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Miami Herald Publisher Jesus Diaz Resigns in Cuba Flap
The Miami Herald's publisher resigned Tuesday, citing the recent revelation that some journalists with its Spanish-language sister paper El Nuevo Herald were paid to appear on U.S.-government broadcasts aimed at promoting democracy in Cuba. Jesus Diaz Jr., the papers' publisher since July 2005, had dismissed two El Nuevo Herald reporters and a freelance contributor over the scandal. "I realize and regret that the events of the past three weeks have created an environment that no longer allows me to lead our newspapers in a manner most beneficial for our newspapers, our readers and our community," Diaz wrote Tuesday in a letter to readers announcing his resignation. Diaz said the company would rehire the two reporters and the freelance contributor he had dismissed for getting paid by Radio Marti and TV Marti. He said six others who took payments would not be disciplined.
Story Continues Below He also resigned his position as president of the Miami Herald Media Co. David Landsberg, a longtime Herald employee who served as general manager, took over immediately as company president and publisher of the two newspapers, said The McClatchy Co., the papers' parent company based in Sacramento, Calif. McClatchy acquired the newspapers in June when it bought Knight Ridder Inc. "While we are sorry to see Jesus leave, we couldn't be happier about having such a talented and experienced leader perfectly poised to step into this important job," said Gary Pruitt, McClatchy president and CEO. Diaz said he believed the journalists' acceptance of payments "was a breach of widely accepted principles of journalistic ethics." But he added "our policies prohibiting such behavior may have been ambiguously communicated, inconsistently applied and widely misunderstood over many years in the El Nuevo Herald newsroom." He said no one would be allowed in the future to accept money from the U.S. government-run broadcasters, and conflict-of-interest policies would be strengthened. The Miami Herald, citing government documents, had reported early last month that 10 South Florida journalists had received thousands of dollars from the federal government for their work on radio and TV programming aimed at undermining Fidel Castro's communist regime. Pablo Alfonso, who wrote an opinion column for El Nuevo Herald, was paid almost $175,000 since 2001 to host shows on Radio and TV Marti, U.S. government programs that promote democracy in Cuba, according to government documents obtained by the Miami Herald. Olga Connor, a freelance reporter who wrote about Cuban culture for El Nuevo Herald, received about $71,000 from the U.S. Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and staff reporter Wilfredo Cancio Isla, who covered the Cuban exile community and politics, was paid almost $15,000 in the last five years, the Miami Herald reported. The dismissals caused a furor among members of Miami's Cuban-American community, which responded with canceled subscriptions and attacks on Diaz and some of the newspaper's editors and journalists in letters and e-mails. Critics also said Diaz reacted too quickly and harshly. The Herald's internal probe revealed that with four El Nuevo Herald employees who accepted payments, the relationships with Radio Marti and TV Marti had been approved by Carlos Cantaneda, an El Nuevo Herald executive editor who died in 2002. While head of the Herald's operations, Diaz oversaw the ownership transition from Knight Ridder Inc. to McClatchy and through several hurricanes that strained production schedules. He joined The Miami Herald in 1993 as vice president and chief financial officer but departed three years later. He returned as general manager in 2002 and succeeded Alberto Ibarguen in 2005 as publisher. Diaz said he planned to seek an opportunity to become CEO of a company.
© 2006 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
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