Readers Opine About ’14ymedio’ on its Third Anniversary

14ymedio’s third anniversary makes a mockery of official censorship in Cuba. (CC)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 21 May 2017 — This digital newspaper first saw the light just three years ago, on 21 May 2014. In this time the setbacks have been many, as have the gratifications from updating the site, providing a constant flow of information to our readers, and maintaining high quality standards of reporting in the articles published on this page.

Today, readers opine about the topics they prefer to see addressed, they contribute their critiques to improve the journalism prepared by the editorial team of this newspaper and its collaborators, as well as project how they imagine it will evolve in the coming three years, the amount of time that has passed 14ymedio was born.

Marlene Azor says she reads the newspaper from Mexico. “I think it is an essential information medium on Cuba and the world.” The academic values ​​the articles published as “informative and at the same time providing analysis,” and considers the editorial work “serious and rigorous,” a characteristic she considers “very gratifying for someone who is looking for information on the daily life” of the island.

The most interesting topics for Azor are those that have to do with “the economy, politics, culture and daily life” in the country. She finds the comments in the discussion area essential “for the right to free expression.” However, she regrets the “deficit of the culture of debate in [the comments] sent by State Security” to boycott the medium.

In this site the setbacks have been many, as have the gratifications from updating the site, providing a constant flow of information to our readers, and maintaining high quality standards of reporting in the articles published on this page.

Looking ahead three years, the Cuban emigre expects to see 14ymedio developing “more depth in its analysis,” because “the disinformation” exercised by the Cuban government “cannot last” much longer. Azor is extremely critical of the official press and accuses it of misinforming and disseminating “such a biased view of the world” that it can go so far as to “the reverse” of reality.

“ReyLI” comments that “the topics that interest me most are those related to Cuba and Venezuela” and he believes that commenters on the site “should use fewer bad words and generally follow the rules of the site, which are not always met by eliminating comments.” The reader appreciates the existence of this information portal.

“Gatovolador” visits 14ymedio because he finds it “very complete with regard to the news coming from the Island, its dissidence and the government’s great failures.” He would be interested in finding more articles “on universal geography, the discoveries in this field and also in the field of health,” although he acknowledges that the newspaper already dedicates space to these topics.

He also agrees with other readers that “lately confrontations and responses are taking place” in the comment area. Discussions in which there is “disrespect” from “people of the left in their crazy quest to put an end to 14ymedio.” A situation that he believes is based on a strategy to cause “other readers to lose interest and withdraw” from the site.

“I would like to see this newspaper be for sale in all the island’s news kiosks” so that it can be read by all Cubans, he says. The reader congratulates the collaborators and editors of the newspaper and hopes that on “21 May 2018 we can meet again.”

“Jesusnavacuba” has become a regular commenter on this newspaper because he wants to be aware of “the political discussion, to know the strategies” of the managers of this digital site and “to see how they react to the issues of the progressive world.” The reader thinks that the newspaper shows “great ideological flaws with regards to community issues.”

“I would like to see this newspaper sold in all the island’s news kiosks” so that it can be read by all Cubans

The reader, a resident of the United States, is especially interested in the issues “that flood us here and there, those that are reflected in Cuba as a copy of what happens here in the USA and as a practice in the rest of the world.” He criticizes that editors “are not interested in moderating” comments when language is violent, vulgar and offensive, however he believes the discussions are the “steam engine” of the site.

“Discrimination, threats to people’s lives and the apologies for crimes flood the forum,” Jesusnavacuba complains. A scenario that implies that site administrators “prefer active traffic” and sacrifice “quality and professionalism” to obtain it.

In three years, the reader projects that this journal will evolve towards “a new form of private journalism.”

Luis Vigo, a frequent visitor of the page, sees in 14ymedio a space where he can keep “connected with the Cuban reality” and “debate and exchange ideas and opinions with other readers.” He is particularly interested in “news and current issues, both nationally and internationally.”

“The debates among readers not only seem valid but necessary to create an awareness of the diversity of opinions for a future Cuba free of dictatorship,” adds Vigo. He imagines that in years to come this will be “a newspaper with much more scope” for nationals both inside and outside the island.

_______

Editor’s Note:

We would like to hear your views on our work. We invite you to enrich 14ymedio with your suggestions, comments and criticisms.