Doug Knight
el diario/LA PRENSA
345 Hudson Street 13th Floor
New York, 10014
Dear. Mr. Knight:
We, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, are deeply dismayed by the recent action of Knight Paton Media in censoring an opinion column written for El Diario/la prensa by Cuban President Fidel Castro -- a column that your own editor, Gerson Borrero, requested from the Cuban leader.
Castro is no doubt viewed as a dictator by many in this country and by many of our own members in NAHJ. But it is our job as American journalists to defend the right of all individuals to speak freely, no matter how much we might disagree with their message. As far back as the Associated Press case of 1945, the Supreme Court ruled that the first amendment "rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the people." Back in the 1930s, William Randolph Hearst, then owner of the biggest chain of newspapers in the United States, regularly published opinion columns by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, even by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Hearst did not agree with much of Mussolini’s and Hitler’s views, but he understood that only through the free and open exchange of divergent perspectives can a democracy prosper.
We are further angered by the fact that your act of censorship has led to the resignation of Gerson Borrero as editor. Mr. Borrero is a veteran journalist who has always been an outspoken advocate of giving voice to the voiceless sectors of our society, and of promoting the open debate of opposing views. For a company that has only recently taken over the reins of this city’s oldest Spanish-language newspaper, your killing of the Castro column sets a terrible precedent. Will the Diario soon become a paper where only opinions and news reports approved by its owners can be published? If so, the Latino community and all New Yorkers will be the losers. We urge you to reconsider this violation of journalistic ethics and apologize to Mr. Borrero and your readers.
Sincerely,
Juan Gonzalez
NAHJ President
CC: Stephen Rader, Clarity Partners
