The programming of Radio and TV Martí - often criticized as a waste of taxpayer funds - has improved, and anecdotal evidence suggests that it is reaching a bigger audience in Cuba, according to a new US government report obtained by The Miami Herald. The report, by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General, also says the station should plan to compete with a Venezuelan government broadcaster [Telesur]. It faults the operation for lacking a long-term strategic plan for a post-Fidel Castro Cuba and ”nagging longstanding employee morale concerns.” But it calls the station’s director, Pedro V Roig, “the most effective in recent history.”
The report, being distributed in Washington this week, also says the station is planning to put its second broadcasting aircraft in the air soon, joining a similar turboprop that went airborne in October. According to the report, there is ”anecdotal” evidence that more Cubans are watching TV Martí after the twin-engine propeller plane - known as Aero Martí - started broadcasting for five-hour slots six days a week.
(Source: Miami Herald/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
The report, being distributed in Washington this week, also says the station is planning to put its second broadcasting aircraft in the air soon, joining a similar turboprop that went airborne in October. According to the report, there is ”anecdotal” evidence that more Cubans are watching TV Martí after the twin-engine propeller plane - known as Aero Martí - started broadcasting for five-hour slots six days a week.
(Source: Miami Herald/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
Report: TV, Radio Marti Reach In Cuba 'Improving'
http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_171220345.html
(CBS4) WASHINGTON The U.S. government's anti-Castro radio and TV stations have improved significantly in recent years after allegations of corruption and mismanagement, according to a draft State Department review of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.
The report obtained on the eve of a congressional debate over future Cuba-related funding cites a boost in TV Marti's signals reaching Cuba, but it bases those conclusions on anecdotal evidence not included in the report, not on independent facts.
"We're very pleased. I think it reflects the hard work that's being done here," said Alberto Mascaro, chief of staff for the Cuba broadcasting office, "and more importantly it reflects the hard work of our employees."
A spokeswoman for the State Department's inspector general's office, which conducted the review, said the agency would not comment on a report that had not yet been released.
Details of the report were first published in Wednesday's edition of CBS 4 news partner The Miami Herald.
Radio and TV Marti are requesting about $34 million in next year's budget, down from $38 million they received last year. The Bush administration also requested $46 million for other Cuba-related programs to promote political change on the island, but a House bill likely headed to the floor this week slashed that to $9 million.
That makes money for the Marti stations all the more important for those who support the current U.S. policy toward Cuba, which has been under an American trade embargo for more than 40 years. The U.S. transmissions were designed to offer an alternative to the tightly controlled Cuban media.
Critics, including U.S. Reps. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., have long accused the network of airing one-sided broadcasts and giving jobs to political allies. They also maintain the TV broadcasts are a waste of money because they have long been jammed by Fidel Castro's government.
The report makes a number of recommendations, including evaluating whether Marti programs recently carried on South Florida TV and radio stations reach Cubans. It also urged tighter security and better quality control to make sure Marti employees follow Voice of America standards.
Finally, the review urged the Cuba broadcasting office to create a long-term plan for providing programming in a post-Castro Cuba, as well as how to compete now with the "Telesur" satellite broadcast, funded by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government.
The review lauded the broadcasting office's use of a Gulfstream jet to beam signals into Cuba, saying it could be replicated in other parts of the world where governments attempt to block U.S. broadcasts.
The Cuba broadcasting office's deployment cost $10 million in 2006, and it plans to add another plane later this year. Both aircraft should cost about $6 million annually.
Although in past years, similar reviews of the stations included listener and viewer data, the recent audit, conducted from January through March, did not.
Mascaro said conducting accurate surveys of Cuban listening and viewing patterns is next to impossible in the communist nation.
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(Source: Zacharias Liangas, Greece/Cumbre DX)
