Cuban blogger recognised

Thirty-four-year-old Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez was one of four journalists honored yesterday at the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes given by Columbia University’s School of Journalism.

As CPJ reports

Sánchez writes the blog Generación Y, which, along with six others, is hosted by the German-based portal Desde Cuba (From Cuba). The blog records her observations on politically motivated arrests, food shortages, and problems in Cuba’s renowned education and health systems, among other things. Recognized as the pioneer of the Cuban independent blogosphere, Sánchez describes herself as a Cuban citizen writing about what she sees everyday.

Unfortunately the Cuban authorities would not let her travel to New York to collect the award

Internet under threat in Cuba

Cuba is once again cracking down on the internet.

This from Marc R. Masferrer via Global voices online

Apparently not satisfied with Cuba being only the 4th worst place in the world to be a blogger, the Castro dictatorship has cracked down on one of the few ways most Cubans can use to access the Internet.
Cubans, including superstar blogger Yoani Sanchez, had been able to buy access cards that they then could use at Internet cafes located in tourist hotels. But reports are now that Cubans are now barred from buying the cards.
Another Cuban blogger, Claudia Cadelo, told CubaEncuentro.com, said now Cubans "have to ask a foreigner to buy the car, and then enter the hotel with them to get access with a laptop, via wi-fi, from the lobby."

Winds of change for journalists in Cuba

Thought of as one of the most repressive places for the media,Cuba is undergoing vast changes as it gears up to life without Fidel Castro.

The country's media is tightly controlled by the state apparatus and journalists operate within strict guidelines which include laws restricting anti government propaganda and insulting officials.

Reporters without frontiers say the following

Despite hinting at the possibility of a limited opening and adopting a few measures to relax economic control, the Council of State’s new president has not loosened the state’s tight grip on news and information. The transition period and Raúl Castro’s first few months in sole charge saw continuing harassment of independent journalists including police brutality, summonses and searches by State Security (the political police) and detention for short periods. Nineteen of the journalists arrested during the March 2003 “Black Spring” continue to serve jail terms ranging from 14 to 27 years in appalling prison conditions. With a total of 23 journalists detained, Cuba is the world’s second biggest prison for the media, after China.

Yet some bloggers are becoming optimists of the future.One who blogs from Havana says

Cuba’s publicly owned print and broadcast media seem to be on a slow path to improvement, delving into subjects that were previously taboo

and describes the summer's Congress of the Cuban Journalists Association which was last held nine years ago as a forum for new ideas

What was most refreshing about the presence of so many authorities was that they spent their time listening attentively to the concerns of the country’s media professionals

A long way to go perhaps but a starting point none the less