Cuba’s new social communication policy

HAVANA – According to the Associated Press, a new Communication Policy has been approved in Cuba. Its purpose, the news agency tells us, is for state media to deal effectively with the so-called digital alternative press and with the larger number of citizens participating in social networks. However, other sources indicate that the purposes of what should soon become a new Decree-Law — approved by the Council of State, not by the National Assembly of People’s Power — could be broader.

Citing Cuban journalists who have seen it, or to those who’ve discussed the new policy, AP assures its readers that the law already has the approval of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). The report states that the document has already been approved and that it is responsible for both the public press and the management of State and government institutions’ communication processes at all levels.

Cuba’s lack of legal norms for the journalism profession has been discussed previously in academic forums and in debates sponsored by the union of State journalists and social communicators. They’ve also pointed out the scarcity of a culture of communications from political or governmental leaders, as well as an overly informative approach to communications and the technologies that make it possible.

“It is necessary to modernize the media and seek other forms of generating income with alternatives that do not focus solely on advertising. As a result we have considered the creation of developmental groups committed to innovation and the provision of services in and outside Cuba,” said Ricardo Ronquillo, deputy director of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde, last March during a panel discussion on press models in Cuba.

After evaluating the results of the IX International Meeting of Researchers and Scholars of Information and Communication (ICOM) that took place in Havana last November, Zenaida Costales, vice-dean of the Faculty of Communication of the University of Havana (FCOM), insisted that it would be impossible to update the economic, political and social model of the Cuban press without first renewing the management model.

Other highly controversial issues in the Cuban media landscape, and about which the Communication Policy would deal with, are the existence of private media outlets, for which, according to other sources, no legitimate space has been allotted in the future legislation. During official debates on the subject, a concept that has gained strength is that foreign funding disqualifies new media initiatives — of which most were created after 2014.

Through other anonymous sources, AP also reported that perhaps the document could include the possibility of managing media by the production of complementary products, assurances and contracted private services. 

Relatively new

Since the AP report, the issue has been raised with renewed vigor by international media reports on Cuba, and linked to the recently elected Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez. The fact is that the process began around four years ago with the current president as its visible face. It has also become a systematically silenced process without public debate, not even with Cuba’s communication professionals. Numerous drafts of the new policy have been presented and discussed behind closed doors. It is also a process that has been delayed, although the reasons have not been made public. In March 2016, for example, Díaz-Canel, in a meeting with journalists in the province of Camagüey, said that he was about to approve a communication policy that would allow a change of management of the media.

More than two years later the policy has not yet been implemented, and there is no indication that it will happen soon. According to some of our sources, the idea is to first create a law authorizing publicity by certain actors, and the creation of an institution that will be charged with the implementation of the future policy. In the 2016 meeting President Díaz-Canel explained that the law would seek to unify media agendas, public and political, and would favor the work of information services, as well as provide better economic regulations over those entities financed by the State.

The policy, as explained to Progreso Weekly by contacted journalists in Cuba, belongs to society as a whole and in particular to all state and private entities. Fulfillment of the norm will be obligatory for permanent foreign residents as well as for those passing through.

The AP report also indicates that the new policy would allow the heads of newspapers, television channels and radio stations greater autonomy to broadcast news of greater impact. The fact is that this would simply endorse an already existing requirement of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba, something not emphasized in order to finalize this. It is now necessary to specify that media directors will be the ones most responsible, not only for the execution of the informative, editorial and cultural policy of the media outlet, but also the achievement of this within an atmosphere of participation of their subordinates. At the same time, the document specifies that, within the scope of its powers, the Government and State control the content that is distributed by the different channels of communication.

What other issues does the policy deal with?

The institutional dispersion of the country’s most important media is seen by the Cuban government as a stumbling block that prevents the Communist Party of Cuba, as well as other political and/or union organizations, from quickly and coherently channeling the scarce funds available that maintain them.

For example, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba is in charge of the newspaper Granma and the 16 weeklies published in each province, plus the special municipality of the Isle of Youth. The Union of Young Communists (UJC) is charged with the expenses of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde and the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), and with those of the weekly Trabajadores. The Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) does the same with all television and radio stations.

Regarding this, the AP cites anonymous sources who suggest that in the future Cuba have a public media landscape not completely linked to the state budget. There reasoning being that although some of the media outlets will continue to be subsidized, others could move in the direction closer to economic self-reliance, or they could even be established as companies.

In Cuba, state media of this type does not abound. Only Radio Taíno charges to broadcast advertising spots, and RTV Comercial is perhaps the only public media outlet that operates under a business management scheme.

Communication on behalf of the public good should be budgeted by the responsible bodies and should also be included in the policy, which implies the reorganization of the communication functions of each state agency. Regarding these policies of improving the communication component of consumer protection, concrete actions are already being taken such as the recent new regulation that establishes the rights and duties of consumers in the country.

Another point that should be included is the reform and salary adjustment for journalists as applied in each territory of the country, as well as the legalization of other activities related to journalism and audiovisual production.

So far, AP informs us, the country’s new Communication Policy has been shown to some journalists from the capital and the provinces. Between July 13 and 15, the X Congress of the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC) will take place in Havana. It presents an opportunity, says the AP, where this matter could be made public to all.