US changes Cuban broadcasting strategy


Details

Juan Fernandez Gonzalez

| 23 March 2016




As new times require new tools, the US Government is to change its Spanish media strategy towards Cuba by privatising the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.



castro obamaThe Martís, which includes TV and Radio Martí and martinoticias.com and is overseen by the public broadcasting office, may be controlled by a private group in the future, according to the 2016 budget requests of the US's Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).

“BBG requests the authority to establish a new Spanish-language, non-Federal media organisation that would receive a BBG grant and perform the functions of the current Office of Cuba Broadcasting,” said the BBG in the document. “And the Martí brands will be prominent brands in the newly-formed entity.”

This is one of many political announcements in a hectic time for US-Cuba relationships, and could see the request of the island's Government to close down The Martís being granted, according to analysts from the Miami Herald.

Since it started airing in 1980, the Cuba-oriented broadcaster has been criticised by the island's institutions as it is seen as a propaganda media. Indeed, it's thought that less than 1% of Cubans have access to the TV network.

During first day of Barack Obama's official visit to Cuba, the first visit of a US president in nearly 90 years, The Martís managed to broadcast four hours of live coverage to the island and stream video content through YouTube and Facebook.