Elian Gonzalez
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Journalism Law and Ethics
Professor:
The saga of Elian Gonzalez would long be remembered in the United State of America. It was the gruesome story of a six -year -old boy who survived a boat wreck, while seeking refuge in the United States with his mother. The fate of the mother was short of her son’s. Elian’s misfortune out at sea appeared to be an audition for the short-lived moments he shared before television cameras.
The first amendment rights, has endowed the media with the freedom of speech. That free expressions has also given the general public the right to stay informed about the issues that are relative to the average citizen. The challenge of the media is to be as objective as possible. Affiliates of the industry are chartered to tell the truth regardless of the consequences.
It is true that the boy was found in open sea, and it is also true that he suffered the lost of his mother. But it is difficult to figure out the statements made by members of the Cuban American community and his relatives in Miami, of the ill treatment he was exposed to in Cuba. The media fed into this notion, they printed and broadcasted on these assumptions. The New York Times portrayed Juan Miguel Gonzalez (the boy’s father) as a puppet of the Cuban government and said it is because he is being brainwashed he has decided to stay in his native land. On arrival on United States soil the six -year-old child was in perfect health physically and mentally, even though he had been in open seas for about two days. It was the way in which the media covered the story that gave the illusion of an infected situation.
Many newsrooms were anxious to tell the ultimate story of Elian and his new experience in the United States. The boy’s place of temporary residence was under media surveillance for at least 20 hours a day. It was calculated, that by March 27, 2000 almost 12,000 articles on political policies that surround the story were printed, not one of these stories focused on a direct conversation with the young Mr. Gonzalez. It would take ABC and Diane Sawyer to attempt to clarify and amend the media’s approach to the story. But in their quest to minimize or stay away from political connotation, they couldn’t.
On the ABC presentation that aired on March 27th, 2000 of Good morning America, the headline read, “Six- Year-Old Cuban Boy Talks About How He Survived Shipwreck That Took His Mother’s Life”. The anchor for that segment was Diane Sawyer and the reporter was Joel Segal. The headline suggested that the public would be presented for the first time, with a first hand account on how the boy defied death, and was delivered from his ordeal on day as significant as Thanks Giving Day.
Instead Walters injected her opinions and utilized comments from political heads and groups, of the future of the child, whether he should stay in the United States or return to Cuba. She used a quote from the President of Cuba, Fidel Castro were he denounced the interview as a “desperate attempt” to “ make the boy talk because the cause is lost; because the time to turn over the child is nearing” Using this political statement from the labeled “communist leader” could only spark conflict among Cuban-American citizens who have little or no regard