Rift Repaired? p.8

By: STACY JONES THE SCRAMBLE IS on as news organizations vie to be the first to set up a news bureau in Communist Cuba.
So far, only Cable News Network has gained approval from Fidel Castro to open a bureau in Havana. However, the cable news giant must still wait for the United States government to grant a license due to the government's long-standing economic embargo against Cuba, which limits or prohibits the amount of money American citizens and businesses can spend in that country.
The positioning caused a rift to develop between CNN President Tom Johnson and Miami Herald publisher David Lawrence Jr.
After hearing talk in Washington that Lawrence was lobbying the U.S. government ? which included sending a letter to James Dobbins, the National Security Council director for Latin America ? to stall CNN's license request, Johnson shot off a letter to Lawrence chastising him for his furtive efforts.
"I am astounded and dismayed that for purely competitive reasons you would call upon the U.S. government to hinder CNN's legitimate news coverage efforts," stated Johnson's letter. "While you may frown upon the Cuban government's decision to allow CNN to be the first U.S. news organization in recent times to have a bureau there, you are wrong to attempt to use the U.S. government to restrain CNN's effort to open a Havana bureau."
Lawrence downplayed the meeting and the intentions of his correspondence to Washington. He refused to release the letter to E&P, choosing instead to have his secretary read select paragraphs from the document over the phone.
In the Nov. 8, 1996 letter to Dobbin, Lawrence wrote "my concern for several years now is Fidel Castro will ultimately choose who he will let cover Cuba and who will get a news bureau."
"If we were shut out while other U.S. media outlets emerged in Cuba, that would run deeply counter to my sense of democracy and fairness. My mission is not to exclude others . . . . This newspaper deserves to be at the head of the line."
Hoping to clear the air, the two men arranged a meeting in Miami.
Also in tow were, among others, a Herald senior editor, Eason Jordan, a CNN executive for international news coverage and CNN correspondent Bernard Shaw.
Johnson described the gathering as "very constructive."
He explained the main problem as Lawrence wanting CNN's license approval contingent on the Herald being in "the first group" of media outlets represented in Havana.
Lawrence put a different spin on the situation. "We have not opposed anyone's application. The only point we've ever made is the Herald has devoted more resources of people and space [to Cuba] in the last decades than any media in the world."
"We wanted to make sure that the Herald got a bureau at the earliest convenience," said Lawrence, noting that 55% of all Cuban Americans live in south Florida.
In addition, Cuba is a major beat for the Herald's Spanish-language daily El Nuevo Herald.
With most major news organizations waiting for word on their U.S. license applications, CNN is still the only news provider to have permission from the Cuban government to establish a bureau.
No matter how many licenses are issued by the U.S., it doesn't guarantee admittance to Cuba. That call will be left to Castro. And that's what has many news organizations worried.
In his gut, however, Johnson "expected there to be other bureaus approved," though not necessarily in tandem with CNN.
CNN's admission to Cuba will have "no competitive impact on the Herald," said Johnson, stating that Lawrence was more concerned with other newspapers getting into Cuba ahead of the Herald.
What it comes down to, said Johnson, is news organizations "should support each other."
?("I am astounded and
dismayed that for purely
competitive reasons you would call upon the U.S. government to hinder CNN's legitimate news coverage efforts . . . . You are wrong to attempt to use the U.S. government to restrain CNN's effort to open a Havana bureau.") [Caption]
?(? Tom Johnson, president, CNN) [Photo]
?("If we were shut out while other U.S. media outlets emerged in Cuba, that would run deeply counter to my sense of democracy and fairness.
My mission is not to exclude others . . . . This newspaper deserves to be at the head of the line.") [Caption]
?( ? David Lawrence, publisher,) [Photo]
# Editor & Publisher n January 25, 1997