Havana – It has become a tradition among Cuban journalists to organize press festivals in the months of October and December, not only to celebrate their achievements after an entire year of intense work, but also to look in the mirror and assess the progress they've made, the deficiencies their work has shown and the challenges they've encountered in their unwavering efforts in support of the Revolution.

Today, the country's economic restructuring initiatives are of the highest strategic significance, and these gatherings, where local representatives of the Federation of Cuban Journalists (UPEC) and of provincial and regional press institutions convene, have not kept the issue outside of their agendas, which also address such important matters as professional training programs, access to information, the quality and credibility of the press, the relationship with the country's readership, initiatives in support of the Cuban Five, spaces for debate, sources of information and social networks and others.

More than ever, Cuban journalists must rigorously investigate and objectively portray the processes the country has undertaken so as not to publish articles devoid of content.
 
"The Cuban press, in all its various forms, has been called upon to assume a decisive role in the elucidation and objective, continuous and critical portrayal of the economic restructuring process, to impel a culture of debate on these issues, around the country, on the basis of astute and focused articles and pieces, written in a language that is accessible to all", Army General Raul Castro stated during the opening of the 6th Congress of Cuba's Communist Party this past April.

These words have moved journalists to delve more deeply into the problems faced by the sector, as has his call to "definitively put behind us the habit of writing triumphalist, vociferous and stylized pieces to address Cuba's contemporary reality and to produce written pieces and television and radio programs that capture the audience's attention and encourage debate among the public", pieces that do not become "boring, improvised and superficial materials.”

In this connection, during the press festival held at Isla de la Juventud, journalists discussed the positive and negative aspects of their efforts to report on these economic processes and the repercussions this has had on their community.

"When we cram figures, technical jargon and an excessively complex language into our articles, our pieces on the country's economic processes become incomprehensible and impenetrable for the average reader", UPEC regional chair Ana Esther Zulueta opined, and suggested journalists ought to write pieces that hit home among the target audience, articles that are based on serious investigative and analytical work and that interpret figures in such a way as to maintain clarity in the message conveyed.

Antonio Moltó, UPEC national vice-chair, stated that the best school is the day-to-day work at the newspaper. “We cannot lose sight of our goals as communicators. Journalism means a responsible and courageous act of communication, an act in which the public assesses commitments, ways of approaching and of selection different issues.”

During his address at the Press Festival held in Havana this past 10th of November, Cuba’s Head of Parliament Ricardo Alarcón underscored the importance of international solidarity, the support of governments, Cuba solidarity groups and personalities around the world to the country's efforts to end the media silence that surrounds the issue of the Cuban Five.

Journalists from Cuba's province of Sancti Spiritus also demanded that the Five be returned to Cuba.

During the Humberto Concepción Provincial Press Festival, the UPEC regional chair read a declaration calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to use his presidential prerogatives to have Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, René González, Fernando González and Antonio Guerrero returned home.

In addition to this, they emphasized the need for information professionals to demand clear answers from institutions, as these are the raw materials for investigative work.

Another issue discussed was the advisability of publishing more editorials that encourage reflection and debate and to reflect everyday reality through photographic images that capture the life of Cubans truthfully.
  
These fora have ratified journalists' loyalty to their profession and the Revolution.

In this critical and introspective process, no few professionals have expressed their concerns regarding access to sources of information. Journalist Anneris Ivette Leyva recently published an article titled “The Right to Information”, where she pointed out that economic issues "understandably arouse much public interest, and it would be immensely helpful if these issues were accessible to the majority - when we are told, for instance, that the country needs to implement energy-saving measures or purchase items that the average citizen finds extremely expensive, these statements are marked by the close-mindedness of many public officials, who seem to be ignorant of the right of citizens to be fully informed of issues and of the irritation the population experiences before a phenomenon or measure that isn’t explained to them.”

“We must put all of the information and the arguments behind each decision and step on the table, do away with the excessive secrecy that we have grown accustomed to in the course of over 50 years of aggressions by the enemy", Raul Castro stated during his closing remarks at the National People's Power Assembly that convened in December of 2010.

As UPEC National Chair Tubal Paéz underscored at the press festival held in Las Tunas, “the debates have been rewarding, these fora have ratified journalists' loyalty to their profession and the Revolution, they have taken on serious debates and acknowledged the difficulties that continue to affect Cuban journalism.”

“This year,” he added, “we underscored the need to reflect on the ways in which journalism ought to be practiced, incursions into other forms to address a greater number of people more efficiently and the complex challenges that professionals face in the sector, including those related to secretive practices."

Paéz, who is also the Vice-Chair of the Latin American Federation of Journalists, stressed that the festivals have conveyed attractive and profound messages, aimed at raising the awareness of professionals and having them adopt an attitude that is in step with the changes the country is experiencing.

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