14ymedio, Havana, 23 August 2016 – Journalist Yailin Orta Rivera, a member of the National Committee of the Young Communists Union (UJC), has been names as the new director of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) according to a note in that newspaper on Wednesday. The young woman, who worked as deputy editor, replaces Marina Menendez Quintero, who will undertake “other journalistic tasks on the same publication.”
A 2006 graduate, Orta Rivera said in an interview last October that young people should have “a more systematic presence in decision-making areas, not only because they bring their audacity, irreverence, and their transgressive look to different news realities.”
On that occasion, during the celebrations for the newspaper’s half century mark, the journalist noted that among the great challenges of the publication is “doing a better job of satisfying the demands of its reading public,” and she said that they received demands from their audience to stay “connected to the public agenda.”
The designation of Orta Rivera as the new director of Juventud Rebelde occurs at a time when calls are being made from the highest echelons of the Party for a journalism more connected to reality and with a critical focus. Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, Cuban First Vice President has stated in public speeches the need for “a brave responsible press.”
In Tuesday’s edition of Juventud Rebelde, Yailin Orta Rivera’s name already appears as director and her vacancy in the group of editors was covered by Yoerky Sánchez Cuéllar.
Previously the “Newspaper of Cuban Youth” was directed by Terry Pelayo Cuervo, who took over the leadership of the newspaper Granma in October 2013.
