TV/Radio Marti - Herald Conflict No Secret

One of the many good points that have been raised about the Herald/Marti conflict of interest story is: why did it take 5 years for the Herald to catch on and take action against their reporters?

Excellent question, and one that raises doubts about the Herald's intentions, even if you agree that the Herald took the right course of action. If the fired reporters' integrity can be questioned because of their work with Marti, then certainly the Herald's actions can be scrutinized similarly.

Check out this link from Jorge at The Real Cuba, and this link from Cubanet which dig up an article written in The Miami Herald on March 31, 2002 by staff writer Elaine de Valle in which she openly writes about Herald employees working for TV/Radio Marti.

(To access the article in the Real Cuba link, go about halfway down to page 68 where the article begins).

Jorge and others think that there's a possibility that the Herald received their cues from castro crony Reinaldo Taladrid, who has stated recently on-air in Cuba about Miami journalists being paid by the U.S. Government. Maybe, maybe not. I do have to say, however, that the Cuban government has been making these allegations for a long time now, so this is really nothing new on the part of the regime.

Ask Oscar Haza, the excellent journalist for Miami radio station WQBA and Channel 41. In the past he's been directly accused on Cuban TV show Mesa Redonda of taking payments from the U.S. government. Haza, a Dominican who is outspokenly anti-castro, has categorically denied this.

Basically, the Cuban government has known something that has been public for a long time now. Maybe the top brass at the Herald really didn't know until recently. A reasonable person could think that.

However, a reasonable person could also think that an institution such as the Herald, which prides itself on integrity, would always be alert to such a conflict of interest, right? That's a very fair question to ask at this point in the game.