Homeland: One newspaper, one nation (+Audio).
Every March 14th is a source of pride for those of us who are artisans and followers of the communicative universe, and knowing that we are perennial disciples of the hero to whom we owe the connotation of this date and who became the undisputed manager of the Necessary War and spokesman of the national independence cause, is always the perfect excuse to embrace our origins and find in Patria a transcendental reference for our profession.
Photo: Taken from Internet
Every March 14th is a source of pride for those of us who are artisans and followers of the communicative universe, and knowing that we are perennial disciples of the hero to whom we owe the connotation of this date and who became the undisputed manager of the Necessary War and spokesman of the national independence cause, is always the perfect excuse to embrace our origins and find in Patria a transcendental reference for our profession.
The famous newspaper, which saw the light in 1892 and which, according to its own mentor, our Apostle José Martí, was born «at the hour of danger, to watch over freedom, to contribute to make its forces invincible by union, and to prevent the enemy from defeating us again by our disorder», brought together the sympathizers of the insurrectional gesture of Cuba and the independence of Puerto Rico, always in pursuit of gathering, loving and living in the passion of truth.
Honored for its commitment to truthfulness, its accurate social criticism and the hopeful, serene and reflective air it manifested, Patria opened its doors to great intellectuals of the Island such as Manuel Sanguily, Francisco de Paula Coronado, Diego Vicente Tejera and the poet Bonifacio Byrne, who together with the Maestro, condemned from its pages the hegemony and interference of the colonial regime and enhanced the revolutionary unity as the only way to materialize a Republic «with all and for the good of all».
Sadly, after the fall in combat of its precursor, Patria ended up succumbing to decadence and, by its decline, which took place on December 31st, 1898, it lacked the communicative acuity, the critical eye, the anti-imperialist perspective and, above all, the hyperactive and rebellious blood of its creators.
Even so, more than a century after the dawn of the organ that joined the ranks of the Liberation Army as one of its most impetuous fighters, we celebrate on Cuban Press Day the validity of this eternal bastion of our profession, encouraging its main defenders of yesterday, today and tomorrow and with the responsibility of guaranteeing an increasingly authentic, close, effective and truthful journalistic exercise.
…ONLINE AUDIO
Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.
