COM 224T: mass media & societY
Travel Course to Cuba
Our trip to Cuba began on March 4, 2017. Looking out of the window as our plane touched down, the first thing I noticed were all of the old cars on the street below. When first arriving to Cuba, it almost felt very similar to Tampa but upon closer inspection it was vastly different. The air and the sun felt different. At the airport there were people everywhere speaking Spanish and the atmosphere felt nice. This was when we first met our tour guide Reiko, who worked with the local CIEE program. One of the first things you may notice about Cuba is that American currency is not used in any shape or form. That was one of the factors that helps you to remember that you’re in a completely different place than before. We left the airport and boarded a tour bus that would be one of our modes of transportation (besides walking of course). Reiko gave us a brief introduction and so did we and I think that helped to ease everyone's minds. I remember in the middle of all of this we stopped and he gave us a huge bottle of water. Here in America, safe drinkable water is available almost everywhere and having water becomes so important during the duration of this trip. That day we also met our host family and had a brief introduction session. We also took a tour of historic part of Cuba called old Havana. It was very unique in the sense that it had a feeling of being untouched by the outside world. All of the old cars helped the amplify that feeling I’m sure. We exchanged currency at the nearby hotel in which we were taxed quite a bit for. About 13 percent of our money was taken in taxes. They explained that wifi is not accessible everywhere and this began the journey to living without the internet. The day ended with a welcome dinner that had amazing food and it was a great start. Day two of our trip began with a two-hour drive to the Vinales caves. The drive was peaceful without any mention of the city we were just in. I remember seeing lots of old cars and lots of greenery. The caves were cold and damp but it was interesting. I wish the boat ride had lasted a bit longer but overall it was a fun experience. We had a wonderful lunch at a farm to table restaurant (with lots and lots of food). On the way back Reiko played some music videos that are popular, which made me wonder how did he acquire them? I would find out the next day.
Day three of our trip began with a lecture on Jose Marti We then began learning about the world of the paquete. The paquete is a usually a hard drive of tons of media outlets such as magazine, tv shows and music videos. It is much like a walking Netflix. Everyone in Cuba uses this in order to access media otherwise not available. One of the things that I found very interesting that it is considered a legal yet illegal thing to do. Our lecturer ever said that it is a possibility that the Cuban government itself funds the paquete in order to keep its people from running around on the streets doing bad things. People pay to have this and that in turn funds the entire operation. Something like this would never work in America because of a variety of reasons. One being it would be unnecessary, if people wanted to pirate content it is very easy to find. Two, this is highly illegal and could rack up a great fine or jail time if caught. In chapter 13 of the book it talks about two ways in which media gains income: "The media collect revenues in two ways: through direct and indirect payments. Direct payment involves media products supported primarily by consumers, who pay directly for a book, a CD, a movie, or an Internet or cable TV service. Indirect payment involves media products supported primarily by advertisers, who pay for the quantity or quality of audience members that a particular medium delivers. Over-the-air radio and TV broadcasting, daily newspapers, magazines, and most Web sites rely on indirect payments for the majority of their revenue." This is somewhat similar to what happens in Cuba. The buyer pays to use the hard drive directly for the material inside. Advertisements are present in the media such as tv shows but it's different from in America in that these advertisements do not pay for the content and they also have no influence over what content is being shown. Economists distinguish between similar types of consumer power: consumer control over marketplace goods and freedom of consumer choice: “The former requires that consumers participate in deciding what is to be offered; the latter is satisfied if [consumers are] free to select among the options chosen for them by producers.”28 Most Americans and the citizens of other economically developed nations clearly have consumer choice: options among a range of media products. Yet consumers and even media employees have limited consumer control: power in deciding what kinds of media get created and circulated. In America, we have something called a copyright. A copyright legally protects the rights of authors and producers to their published or unpublished writing, music, lyrics, TV programs, movies, or graphic art designs. When Congress passed the first Copyright Act in 1790, it gave authors the right to control their published works for fourteen years, with the opportunity for a renewal for another fourteen years. After the end of the copyright period, the work enters the public domain, which gives the public free access to the work. A copyright does not extend to Cuba because there is no one there to enforce the laws and thus the paquete goes on. This was the day I also noticed how social Cuban people were on the streets of Havana. Everyone was hanging out everywhere talking to each other instead of their phones. Wi-Fi is limited to certain spots in Cuba so when people gathered together in Melecon it seemed as if it was a social event in itself. Here in America, everyone is on their phone or some sort of technology almost 24/7. People here are not as social as those in Cuba. Passing someone on the streets of Cuba helps us to understand that they’re friendly people without the cloak of a phone to hide behind. On the one hand, the notion of freedom that is associated with innovation and rebellion in American culture has been embraced internationally. The global spread of and access to media have made it harder for political leaders to secretly repress dissident groups because police and state activity (such as the torture of illegally detained citizens) can now be documented digitally and easily dispatched by satellite, the Internet, and cellphones around the world. Later that day we visited Radio Habana Cuba, walking into their building it was like traveling back in time. The technology was years behind but they managed to continue being successful. It is a government funded facility which was made obvious by certain events that happened. The person who showed us around had very strong opinions on media in America and was essentially saying that there form of media is better. It was a station focused mainly on a variety of topics in Cuba and they broadcasted in a variety of languages such as English and Arabic. I would say their form of media was very different and propaganda was something that was pretty apparent. Chapter 15 of the book talks about this and defines propaganda as “the control of opinion by significant symbols, . . . by stories, rumors, reports, pictures and other forms of social communication.” Propaganda analysis thus became a major early focus of mass media research(sour) I would like to compare this to Telemundo here in the states. Although Telemundo is a tv station, I would still like to compare the two. Telemundo covers a variety of subjects like drama, news and sports. Versus Radio Habana where it is focused mainly on serious subjects like what is happening in Cuba and to some extent the world. They both have a variety of topics for their consumers. Radio Habana does not have advertising whereas Telemundo does. In America, researchers study of war propaganda and began to focus on more general concerns about how the mass media filtered information and shaped public attitudes. Throughout the next few days of our trip we visited a newspaper and animation studio. The name of the newspaper translates to the The Workers in english. This is a newspaper focused on bringing serious topics to the people of Cuba. Things like what the government is doing for its people and what roads have been fixed and repaired. Unlike here in America, news can be anything. We have tabloids that promote fake but entertaining news stories that doesn’t tell us anything. Chapter 14 of the book describes news as the process of gathering information and making narrative reports— edited by individuals for news organizations—that offer selected frames of reference; within those frames, news helps the public make sense of important events, political issues, cultural trends, prominent people, and unusual happenings in everyday life. News in Cuba is focused on what can help the peoples lives and what is important in the going ons of their country. I believe this is part of the reason why the definition of media is so different in Cuba. Radio Habana never speaks ill of those who are in power versus here someone could be sued for libel. Libel refers to defamation of character in written or broadcast form; libel is different from slander, which is spoken language that defames a person’s character. News here can be summarized by this quote “In a 1963 staff memo, NBC news president Reuven Frank outlined the narrative strategies should have structure and conflict, problem and denouement, rising and falling action”. On day seven of our trip we visited OnCuba, a magazine “written in English and in Spanish and available in print format bimonthly. Celebrating in each issue the excellent, the exquisite, the exemplary of Cuba, their cultural/economics events and their people.” This was very different from any other media sources we had encountered in Cuba before. This was a travel magazine that does not distribute in Cuba itself but in the United States, although some of the articles are written in Cuba. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and very different from the places before. The trip to Cuba opened my eyes to how different media is in America. It helped me to understand various aspects such as advertising and media platforms. Cuba is a culture not touched by the outside world with things such as Wi-Fi. This creates a society where people are not controlled by their phones and creates a community that's not prevalent here. People in Cuba talk to each other even strangers because they are not on the internet all the time. Tabloids are unheard of in Cuba, so are celebrities. These are the least of their problems but although they do not have this access. They still manage to have fun with the various clubs, like the yellow submarine which plays rock music. They manage to watch TV shows that cover a variety of topics. People might say that Cuba doesn’t have freedoms in media but to a certain extent they do. They’re allowed to watch media from outside sources excluding world news. Ethnocentrism means that, in most news reporting, especially foreign coverage, reporters judge other countries and cultures on the basis of how “they live up to or imitate American practices and values.” When visiting, try not to have this mindset and understand that this is a different country with different values and a different culture. Works Cited Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & culture: mass communication in a digital age. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016. Print.
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