Showing posts with label Marc Caputo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marc Caputo. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

News blackout at Miami Herald re Marco Rubio & Rubio's Folly is no accident! STILL nothing new about immigration @MarcoRubio. Ryan Lizza's great New Yorker piece on immigration reform and the roles of Marco Rubio, #gangofeight and their staffs, continues to be part of news blackout at Herald and their second-rate politics blog; Tampa Bay Times and their Buzz politics blog finally gave up on their blackout re Lizza story on Tuesday afternoon; What happened to the wall between editorial and content? Where is it at the Herald? But then they never replaced their Ombudsman over 2 years ago -and let Marc Caputo do articles & columns; #rubiosfolly


These screen captures are from shortly after Midnight this morning and they paint quite a picture of how truly low bad journalism has gotten in South Florida in the year 2013.
This is what an intentional news blackout looks like when the management and the editors of an American newspaper doesn't want its readers to know about a certain bit of news that reflects poorly on one their central editorial tenets.
In this case, reflects poorly on their pro-amnesty for illegal immigrants position and the role of Florida senator Marco Rubio, whom I voted for in 2010.


News blackout at Miami Herald re Marco Rubio & Rubio's Folly is no accident! Still nothing new about immigration @MarcoRubio. Ryan Lizza's great New Yorker piece on immigration reform and the roles of Marco Rubio, #gangofeight and their staffs, continues to be part of news blackout at Herald and their second-rate politics blog; Tampa Bay Times and their Buzz politics blog finally gave up on their blackout re Lizza story on Tuesday afternoon; I thought there were was supposed to be a wall between editorial and content? What happened to the wall between editorial and content? Where is it at the Herald? But then they never replaced their Ombudsman over 2 years ago -and let Marc Caputo do articles & columns; #rubiosfolly



@Miamiherald, @NakedPoliticsFL, @rickhirsch, @MarcCaputo scared silly about the prospect of having to report fairly about Rubio and Co.'s terrible PR problem -the truth actually came out! 

 Their whole attempt to go without honestly telling both sides of the immigration reform story has been exposed. How can they possibly spin the words of Ryan Lizza and dozens of other people who were witnesses to what happened? 

So far the Herald's management has done that by completely ignoring it and treating the story like a non-story.

But even as the Herald's management and editors dawdle and put their heads in the sand, influential people in the country are taking names and lighting sticks of long-fused dynamite.
And boom goes the dynamite!









Yes, nothing about Ryan Lizza, his penetrating New Yorker piece, Marco Rubio's chameleon-like maneuvers on matters of principle and the uncouth comments of Rubio aide Alex Conant tossing poor Floridians under the bus.

But then that's the sort of condescending and patronizing view of too many Miami Cubans towards poor Blacks and Whites that we've seen over the past forty years. 
Nothing particularly new there.

Of course after the Mariel boatlift, as we all recall, these were the same people who were forever telling us that their nephew -who was then in the M-D jail- was a political dissident back in Cuba, which is why they were in jail over there.
Sure, not because they were a criminal or a rapist or...
Always with the Cuban exceptionalism, which does NOT naturally flow to others in their minds, especially native-born Blacks.














That's especially true for poor African-American in Miami of whom there are plenty who don't speak Spanish, but the Miami news media, just like the woman who supports the immigration bill who represents those constituents in Miami, Rep. Frederica Wilson, FL-24, who is completely ignoring that angle and is no doubt despertaely hoping no reporters ask her any hard questions, just like always.
Not that they ever do.
Most Miami-area reporters are lapdogs, not watchdogs.

Dear South Florida press corps:
Do you believe the poor African-Americans in Rep. Frederica Wilson's congressional district are going to love the new immigration bill? I don't.Thanks for completely ignoring that issue like so many others you have ignored since I returned to the area from D.C. over nine years ago.
Obvious issues involving public policy that would be raised publicly in other media markets but which is beyond the ken of the local Miami press corps.
Hmm-m... maybe that attitude of yours is part of why Blacks in Miami feel so alienated.
YOU completely ignore them unless something bad happens in their neighborhood or you have some cheesy story about a community park to show how much you -cough- "care." They're just props, not real people. 
Too bad they don't speak Spanish, eh Alex?

But that non-story from two weeks ago about David Beckham being interested in having an MLS team in Miami -something that literally nobody was ever interested in, even me, a huge soccer fan- well, they were all over his appearance at a Heat-Pacers playoff game, where their coverage like all Miami press corps coverage of him being in town -the hysterical 14-year old girl.
It sure wasn't journalism and the fact that so much of it was from female reporters, esp. on TV, only made it more cringeworthy.











In case you forgot or never knew, within the recent past, it was not unusual for the Herald's constipated political blog to go 2-3 days without anything, until they started posting Tampa Bay Times Buzz posts there to fill up the space.

It's the same reason they'd shove little nothings about education there as well rather than running them on an Education blog they've never started.
I wanted you to see the evidence for yourself.

A propos of the Tampa Bay Times Buzz politics blog, they finally broke their many days of silence this afternoon on the Ryan Lizza story. 

Tampa Bay Times
Buzz politics blog
Rubio distances self from unnamed aide's perceived slam on American workers
By Alex Leary, Times Washington Bureau Chief
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 1:28pm

It was so obvious what was going on, and people besides myself were asking questions publicly about whether they were ignoring the news just like Herald, whose editorial p.o.v. is stridently pro-amnesty.
Never is heard a discouraging word.

 Not even about Rubio himself:

 The Atlantic Wire
Miami Herald Is Better at Marco Rubio Damage Control Than Rubio
By John Hudson

 But eventually, they'll have to reconcile their obvious attempt to hide news from readers that deal with such an important issue, especially one where they have such a strong public point-of-view for amnesty, which has been their policy for years.

 Alfonso Chardy has churned out dozens and dozens of biased and one-sided pieces on immigration, year-after-year, as has been detailed on this blog with great specificity.
Always very sympathetic to the illegal immigrant no matter how contrived thei story.

 And almost all of the so-called "news articles" seemed like they were written and edited by Cheryl Little, the woman who arranged the dog-and-pony shows for Miami-area print and TV reporters to meet the brainy Illegal teens.

 Those carefully-arranged meetings where the parents who deliberately snuck in illegally or deliberately over-stayed their tourist visas 15-20 years ago are never asked reasonable questions by reporters about why they intentionally broke the law and refused for years to show up for Customs or ICE or DOJ meetings? 
And be asked why they never learned even a modicum of English in over 15 years?

 Those inconvenient facts and useful context that never appeared because it was likely a condition of the interviews as set-up by Little.

 Yes, Alfonso Chardy as corporate publicist not reporter, the Herald as PR agency whose job is to sell the merits of no border fences, no meaningful security measures, only unlimited cheap workers to be exploited by Florida businesses, esp. its powerful agribusiness industry.

 I have a manilla folder somewhere full of those articles as well as the one-sided Guest Op-Eds that were supposed to be contrary to the Herald's Editorial Board's pro-amnesty, look-the-other-way point-of-view, but which, amazingly, always seemed to agree with them.
What sort of crazy, free community newspaper "journalism" is that?

 If there was such a thing as an anti-Pulitzer Prize, in my opinion, the Miami Herald would be the leader of the pack among the second-tier newspapers in this country after their management's conscious decision over the past week to completely ignore important news that was already starting to come out at the end of the week.
This, even while the Herald was busy trying to lionize one of the pro-amnesty folks last Thursday in some particularly amazing logrolling by one the McClatchy's D.C. drones
"Miami’s Leon Fresco: The immigration mover and shaker you don’t know"(Pictured sitting with Schumer to show he's important! LOL!)
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/13/3450219/miamis-leon-fresco-the-immigration.html



As for the Naked Politics blog run by The Miami Herald: "The raw truth about power and ambition in Florida.'
No, not really.

 More like the late-arriving smug Conventional Wisdom that passes for intelligence in Miami but which has been off their game for many years, and which has a pro-amnesty bias so obvious that even liberals don't bother to pretend that it isn't obvious.
Look for yourself and see how right I have been about the blackout!
https://twitter.com/NakedPoliticsFL






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And a follow-up to what I wrote here a few days...
@marcorubio -No activity there since June 7th and nothing about immigration in over a month; Hmm-m.. who's really tweeting for Marco? Hallandale Beach Blog plays detective -and gets results!
Hmm-m... interesting. 
Out of curiosity, lasts Thursday night, June 13th, during halftime of Game 4 between the Heat and the Spurs, I checked @marcorubio.
It turns out that Florida's junior senator and member of the pro-amnesty Gang of Eight behind S.744, the amnesty first immigration bill, hasn't tweeted ANYTHING about immigration in well over a month. No tell-tale sign of his flip-flopping!
But tons of tweets about the Heat!

I checked again this morning after the Heat won Game 6 against the Spurs.
No change -nothing about immigration, #gangofeight, S.744

@marcorubio -No activity there since June 7th and nothing about immigration in over a month; Hmm-m.. who's really tweeting for Marco Rubio these days?
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Saturday, April 6, 2013

More tangible proof of how reluctant the news media in South Florida is to directly challenge Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and report negative news stories about her, even when there's lots of facts to back it up, including court documents. And, how desperate DWS was to have a new FL-23 that was loaded with as many Jewish voters as possible, regardless of what Broward voters actually wanted: Fair Districts

More tangible proof of how reluctant the news media in South Florida is to directly challenge Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and report negative news stories about her, even when there's lots of facts to back it up, including court documents.
Romo v. Scott court documents prove that my friends and I live in one of “the most gerrymandered congressional districts” in the U.S., FL-23, in large part because Rep.  Debbie Wasserman-Schultz laughs privately at the high-minded rhetoric of and expressed angst of Fair Districts proponents, as well as the Florida League of Women Voters, Common Cause Florida and La Raza.

She's just smart enough not to laugh at them publicly where she can be caught on camera engaging in her hypocrisy.

Despite all the proof in the world that the South Florida news media is ignoring this court case up in Tallahassee, the actual facts of this case prove rather conclusively, as I have argued and previously written here over the past few years, that regardless of the sentiment of voters, DWS wanted an un-competitive and unfair Congressional District drawn up that was loaded with as many Jewish voters as possible.

 For more on that, see my November 22, 2011 blog post titled, No Fair Districts here: Surprise! NAACP's proposed 2012 map keeps HB & Hollywood divided: Blacks given to Frederica Wilson, Jews to DWS; told ya!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/no-fair-districts-here-surprise-naacps.html

She wanted that even if that meant intentionally dividing counties, towns or precincts rather than keeping them intact, as FairDistrictsFlorida.org and Good Govt. types publicly argued for in their public redistricting campaigns of 2011-2012 for Amendment 6, which passed overwhelmingly.

But DWS didn't care a whit about what the voters of Florida and Broward wanted, she wanted a congressional district that required little personal presence or high-maintenance.
A CD which would allow her to continue to remain a prominent National Democrat figure who could fly around the country giving speeches and raising money -and appearing on TV!- NOT be burdened by old-fashioned notions of public service or or even parochial concerns like re-election.


DWS wanted what she wanted and she wanted it badly, regardless of the fact that the overwhelming majority of voters in Florida, Broward County and her own district wanted Fair Districts with reasonable standards. 
Period.
Now we know how badly she wanted it.

To configure a fanciful map to her personal liking, one that ignored the interests of citizens wanting to NOT be divided by race or ethnicity or see their community's historical integrity
sub-divided, required her & consultants and allies "to scoop as many Jews out of Tamarac and Sunrise as they can” to quote emails of Democratic Party consultants that have been released
So that's exactly what DWS did, with the stealthy cooperation of other powerful Broward Democratic pols. 

So why is the South Florida news media ignoring this? 
And, the Florida League of Women Voters, its Broward chapter and Common Cause Florida? 
Why are they so quiet about having been played for suckers by DWS and her pals?


 Washington Free Beacon
Gerrymanders Gone Wild
Dem congressmen oversaw Florida gerrymander, emails reveal 
By C.J. Ciaramella
April 5, 2013 3:29 pm

Florida Democrats coordinated with national party organizations and consultants in early 2012 to gerrymander congressional districts despite a state ban on such activities, emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.

The top state and national party leaders, including Florida congressmen Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ted Deutsch, and Alecee Hastings, signed off on the gerrymandered maps, according to the emails released during court discovery in Romo v. Scott, a legal challenge to redistricting maps that the GOP-controlled state legislature approved in 2012.
Read the rest of the article, complete with the damning emails at:

 This bit of news closely followed three weeks later with something we'd first read at Sunshine State News on March 19th, below, which we found interesting enough to send its link it along to some friends around the state as a sign that there was much more here than first meets the eye.

 Unfortunately and yet typically, the South Florida news media was doing their best to avoid reporting on, you know, like real facts from real emails that get to the heart of the matter.

 But then you already know from what I've written here so many times previously, with specific examples, how the South Florida new media is cowed by DWS and will literally jump on a thrown hand-grenade for her, in order to stay on her good side, especially the reporters and management at the Sun-Sentinel.

 Wasserman Schultz, Nan Rich, Rod Smith Tried to Gerrymander; Blamed GOP for Doing Same
By Eric Giunta
Posted: March 19, 2013 3:55 AM
Court documents obtained by Sunshine State News show that top Florida Democrats were involved in just the sort of activity they are accusing Republicans of: gerrymandering districts to increase their candidates' electoral prospects.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/debbie-wasserman-schultz-nan-rich-rod-smith-tried-gerrymander-blamed-gop-doing-same

 Curiously, at least to me, Mary Ellen Klas of the Times/Herald, subject of this post
wrote on February 4th about the facts that had emerged thus far with the GOP's efforts to ensure more GOP districts within the Sunshine State,
Emails show legislative staff and RPOF talked about redistricting despite ban
Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Monday, February 4, 2013 7:12pm
Florida’s legislative leaders appear to have authorized their staff to use private email accounts, secret “dropboxes” and to engage in “brainstorming meetings” with Republican Party of Florida consultants in attempting to draw favorable political districts, despite a constitutional ban on such coordination. 
The allegations arise from a lawsuit challenging the Senate and congressional redistricting that include emails showing how top deputies of Senate President Don Gaetz, House Speaker Will Weatherford and several of Gaetz’s consultants were in frequent contact with consultants who drafted and analyzed maps. Redistricting is done every 10 years to redraw boundaries of legislative and congresssional districts to ensure equal representation.
Read the rest of the post at:


 But Klas has written nothing at all in the two intervening months about the more recent documents released that have proven so revealing about the facts and intentions of Democrats Nan Rich, Alcee Hastings, Ted Deutsch and DWS, even while the Miami Herald's Marc Caputo has.
Naked Politics blog
Miami Herald
Insider emails show FL Democrats wanted to gerrymander redistricting just like GOP
By Marc A. Caputo
March 5, 2013
Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/03/insider-emails-show-fl-democrats-tried-to-gerrymander-redistricting-just-like-gop.html##storylink=cpy
Florida Democrats plotted with top leaders and consultants to redraw congressional districts to benefit their party, according to new court records that show they were just as interested in gerrymandering as Republicans.
Democratic-leaning groups are challenging the new congressional maps in court, saying Republicans broke a state constitutional amendment by drawing districts that favored or disfavored political parties and incumbents.
Read the rest of the post at: 
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/03/insider-emails-show-fl-democrats-tried-to-gerrymander-redistricting-just-like-gop.html#more

 Why the disparity in coverage by Klaas?

Just so you know, I've spend some time researching and now can tell you how many original news stories on the facts involved in the Romo v. Scott court case have actually appeared in the news media of her Congressional District, and specifically what DWS did.
And by original, I mean something created or produced by the actual staff of those media organizations, not the Associated Press dispatches they throw on their websites that few readers or viewers ever see:

CBS-4, NBC6, Channel 7(Fox) and Channel 10 (ABC) or the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: ZERO.
Not just ZERO each, ZERO collectively.
Welcome to the not-so-curious world of the South Florida news media of 2013! 

 Not so much watchdogs as lapdogs, esp. when it comes to DWS.

 Since they aren't inclined towards doing any old-fashioned reporting on this subject, here's a good place to start:
http://redistricting.lls.edu/cases-FL.php#FL

 As for FairDistrictsFlorida.org, whom I became very publicly disillusioned with last year after they completely failed to prepare to hold or co-host any sort of public forum in Broward County prior to visits by the traveling Florida Senate Redistricting Committee, you can see their comments here: http://www.fairdistrictsnow.org/home/
I no longer trust what they say -just like I don't trust anything said by DWS.
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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Follow-up to the Mainstream Media's scrum re Univision's attempted blackmail of Sen. Marco Rubio -man bites dog, journalism watchdog bites newspaper, NOT offending Mexican-based TV network that provoked ethical contretemps


Sen. Marco Rubio video: "We Are a Nation of Haves and Soon-to-Haves." Sen. Rubio offers his perspectives on his first year in office and the challenges that remain unsolved going into 2012. December 16, 2011. http://youtu.be/WiKrCUiP-fg
Follow-up to the Mainstream Media's scrum re Univision's attempted blackmail of Sen. Marco Rubio -man bites dog, journalism watchdog bites newspaper, NOT offending Mexican-based TV network that provoked ethical contretemps
What follows is part of an email that I sent out last Thursday as the logical if not-always well-understood follow-up to the Mainstream Media's scrum re Univision's attempted blackmail of Sen. Marco Rubio.


I originally wrote about this subject three months ago in an October 3rd post titled,
Marco Rubio vs. Univision - An attempted political smear FINALLY awakens the Miami Herald to Univision's thread-bare claim to journalism. Finalmente!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/marco-rubio-vs-univision-attempted.html


What makes this particular media case unusual is that it's a true case of 'man-bites-dog,' in that a New York-based journalism group that once upon a time enjoyed a largely esteemed reputation across the country for journalism probity and a watchdog-like concern for ethical shortcuts and laxness within the industry, has instead consciously chosen to attack a newspaper and not aim its barbs at the Mexican-based TV network that once again has revealed its true colors as a redoubt for faux-journalism that would be unacceptable in most American newsrooms, no matter how small, no matter how politically parochial.


Two days before veteran Florida reporter and institutional memory Marc Caputo's pointed rebuttal piece ran in the Miami Herald's political blog last Thursday, the following was reported in The Huffington Post, which in my experience is not always the most reliable of news sources, given its unctuous quotient. 
(I had already read the original cites before coming across this.) 

The Huffington Post
Marco Rubio And Univision Feud Sparks Disagreement Between New Yorker And Miami Herald
First Posted: 1/4/12 01:52 PM ET 
Updated: 1/4/12 06:36 PM ET
A feud between America's most prominent Hispanic Republican, Marco Rubio, and America's most popular Hispanic network, Univision, is now a debate between the Miami Herald and the New Yorker.
Last summer, Univision aired a story about the 1987 drug-trafficking bust of Rubio's brother-in-law. In October, the Miami Herald ran a front page story that Univision executives tried to blackmail Rubio with the information in exchange for his appearance on their "Meet the Press"-type show.
Read the rest of the post at:

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Miami Herald 
Naked Politics blog
Of darts and hypocrisy: CJR's falsehoods and omissions in Marco Rubio-Univision-Herald flap
Marc Caputo on January 6, 2012
After a high-profile politician repeatedly stiff-arms a TV network over an interview, the media company then dredges up a 24 year-old drug-bust story about his brother-in-law. It runs in prime time. Even its viewers bash the story.
A newspaper later reports a behind-the-scenes tussle over the story: The network's news chief allegedly offered a deal to soften or kill the drug-bust story if the politician gave the long-sought interview. The news chief denies the allegation. 
To the Columbia Journalism Review's Erika Fry, it was clear who deserved the most-jaundiced look: The newspaper, The Miami Herald & El Nuevo Herald.
Read the rest of the post at: 
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/01/after-a-high-profile-politician-repeatedly-stiff-arms-a-tv-network-over-an-interview-the-media-company-then-dredges-up-a-24.html


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The New Yorker
WAR OF CHOICE
Marco Rubio and the G.O.P. play a dangerous game on immigration.
by Ken Auletta
JANUARY 9, 2012

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http://twitter.com/marcacaputo

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Monday, October 3, 2011

Marco Rubio vs. Univision - An attempted political smear FINALLY awakens the Miami Herald to Univision's thread-bare claim to journalism. Finalmente!


Below are some excerpts from an email that I wrote on Sunday morning and distributed to all points of the compass across the country to let people know that some semblance of real enterprise reporting was observed in the Miami Herald on Sunday, albeit, incredibly, below- the-fold.
Don't hold your breath waiting for more soon, though.
That may well be it for the whole year...
They may go in-the-tank -just like the Dolphins...

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Marco Rubio vs. Univision - An attempted political smear FINALLY awakens the Miami Herald to Univision's thread-bare claim to journalism. Finalmente!


Since I returned to South Florida from the Washington, D.C. area almost eight years ago, this is the FIRST time that the Miami Herald has even remotely criticized Spanish-language TV giant Univision, which they usually promote like street-corner pimps, and have treated almost like a Latin deity or royalty, much to the chagrin of media observers like me who were paying close attention.

As I've stated previously, with apt examples when appropriate, the Herald's bias is incredible on even minor parochial issues, but when it comes to stories on immigration policy or trade with Latin America, where they are unapologetic corporate butt-kissers for anything involving imports and exports between South Florida and South America, it's completely off-the-charts.

While other news media in the rest of the country are writing about Univision's various ups-and-downs over the years as if they were a regular company, in the Herald, the editorial tone in stories about Univision always read more like the worst sort of corporate press releases, extolling Univision for their insight, their vision, their bravery, etc., when it has been anything but.

It's a typical preening, self-serving manipulative media company, nothing more.
And in its particular case, it's a Mexican company that operates as the voice of the establishment, representing Mexican business, cultural and political interests, NOT American.
¿Comprende?


Having watched it off and on for years since I was a kid growing-up down here, even before Channel 23 was a Spanish-language station -and more closely since returning to South Florida- it's by no stretch of the imagination a Mexican version of the BBC -even given the BBC's clear political news bias now- as the partisan political comments of Jorge Ramos make abundantly clear.

In that sense, it's much more like a European newspaper that attracts like-minded readers and dismissive of political non-believers or agnostics.

For my personal feelings about the relentless self-promotion, political bias and shoddy journalism of Univision and Jorge Ramos, see this three-year old story:

Broadcasting & Cable magazine
Ramos: Road to White House Runs Through Univision
Univision anchor Jorge Ramos characterizes Barack Obama as "almost spiritual" and "calm," and John McCain as "experienced" and "warrior-like."
By Mariel Bird -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/23/2008 6:11:00 PM


This bias I speak of at the Herald was so self-evident as to actually be embarrassing at times to other Herald reporters, something I know about for a fact from actually talking in-person to Herald reporters I know, when we've run into each other and nobody could eavesdrop on us.

This was esp. the case with anything related to their advertising dollars or ratings or anything that suggested or implied Univision had a special role in American politics -so over-the-top!

For years the Herald has routinely quoted Univision advertising execs -or even anchor Jorge Ramos- about how much U.S. companies were spending there and what that symbolized culturally and politically, and then in the same article, having people from those very consumer products companies being quoted about 'what it all means.'
Not surprisingly...

It was jaw-dropping how much log-rolling could appear in one story, and when you talk about columns, well, Herald editorial page editor and columnist Myriam Marquez may NEVER write about anything of particular interest to Herald readers living in Broward County -and she hasn't!- but give her a chance to smooch someone's butt who is here visiting from a Latin country and get out of her way, pronto!

For instance, her September 18th column titled, U.S. Hispanic chamber means business, is the best example I could give a stranger about how image conscious the Herald truly is.
It's positively cringe-worthy in large parts when it traffics heavily in cliches, stereotypes and name-dropping.

You don't have to live near a forest to appreciate her logrolling technique, which is far from subtle.

Returning to what I was speaking about before with the sometimes complete lack of a Chinese Wall between advertisers and editorial in Herald articles about Univision, you won't be surprised to discover that consumer product/service company PR reps inevitably have very high-minded thoughts, instead of leveling and saying, "Listen, we want their viewers to buy our detergent. A lot of it. Period."

Nothing wrong with that.
Nothing at all -it's sales.
Nothing wrong with sales.
But don't act like you're Martin Luther leading the Reformation or the head of cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
Instead though, in the Herald, the consumer narrative involving Spanish-language media companies is all about aspirations and Hispanic heritage and customs and... cue the waterworks.

To me, the best metaphor for the industry town-like kids-glove treatment would be not unlike how many people outside of California thought the LA Times dealt with the excesses of the film studios until the early 1960's -swallowing whole their absurd claims about their stars and execs, regardless of what you could clearly see for yourself.
<span class=
That's a point that was made clear in various issues of Vanity Fair magazine over the years as well as the excellent PBS documentary by Peter Jones on the LA Times and the Chandler family that ran last year, which I watched a few times - Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times. http://www.pbs.org/kcet/inventing-la/

(Yes, as in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the Oscar telecasts have taken place in LA about two-dozen times over the years.)

You can watch that film online at:

For most of the 20th century, the Times and the film studios and the affiliated entertainment industry were in the business of creating illusions, the Times about the business climate of the Southland and the other two about the real world and the world of fiction and fantasy, so scratching each other's backs, not finding facts that made ether's lives more difficult, was easier than being adversarial or territorial.

For the record, this is one of the few decent Miami Herald-originated stories they've run all year that show any genuine enterprise.
They're now so few and far between...

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Miami Herald


POLITICS
The inside story: Univision’s war with Rubio over immigration, drug report
The senator’s staff and Univision insiders say the network tried to pressure him into appearing on a show by offering to soften a story about his brother-in-law.
By Marc Caputo and Manny Garcia

Posted on Saturday, October 1, 2011

Days before Univision aired a controversial story this summer about the decades-old drug bust of Marco Rubio’s brother-in-law, top staff with the Spanish-language media powerhouse offered what sounded like a deal to the U.S. senator’s staff.

If Rubio appeared on Al Punto —Univision’s national television show where the topic of immigration would likely be discussed — then the story of his brother-in-law’s troubles would be softened or might not run at all, according to Univision insiders and the Republican senator’s staff. They say the offer was made by Univision’s president of news, Isaac Lee.

But Lee said in an email to The Miami Herald that any insinuation that he offered a quid pro quo was “incorrect” and “defamatory.”

In a written statement Friday, Lee said: “With respect to Senator Rubio, Univision covered the story in the same objective, fair manner we cover every significant story. Univision did not offer to soften or spike a story...we would not make such an offer to any other subject of a news story and did not offer it in this case.”

Rubio never appeared on Al Punto, a national political affairs program broadcast on Sundays. Univision aired the story about Rubio’s brother-in-law, a lower-level player in a 1987 coke-and-pot ring, on July 11.

"I always knew Univision to be a professional organization until this happened," said Rubio, who won’t comment specifically on the case.

POL VS. PRESS

The conflict provides a rarely seen view of a politician warring with the press, and it also underscores the highly charged issue of immigration in the Hispanic community.

Al Punto’s host, Jorge Ramos, is one of Univision’s most-recognized personalities and has advocated for the so-called “DREAM Act,” which Rubio has opposed on the grounds that it gives “amnesty” to illegal immigrants. The long-debated proposal would allow certain children of undocumented immigrants to become legalized U.S. residents.

Univision, headquartered in Doral, is a top-rated network, reaching 95 percent of the 13.3 million Hispanic households in the United States. Its ratings are tops in prime-time in such cities as Los Angeles, San Antonio and Miami — regardless of language. It recently created an investigative team.

The Rubio brother-in-law story was its first investigation. The story about Rubio and his brother-in-law was broadcast in English and Spanish on television and the web over two days.

Univision also pointed the story out to the governor, and emailed reporters from Washington to Miami to highlight “Rubio’s families ties to narco-trafficking.” Univision hyped it on Twitter with the hashtag code "#rubio, # drugs."

Mainstream media sources and bloggers barely gave it play due to the quarter century-old nature of the case and the fact it had no apparent peg to current news.

Rubio found the story — and the resources devoted to it — especially shocking. He had actually worked for Univision as a paid commentator before he ran for Senate. He announced his candidacy for Senate on Univision’s Miami affiliate.

CALL FROM HIS SISTER

Earlier in the year, Rubio’s office had planned to have a Miami Univision reporter follow him around Washington, D.C. — but Univision’s higher-ups scotched the idea as they tried to persuade Rubio to appear on Al Punto.

On the night of July 5, Rubio received a call from his sister, Barbara Cicilia. She was distraught. A Univision reporter had called her about the arrest and incarceration of her husband, Orlando Cicilia, in the 1987 federal bust called “Operation Cobra.” Rubio was 16 at the time. Before Rubio was elected to his first legislative seat, in 2000, Cicilia was cleared for early release.

Mrs. Cicilia refused comment. Univision then sent a news truck to sit outside their West Miami home.

On July 7, Alex Burgos, Rubio’s communications director, and Rubio’s political advisor, Todd Harris, held a 45-minute conference call with a handful of top Univision editorial staffers, including Lee, the news chief who handled most of the discussions for Univision. Harris represented Rubio as Burgos took notes. Rubio was not on the call.

Toward the end of the conversation, Lee brought up Ramos’ show and suggested the drug-bust story could change — or not run at all, according to Harris and Burgos’ notes.

Said Harris: “You’re saying that if Marco does an interview with Ramos, that you will drop this investigation into his family and the story will never air?"

Lee, they say, responded with this statement: "While there are no guarantees, your understanding of the proposal is fair.”

In his statement to The Herald, Lee disputes that. He said “various” people were on the call with Rubio’s staff for what he said was an “off-the-record discussion” about the story, including two of the network’s “top internal legal counsels.”

Rubio and his office initially refused to discuss any aspect of the story with The Herald. But after Univision insiders spoke about the story, Rubio and his staff agreed to speak on the record.

The Herald obtained letters from Rubio’s office to Univision in which Burgos denounced the story and reporting as “outrageous” and “tabloid journalism.” Rubio’s office confirmed their authenticity and later furnished a follow-up letter from Lee in which he again mentioned Al Punto and another show, Aqui y Ahora.

But the Univision sources, with knowledge of the discussions, affirmed Harris’ version of events.

"We were stunned,’’ one Univision executive said. "Can you imagine how embarrassing it is?"

THE GO-BETWEENS

It was also dispiriting. The employees said the story cast a pall over the Doral newsroom because this was its first investigative project, and many questioned the story’s news value.

After he learned of the story, Rubio reached out to friends for advice and numerous go-betweens at Univision.

Republican fundraiser and consultant Ana Navarro said she spoke to Univision higher-ups in hopes of killing the story. She said Rubio’s failure to appear on Ramos’ show was a deciding factor in the drug story.

Navarro was later interviewed on air by Univision, and she discounted the story along with nearly everyone else the station interviewed for reaction.

At one point, she told Rubio to see the positive political aspects of the story: It would make him look good and Univision look bad.

“Don’t you get it,” she says he told her. “This isn’t about me. It’s about the pain this causes my mother and my sister.”

Harris, Rubio’s advisor, has worked for politicians from Gov. Jeb Bush to Sen. John McCain to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on major campaigns.

He said he was so surprised by Univision’s tactics that, at one point, he confessed to Rubio that he might not be able to help.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, but the new leadership in this newsroom doesn’t play by any of the rules I’m used to,” he said. “I’m used to going to war with the media from time to time, but this new team doesn’t follow the Geneva Convention.’”

When the first story about the drug-bust broke, bloggers dismissed it as a non-story. Neither The Miami Herald nor El Nuevo Herald published the story. A New Times reporter called it “completely irrelevant.”

“Here’s a tip,” reporter Matthew Hendley blogged. “If you’re digging up dirt on a politician, try to find something a little filthier than Sen. Marco Rubio’s brother-in-law being convicted of drug-trafficking charges when the senator was a 16-year-old kid.”

Univision did find support for its report —in Scottsdale, Ariz., where an immigration-reform group called Somos Republicans took Rubio to task for saying Mexican drug-war violence had spilled into the United States.

Univision’s Maria Elena Salinas, co-host of the Aqui y Ahora show that Rubio had also rebuffed, highlighted Somos Republicans by linking to a press release via a Tweet that read: “Marco Rubio knows from experience that Mexico and undocumented are not the only source of drug activity.”

On yet another show, a Univision reporter brought up the case of Rubio’s brother-in-law during an interview with Gov. Rick Scott.

“If something happened or if they discovered something about your brother in law — this is a hypothetical case — would you resign?” a reporter asked.

“Look, I got elected because of who I am,” Scott said.

“Do you agree the public has the right to know?” she asked.

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