14ymedio, Havana, 9 March 2022 — “I would love to work for you. I have always loved science fiction.” This one by Osvaldo Figueruelo was one of the multiple reactions to a job announcement launched by Cubadebate this Tuesday to cover ten positions in the official media.
The medium offers positions as journalist, web editor, designer, social network analyst, cameraoperator-editor, social network manager, opinion analysis specialist, communication and marketing manager, but many users have chosen to make fun of the publication itself on Facebook.
“We offer new positions. The previous occupants have left the country,” said Vladimir Lara López, who completed primary studies at the Ignacio Agramonte School in Havana and a bachelor’s degree at the Baku State University (Azerbaijan).
A Cuban journalist, Javier Díaz, who currently lives in Miami and works for Univisión, responded: “My freedom is priceless.”
The specification that it is “essential to reside in Havana” to apply for a job provoked sarcasm among some Facebook users. “I am desperate to belong to the Cubadebate team, work against ’media terrorism’ and earn a revolutionary salary,” said Eduardo Castroman, who asked if the requirement was to avoid hiring a “worm.”
Users also took advantage of the announcement to express their rejection of the editorial line of the site, which was launched in August 2003 and developed by Chasqui, a group of students from the Marta Abreu Central University in Las Villas, Santa Clara. “And can the journalist write his own articles, or does he have to wait for the PCC (Cuban Communist Party) to dictate them to him?” Glimar Garcia Olivera asked.
“No, thank you,” was the comment of Alegna Muro from Havana. “As a freelance blogger and podcaster, I’m doing great, and best of all, I don’t have to lie to do my job.” Meanwhile, another user identified as Lily Nouveau warned: “But first you have to pass the Pinocchio course to get the job.”
“The greatest requirement for the demand for employment with the dictators is to be a lamb informer and the rest is a story,” wrote Ana María Martí.
Among those who took it seriously, there were those who asked if they could work at home and the payment would be in freely convertible currency.
Adonis Ramos proposed that they wait for the press to have journalists, while Leandro Miguel Céspedes Balón joked: “This page is funnier than Pánfilo, they should broadcast their jokes on Monday nights, so they can laugh a little.”
On the media’s website, where comments are controlled, some interested people could be read, although complaints proliferated about the requirement to reside in Havana. The enthusiasm was such that some applied to do it even for free with this spelling*: “I’m interested in collaborating at no cost, I’m an Argentine Revolutionary, I live in Havana, I have a lot of experience in political analysis, training in economics and social sciences” (sic).
*Translator’s note: This translation does not attempt to reproduce the spelling errors.
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