Few months ago I interviewed Fernando Ravsberg for OnCuba magazine, at that time he was still the standing BBC correspondent on the island. A few days ago Fernando announced that the English corporation BBC closed his blog “Letters from Cuba” because the reporter did not admit certain changes that the editors intended to do in a post where Ravsberg was not accommodating to American politics.
The explanation of the BBC has been “we feel the need for this blog to evolve. We, among other things, want that these voices are not only journalistic …”
Fernando Ravsberg has been a correspondent in Cuba for more than 20 years and Letters from Cuba is the BBC blog with more readers and more comments. We spoke with Fernando about his departure from the BBC Mundo; we share with you his comments.
The BBC has just closed the blog Letters from Cuba on its website. What happened?
Actually it was a disagreement between editors and me regarding my post “The Mote in Another’s Eyes” I was asked to change it, I refused and posted it on my personal page . A week later I was officially notified that Letters from Cuba was no longer part of the BBC Mundo.
However, in the interview that I did to you recently, you were saying that in the BBC, which is a public medium, it was easier to maintain your principles to work in Cuba as elsewhere, respecting the maxim of honest journalism. You told me “in the BBC there is a less rigid line that allows you to work more freely,” What was it that changed?
I still believe that in the public media the editorial space is much larger and more flexible than in private or institutional ones. That does not mean it is a bed of roses, for the 20 years that I worked with BBC I had countless discussions based on different viewpoints, it is the logical dynamic of work . However, until now they had never questioned anything that I published on the blog. I do not know what it was that changed but I know it was not the form, content or style of my post.
Letters from Cuba has great popularity with a huge number of followers; I dare say you are the more often read foreign correspondent in Cuba, what has the impact been after you posted the story?
I was very happy that many people came to recognize my work, some readers who had never written in it decided to do so and also many people who think differently from me, but believe that this space is useful. There was support from all over the world but I really felt a great affection of Cubans, giving flesh to that that love is repaid with love.
The extremists of the left and right could not hide their joy but if you look at the weight of the comments they are a tiny part. However, they should be very satisfied with the ousting of Letters from Cuba from BBC Mundo. It was a task in which politicians from both ends worked together.
What will Fernando Ravsberg do now?
Right now, I will continue my personal www.cartasdesdecuba.com page where our readers can keep on reading my post on Thursdays and also others that are interesting. Since the closure of the BBC blog we haven’t stopped growing, it is logical, somehow I was competing with myself. I still write for the Público digital newspaper from Spain, I teach post-graduate courses in a European university and in other Latin American one and I have a couple of projects but for now I won’t talk about them.
Author
Tahimi Arboleya
Hola Fernando,
He leido tus “Cartas desde Cuba” desde 2008, entonces soy una lectora muy interesada en tus articulos sobre Cuba. Pero que pasa ahora?? En esta entrevista con OnCuba dices que “I will continue my personal http://www.cartasdesdecuba.com page where our readers can keep on reading my post on Thursdays”. But when I try to open this page, it is closed : “This Account Has Been Suspended”.
Que pasa?
How can I find your articles on Internet??
Best regards Marit Stray (Norway)