong control over the media has lead to the development of a black-market for sharing foreign media such as television programs, movies, and games. Although technically illegal, the creation of el paquete has created a subculture where the creators of the package connect with a large population of the Cuban community across the country. Sharing the media around through established back channels has lead to numerous infringements of international copyright policies. Although there is no set international copyright laws set in place, each country has established laws to protect the works within each country meaning the US does not have any legal authority in foreign countries nor is the copy right office permitted to “recommend agents or attorneys or give legal advice on foreign laws”. Because of the embargo, Cuba is not susceptible to the same laws as other countries meaning the black-marketed media is open to the general community including different types of software such as the latest Adobe programs that are spread through el paquete. The Cuban government also funds the film company ICAIC that creates various animations using pirated software from the states using back channels to claim that they are paying for the programs when in actuality they are paying for outdated software rather than the software they are using. Additionally, the Cuban government employs a countrywide censorship on what is accepted to be shown over the media where nudity and negative morals are considered harmful to the younger Cuban community giving the government more control over what the general public is exposed to. An example would be the government’s censorship over anti-revolution ideals was the ban on popular music in the United States during the era of British invasion. The Beatles were considered a threat to the Cuban government during the time of the revolution where the hippie mentality was considered threatening to the revolutionary ideals the government wanted the community to share. The United States demonstrates the social responsibility model where mainstream media is independent from the government where the press served as an overseer to the government for the public. Under the constitution Americans exercise freedom of speech allowing members of the community to voice their opinions, which is very active especially with the online community. Online any individual with access to the internet can write their opinions and share it with others with similar and altering mindsets that helps develop a discussion about various political issues and creative debates. The freedom of speech also is demonstrated through the various media forms that are publicized such as music, films, books, etc. Music is a prime example of the freedom of speech where artists are free to express different opinions to a larger audience without the infringement of the government aside from copyright laws. Compared to Cuba, the United States has very strict regulations on creative property through copyright laws protecting the intellectual property someone creates. Alternatively the United States has regulations on what can be broadcasted on television as well as radio. For various television stations certain programs containing nudity or foul language are restricted to certain air times to minimalize the exposure to the younger generations. Similarly, for music songs that contain dirty words are often censored when played on the radio or altered changing the language to be more appropriate to the younger audiences. Works Cited
“About us." OnCuba. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017. http://oncubamagazine.com/about-us/. Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Betta Fabos. Media & Culture. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print. "International Copyright." U.S. Copyright Office. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017. https://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl100.html.
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