COM 224T: mass media & societY
Travel Course to Cuba
Since my recent visit to Cuba, There have been many differences between the two countries, (America and Cuba), that I have taken note of. Many of these simple differences that I have noticed I never thought would actually come up in my lifetime. The first of these differences is the difference and lack of advertising concepts between the two countries. The second of the differences that I noticed were the major differences between the use of public relations and how different they are between the two nations. Lastly, the final difference between the two nations is the difference between the freedom of speech and expression in the United States and the lack of these basic rights in Cuba. All of these differences between the two nations are only a mere insight of how similar and also how different the two nations, which are less than 200 miles from each other, truly are. Upon entering the Cuban culture, there were many various differences that stood out to me compared to the American culture. The first of these differences was the drastic difference between the uses of advertising within the two cultures. When initially being immersed in the Cuban culture there was very little advertising that we saw within the airport, compared to what we are used to at home. Further within the country, we began to notice that they’re actually quite a bit of advertising within the country, however every piece of advertising that we saw had one distinct similarity. This piece that I noticed was that it was all based on propaganda and was designed to spread the governments views within the nation to their citizens. When I initially noticed this I was taken back. Within America, we have advertising for the government, but that is not the only kind of advertising that is present, unlike the Cuban culture. In America we also have ability to advertise anything that we feel is needed or important. This was such a shock for me personally that there was no advertising of private companies or advertising for products that are being sold because we are so used to constantly being surrounded with advertisements in order to make us want whatever product is being sold. The lack of advertising could be interpreted as a way for the government to keep its citizens from learning any outside information from other companies and to essentially brainwash the citizens to their strict beliefs. Within my experience this was especially noted because when attempting to browse the Internet during my stay, I noticed that several news and media outlets that are popular in America were blocked from browsing while connecting in Cuba. This could be interpreted as well as a way for the government to keep citizens from receiving any outside knowledge. In a article found based on ad age author Matthew Creamer goes on to explain the advertising in the Cuban culture: “In Cuba, there is no free media and no advertising. Billboards still dictate communistic propaganda. Cuban officials try to jam broadcasts from the U.S. and Internet penetration is under 3% and what access there is tends to be slow. Much web surfing goes on in schools and the workplace, where government monitoring is particularly easy." This quotation perfectly explains just how strict the government is with its use of advertising and access to outside media. Also when entering Cuba I noticed that they had a very different sense of public relations compared to what we are used to and how it is used in America. The use of public relations is to allow the company or government the ability to speak to the general public or the concerned party. In America almost every company and also the US government have their own public relations department to handle any issues that need to be dealt with concerning any issues that arise. Also these companies use these public relations departments to speak and give announcements to the general public about upcoming or of any issues that they may encounter. However in Cuba, this whole experience is very different. When we visited the Newspaper outlet, we were told that they are given a list of issues that they have been informed of and that they are used to try and investigate the issue. Also this is a very skewed view of public relations because in Cuba every newspaper, radio station, and TV broadcast is ran by the government. Due to this simple control, the media outlet will not speak out against the government, regardless of if they did something wrong. Essentially because they run these outlets they will not say that they are wrong, rather they will just make it out they in fact did the correct action in the given situation. This however is similar to the United States with large corporations. If a large company is a sponsor for a media outlet and the company does something wrong, they are not going to say they company is at fault, rather the PR firm is going to say that the company did nothing wrong in order to save themselves from losing critical funding for the firm. Another PR difference between Cuba and America is that government PR specialists in America “Monitor new and existing legislation, create opportunities to ensure favorable publicity, and write press releases and direct-mail letters to persuade the public of the pros and cons of new regulations”. This quote from our textbook explains the difference of how the United States government uses PR, however in Cuba PR is used very differently. This is simply because almost everything is controlled by the government and if there is a issue or something developing they are the ones that must make the press release to the general public and it is not limited to only a few topics. Because of the different forms of governing between the two countries many normal things as most Americans see them, must be handled quite differently in Cuba. The final difference between the two countries that I had noticed while I was emerged in the culture was the distinct difference of the freedoms citizens are given, especially the freedom of speech. The first time I noticed this while in Cuba was while we were with our tour guide. This situation stood out to me because I noticed that he would only be critical of the things that we encountered while we were on the bus once the doors were closed. This was very surprising to me in the beginning, but as it continued to happen I began to understand why this was always happening. Like I had said earlier, most of all the businesses in Cuba are ran or controlled by the government and if anyone heard him speaking out about how he really felt about the places that we visited, he could be considered to be speaking out against the government. Also I had noticed while exploring the newspaper facility in Cuba, they had their own “photographer”, but after observing him for a while, I began to notice that he was not actually taking photos, and the few that he did take, he was not paying any attention to. After I noticed this I became very quiet because I felt that he was actually there to monitor what the workers said to us and what we had responded to them. This became very apparent that it could be true when they began to tell us that the paper was a government run paper and their main duty in the nation was to ensure that any complaints that the government received from citizens was addressed in their paper. This is very different from the culture in the United states, because citizens here are not afraid to speak about what the feel and simply speak what is on their minds. Citizens here know that they will not get in trouble or arrested for simply speaking out about something that they do not agree with. Also according to an article from Amnesty.org, “freedom of expression can land you in jail in Cuba”. According to the short article, a graffiti artist in Cuba painting the names Raul and Fidel on the backs of two live pigs as part of an artistic performance, but before the event happened the man was arrested and held in jail for 10 months accused of contempt. This is very eye opening in America because there are people that do things like this all the time but there is rarely anything that happens to them because of the freedom of speech and expression that we are allowed. Also in another article published by The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, they explain how the freedom of speech is lacking in Cuba. They state, “Freedom of speech for Cubans is limited in a variety of ways. This includes censorship of: books, radio channels, music, movies, TV, Newspapers, and Internet. These are all basic things that we all take for granted in America and we often times don’t recognize these as “rights” but after walking into Cuba I began to notice just how censored everything is there compared to The United States. Overall I believe that this trip and experience truly made me into a much stronger and better person. While on this trip I was immersed in a country and culture that I never believed was actually real. I instantly began to notice that there were many different aspects between the two nations and that there were also many similarities. Some of these similarities and differences could actually be considered as beneficial to the people in Cuba. The main aspect that still stays with me today is simply the censorship within the small island nation. This is so breathtaking to me because of the fact that in America, there is virtually nothing that is censored, however there, almost everything is. I however considered the censorship and simple lack of cell phone service and Internet to be a blessing in disguise, because of this, everyone was much more social and no one was distracted. One thing I have always tried to do in my daily life is to “live in the moment” and while immersed in the Cuban culture I found this easier than ever because there was not much to be distracted by. I feel that the censorship in Cuba is actually a hidden blessing, which many people do not find to be as helpful. Although I like this difference that is not the same for the other two differences that I spoke of earlier. The first of these being the simple fact that the citizens and people are not allowed to express themselves in anyway that they want, and also they are not allowed to always speak their minds of how they feel without the need to worry of being thrown in jail for something that should be a human right. Lastly I do not agree with the way that the Cuban government uses Public Relations and the press to essentially cover up anything that goes wrong within the nation. This is coming from a outside perspective, but if I were a Cuban citizen, who had never left the island I would not know that they are covering up any issues that the country has and simply giving a generic response because the whole time that I would have grown up that was what I had always been told and I would feel that my country is great. This is very similar to the gentleman that we met at the radio station who said that Cuba is a threat to America because they have lived without American help for the last 59 years. To all of us standing there we did not feel Cuba to be a threat at all, but to him they are because that has been what he had been told for his entire life. I feel that taking this trip on the whim did indeed make me look at the life that I have lived and still live from a much different point of view.
Works Cited http://www.fhrcuba.org/2014/01/long-road-pursuing-cuban-freedom-speech/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/six-facts-about-censorship-in-cuba/ http://adage.com/article/hispanic-marketing/advertise-a-newly-capitalist-cuba/228082/
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