Castro and The New York Times: An Image in Transition
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Castro and The New York Times:
An Image in Transition
CARL D. MCMURRAY
CHARLES W. DUNN
Too much of the regular output of the The impressions generated may or may
press consists of a miscellaneous SUC- not be accurate portrayals of the models.
cession of stories and images which But, accurate or inaccurate, the images do
have no relation to the typical lives of affect the way individuals the mass
people anywhere* Too Often the re- audience react to the names, statements,
sult is meaningless, flatness, distortion
and actions of “real” persons.
and the perpetuation of misunderstand-
ing among widely scattered groups, Without any effort to describe the con-
whose ollly contact is through these nection between foreign policy and public
media.l opinion, it seems reasonable to assume that
when an image of the leader of a foreign
IT IS commonplace to note that newspapers nation has been created for popular con-
and other mass media play a leading role sumption in the United States, the nature
in the development of public images of fa- of this image will influence public opinion
mous personalities. The images are cre- and consequently set limits within which
ated over a period of time through reports, policy makers must operate when dealing
apparently authoritative, which give the with that person. The exact nature of these
reading, viewing, and listening public pic- limits is not a concern in the following ac-
tures of the prominent ones in terms of count of The New York Times’ develop-
physical makeup, likes, dislikes, ideals, ment of the Castro image; but the reader
goals, and a variety of personality quirks. should recognize the potential significance
176 Spring 1967
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leader when it is interposed between the unpleasant facts are blamed on situa-
American policy makers and the uncertain tions and circumstances, not on “Fidel.”
qualities that are the “real” Castro. The final stage is a period of “agonizing
reappraisal” in which the Times’ editors
I. From “Fidel” to “Castro” enter what we designate as the “Castro”
stage, and the Timesreader is asked to re-
FEW NEWSPAPER audiences have been ject the initial image of “Fidel” and adopt
treated to an experience in image creation another. Since the “Castro” image is that
and transformation comparable to that of a Communist dictator, the reader is left
offered readers of The New York Times to wonder whether anyone still calls the
as that paper painted its changing portrait fellow “Fidel.”
of Fidel Castro. It is an obvious understate-
ment to note that the Times is not an av- 11. Stage One: The Times’ ‘%idel” Period
erage American newspaper, even if we dis-
count the size of its circulation. Not only IN FEBRUARY, 1957, the Times’ Latin
does it lay claim to printing “All the News American correspondent, Herbert L. Mat-
That’s Fit to Print,” it also enjoys a reputa- thews, gave the paper’s reading public its
tion for clean and unsensational coverage first “clear” picture of Fidel Castro-a pic-
of the news. At the beginning of each ac- ture of a folk-hero garbed in American ide-
ademic year, college professors throughout als :
the country direct new classes of students The personality of the man is overpow-
to that shortcut to scholarly research, the ering. It was easy to see that his men
Times’ Indez, and often they imply (if they adored him and also to see why he has
do not openly assert), “the Times is a caught the imagination of the youth of
newspaper of straight reporting with little Cuba all over the island. Here was an
bias.” We propose to examine this propo- educated, dedicated fanatic, a man of
sition. ideals, of courage, and of remarkable
Sidestepping the question of whether .
qualities of leadership. . . He has
strong ideas of liberty, democracy, so-
any reporting can be free of bias, we ask,
cial justice, the need to restore the con-
“Was the Times reporting of Castro’s take- stitution, hold elections.?
over in Cuba designed to create an image
of the Cuban leader that, in retrospect, had Later the same month, any claim of
little resemblance to the ‘real’ Castro?” Communist domination in the “26th of Ju-
Three stages of image development and ly Movement,” headed by Castro, was re-
transformation are examined. During the pudiated in the Times; and the counter-
first stage of image development, the claim was set forth that Castro and his men
Times’ reports fondly refer to the Cuban “are giving their lives for an ideal and for
leader as “Fidel” and repeatedly tell the their hopes of a clean democratic Cuba.”8
reader that “No one ever calls him any- When President Batista took exception to
thing else.” He is presented as a swash- these observations and charged Fidel and
buckling hero, a great humanitarian, and his brother, Raul, with having Communist
a dedicated friend of liberty. The second connections, the editors of the Times re-
stage is a transitional period in which the ported:
Timesreader is confronted with facts that ...
[It] is vital to repudiate the unwor-
do not conform to the original image; but thy accusation by President Batista that
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is the cry of all dictators, especially in good intentions of “Fidel.” The kidnap-
Latin America. .. . Neither the univer- pings are dismissed as a good old Ameri-
sity students’ movement nor the “26th can practice--n publicity stun::
of July Movement,” headed by Fidel
Castro, who is fighting a guerilla ac- It was clear that Fidel (as he is univer-
tion in the Sierra Maestra of Oriente sally known in Cuba) was doing three
Province, has any taint of communism things [when he kidnapped the forty
or pro-communism.’ men.] He was registering a protest
against American policies which he felt
Herbert Matthews and his image of Cas- favored the military dictator President
tro move to the front page of the Times Fulgencio Batista. He was showing that
in June, 1957. The Timesreader is treated he and his followers were masters in
to a glance at a “Fidel” who is loved by all the eastern third of Cuba. ... Finally,
the oppressed; indeed, he is more than he was calling attention to himself and
loved : to his cause in a spectacular way.‘
Fidel (No one ever calls him anything The day of triumph for “Fidel” is Jan-
else) is worshipped here in Oriente Prov- uary 2, 1959. President Batista has fled,
. .
ince. . [The worshippers range from] the military junta he left behind has been
poor farmers and workers to the high- rejected by the revolutionaries, and Ha-
est levels of conservative, religious el- vana prepares to welcome her bearded
ements of society, business and the pr.0- hero. As “Fidel” consolidates his power,
fessions. ... No figure has attained this the Timesreader is invited to join in the
stature in Cuba since the struggle for rejoicing, i. e., temperate rejoicing of
independence against Spain? course, since he is told, “The youthful sol-
The “Fidel” image is beginning to take diers of Fidel Castro do not drink alco-
on definite conformations. He is a free- holic beverages.”s The Tines views the fall
dom-loving, democratic idealist whose very of Batista as
name is cherished by his followers. But
wait! The picture is not yet complete.
. . . an acknowledgment to the extraor-
dinary young man, Fidel Castro, who
What of the manly arts, bravery and hu- fought against such heavy odds with
mility? Tines’ battle sketches fill in these such tenacity, bravery and intelligence
features: since his pathetically weak band of
The attackers were led by Senor Castro youths landed in Oriente Province on
with his customary dash and rash brav- Dec. 2, 1956. A great burden now falls
ery. ... [And, treating prisoners with on his shoulders. . . . The American
kindness] has helped to win for Senor people wish him and all Cubans good
Castro so extraordinary a place in the fort~ne.~
hearts and minds of Cubans and has Some two months after “the extraordi-
caused the Government’s accusations of nary young man” came to power, the
criminality and communism to be rid- Times carried an exclusive article by Mr.
iculed.s
Matthews appraising the revolution and its
Comes July, 1958. Herbert L. Matthews leader. The story is of particular interest
has received an Overseas’ Press Club since it brings into focus vital details of
Award for his Cuban reporting, the Cas- the “Fidel” portrait. In adulatory phrases
tro forces have kidnapped thirty-eight scattered across three pages, the Times-
Americans and two Canadians, and the reader is told:
178 Spring 1967
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close. He cannot bear to sit even two by persons seeking to provoke war .be-
.
feet from the person he is talking to. . tween Cuba and the Dominican Re-
His dark, rich brown eyes are hyp- public “to justify intervention in Cu-
.
notic in their intensity. . . Fidel (no ba by the United States or by the Or-
one ever calls him anything else) obvi- ganization- cif American States, we are
ously arouses all the maternal instincts going to give them a pretext, [“Fidel”]
in women. ... His followerenow al- said. ... [Moreover, he] declared that
most all Cuba-would also add that he the recent resignation of Cuba’s Chief
is a man of high moral principles and of Air Force, Major Pedro Diaz Lam,
is essentially good in the moral sense, was part of a plan to accuse Cuba of
although some worry ab.out the way in communism.’2
which the force of circumstances has
willy-nilly given him the power of a dic- After his resignation, Diaz testified be-
tator.’O fore a committee of the U. S. Congress, and
A month later in April, 1959, Fidel Cas- when asked if Raul Castro was the most
tro visited New York City and Washing powerful Communist in the new govern-
ton, D. C. He was accorded a hero’s wel- ment, he replied, “I think it is Fidel him-
come, and the Times carried a page one self.’, He also said Castro had talked to
report of his comments before a joint him “about getting rid of the banks, tak-
meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations ing land from ‘everybody’ and giving CU-
Committee and the House Foreign Affairs ba ‘a system like Russia has.’ ”13
Committee. The report held no surprises The pressure of these events-the mass
for the Timesreader. Gazing hypnotically trials, anti-American comments by Castro,
out over the Senators and Representatives and the Major’s testimony-did not lead
with his “dark, rich brown eyes,” Fidel em- the Times to abandon the “Fidel” image.
phasized several points: the Cuban revolu- After all, had not “Fidel” predicted that
tion was not Communistic, rather it was Major Diaz Lanz would say just what he
humanitarian; and the revolutionaries had did say? The extent of the continuing com-
no desire to confiscate foreign private in- mitment to this image may be measured
dustry, rather they sought increased capi- by Herbert Matthews’ rebuttal of the Ma-
talization by foreign business to bolster jor’s testimony. Under the title, “Cuba
employment.” . Has a One Man Rule And It Is Called Non-
Red,” he wrote:
This is not a Communist revolution in
111. Stage Two: any sense of the word, and there are no
The Tribulations of “Fidel” Communists in positions of control. ..
The accusations of [Major Diaz Lanz]
BY JULY, 1959, mass trials, execu,tions and .. . are rejected virtually by all
anti-U. S. statements by the Cuban leader ..
Cubans. . The use to which his defec-
tion was put in Washington has aroused
receive notice in the pages of the Times;
more bitterness and resentment against
and the editors are satisfied to carry with the United States than any event in the
minimum comment Castro’s statements history of Cuban-Amerioan relations.
about a war scare with the Dominican Re- ... The only power worth considering
public and the resignation of Cuba’s Chief in Cuba is in the hands of Premier Cas-
of Air Force, Major Pedro Diaz Lanz: tro, who is not only not Communist,
Modem Age 179
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though he does not consider it desirable confronts the fact that “Premier Castro”
in present circumstances to attack or has really been a ‘‘poor Sport’’ ever since
destroy the Reds-as he is in Position he came to power. Reporter Phillips points
to do anytime he wants?’ out:
Further on in the same article, Mr. Mat-
In the year Premier Castro has de-
thews attempted to keep alive the image
stroyed the old order: It had not been a
of a dynamic and popular leader and to CC
crime” to start a revolution in Cuba;
explain the lack of elections in Cuba. He former President Batista six years ago
echoes with obvious approval a “cry of all let Fidel Castro out of Cuba after he
dictators:” and a group of youthful revolutionaries
had staged a futile revolt July 26, 1953.
Premier Castro is avoiding elections in
Now, however, Premier Castro has
Cuba for two reasons. He feels that his
changed all that. More than 450 mem
social revolution now has dynamism
bers of the former Batista regime were
and vast popular consent and he does
tried by military courts and shot by
not want to interrupt the process. More-
the firing squads during the first
over, most observers would agree, that
months of 1959.”
Cubans today do not want elections.
The reason is that elections in the past Another example ,,f the line,, ap.
have meant to them the coming pears some two weeks later in an article by
of corrupt politicians seeking the
E. W. Kenworthy. Entitled “U. S. Goes
spoils of power?5
Slow,” the commentary mirrors in its eval-
uation of official U. S. attitudes the same
agonies of reappraisal noted in the pages
IV. Stage Three: The “Castro” Period of the Times:
THATARTICLE represented the last major In the year since Fidel Castro ousted
effort in the pages of the Times to salvage the Batista dictatorship, official feelings
“Fidel.” It is also Herbert Matthews’ last here toward the new revolutionary Gov-
exclusive on the Cuban Premier. Reports ernment of Cuba have progressed from
from Havana and associated articles are hope, to patience, to exasperation, and
now furnished by R. Hart Phillips, E. W. now to anger. ... But the anger-which
finally has been aroused by the contin-
Kenworthy, Max Frankel, and Tad Szulc.
ued propaganda charges, temper tan-
Typical of the transitional steps toward the trums, studied insults, excesses and il-
“Castro” image is an illustrated article, legalities-is being kept under firm
“As Castro Speaks: The Wall! The Wall!” control.18.
in the Sunday magazine section, Decem-
ber 13, 1959. The author, Tad Szulc, says The Times’ “Castro” of 1960 is an increas-
that “Marxist ideas” dominate official ingly controversial figure. But, some things
thinking in Cuba and critics of Castro and do not change. At the annual meeting of
his policies are “tabbed as colonialists, im- the American Society of Newspaper Editors
perialists, counter revolutionaries, traitors in Washington, D. C., Herbert L. Matthews
or worse.’y1s gropes desperately for someone other than
On the first anniversary of the collapse the Cuban leader to blame for the evolving
of the Batista puppet government, an ap- crisis. From the Times’ account of his
praisal of Castro’s year in power is made statement at the meeting:
280 Spring 1%7
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ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITEDMr. Matthews said there was real dan- did not merit the support or friendship
ger to Cuba and the United States in of the United States. ... Herbert L.
the revolution. But he said the menace Matthews of the New York Times, more
to this country had been exaggerated. than any other U. S. writer, sold Amer-
.. . [He] found no sign that Commu- icans, including the State Department?
nists dominated the Castro program but on the idea that Dr. Castro was a
that the leadership of the movement bright-eyed idealist and the savior of
was characterized by “extreme nation- his people.22
alism and radicalism”. ... “In my thir-
The Ambassador also revealed that his
ty years on the N.Y. Times I have nev-
er seen a big story so badly handled
successor, Earl F. Smith, had been in-
and so misinterpreted [by others?] as structed to consult with Mr. Matthews be-
the Cuban rev01ution.”~~ fore taking his post?3 The Timesreader
must have wondered in what editorial lim-
Following official U. S. announcement, bo these news scraps had been hung dur-
July 8, 1960, of the 856,000 tons cut from ing the previous year.
the Cuban sugar quota, Castro charged the An editorial in the same issue reviews
United States with trying to destroy the Cu- the deterioration in relations between the
ban revolution.20 A month later he an- U. S. and Cuba and attempts to summa-
nounced the seizure of all remaining U. S. rize the popular attitude in the U. S. to-
private property in Cuba, and his govern- ward the Cuban revolution. Reduced to its
ment cracked down on the transmission of essence, the editorial states: “The tragedy
critical news items from Cuba by foreign of it is that the American government and
reporters. News which could not be smug- American people fully sympathized with
gled out or written up outside the country the original ideals and purposes of the Cas-
as “off the scene” articles and editorials tro revolution.yy24The writer fails to note
became quite bland. that the sympathy Americans had for the
Indicative of the state of the news dur- ideals and purposes of the Cuban revolu-
ing this period is an August 7 report from tion reflected their sympathy for ideals
Havana by R. Hart Phillips. No attempt is and purposes similar to those pictured by
made to assess the situation in Cuba, and the Times as belonging to the revolution.
the only descriptive reference to Castro is Certainly, the tragedy of disillusionment
the comment, “The Premier looking drawn among Timesreaders might have been mit-
and tired opened his address with an ap- igated if they had been given a more bal-
peal to Latin-American nations to unite anced choice of interpretations of the Cu-
against Yankee imperialism.yy21 ban revolution.
Although “exclusive, authoritative and “Castro” graciously removed from the
informative” articles by Herbert Matthews Timed staff the responsibility for pinning
011 Fidel Castro are gone from the pages the Marxist label on him. This he did him-
of the Times, Matthews’ name is not. On self over Havana TV when he affirmed: “I
August 13, the paper carries an interview absolutely believe in Marxism. ... Marx-
with former U. S. Ambassador to Cuba ism or scientific socialism has become the
(1953-57), Arthur Gardner. Ambassador revolutionary movement of the working
Gardner said : class.’y25
[I] attempted to convince the State De- The “Castro” image could now be com-
partment that Premier Fidel Castro pleted. The Times had started with the por-
talked and acted like a Communist and trait of an educated and dedicated “Fidei”
Modem Age 181.1
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manitarianism and a strong sense of dem- sketches of "Fidel":
ocratic morality; but through the pressure
of events this image was retouched to crc- The rexolutionary Cuban government
has now been placed squarely and offi-
ate an impression of a power-mad dictator
cially the path to Communism~,
who turned his country into a Communist Premier Fidel Castro in announcing
camp. A final tinting of the portrait of this during one of his interminable
ucastro~~ is made after his profession of television speeches stated his firm per-
sonal belief in Marxism-Leninism. The
attachment to Marxist doctrine. Fittingly new monolithic type party. . is appar-.
enough, this final act is performed on page ently ready to be set up.26
'Commission on Freedom of the Pres, A Free
and Responsible Press (Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 19471, p. 68.
-
*-
-'1
,July 4, 1959, p. 1, col. 3.
, July 15, 1959, p. 1, col. 2.
,July 16, 1959, p. 1, col. 2.
'The New York Times, February 24, 1957, p. 1, 7bid.
col. 5. Footnotes indicate page and column where -
6
1 ,December 13, 1959, sec. 6, p. 11.
the story originates. -'1 , January 2, 1960, p. 3, col. 5.
a- ,February 27, 1957, p. 1, col. 7. *- ,January 17, 1960, sec. 4, p. 7, col. 2.
'- ,March 5, 1957, p. 24, col. 3. -
9
1 ,April 22,1960, p. 18, col. 1.
-6 ,June 9, 1957, p. 1, col. 4. 1
0
- ,July 8, 1960, p. 1, col. 4.
Vbid. =- , August 7, 1960, p. 1, col. 8.
-7 ,July 6, 1958, sec 4, p. 4, col. 5: =- , August 12, 1960, p. 5, col. 5.
8- ,January 28,1959, p. 1, col. 7. ?bid.
-p ,January 2,1959, p. 24, col. 2. "Ibid., p. 18, col. 1.
'0- ,March 8,1959, sec. 6, p. 22. =- ,December 2, 1961, p. 3, col. 4.
1
'- , April 18, 1959, p. 1, c d . 8. =- , December 4, 1961, p. 36, col. 2.
182 Spring 1967
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