Report Card for Christian Science Monitor piece on Cuban Revolution's 50th Anniversary

Here's the eighth in a series of report cards on coverage of the Cuban revolution's 50th anniversary. I am using this grading system which is written from castro, inc's point of view.

This piece is from the Christian Science Monitor. The Monitor has been reporting quite extensively on Cuba over recent months

+10 for referring to raul castro as "president"

+10 for calling raul "practical"

+10 for calling Batista a dictator but referring to either castro brother the same way

+30 for repeating the fiction of Cuba's "health and education and literacy" advances

+10 for accepting characterization of racial progress at face value

+10 for repeating the fiction that embargo is responsible for Cuba's economic woes.

-10 for using the word "communist"

-20 for suggesting that there may not be political freedom in Cuba and that dissidents are "harassed".

Verdict: +50, a yeoman effort by the Monitor on behalf of the regime, but nowhere near Associated Press caliber when it comes to shilling for the regime. Still, an article about a totalitarian regime that's been around for 50 years without mentioning a single execution, exile or other abuse of human rights is nothing to sneeze at.

Posted by Henry Louis Gomez at January 2, 2009 08:25 PM

Comments

Posted by: j2tharome at January 2, 2009 10:58 PM