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Recycling Old News
Thursday, August 04, 2005   By: Juan Paxety

Vanessa Arrington and no new news

What's with Vanessa Arrington, an Associated Press reporter based in Cuba?  She has a new article published by the Detroit Free Press dated today entitled "Cuba Embargo Faces New Critics."

American liberals have long criticized the U.S. government for maintaining a Cold War-era embargo against communist Cuba. But these days, conservative American farmers, businessmen and some Republican lawmakers are just as likely to oppose the U.S. policy limiting trade with the island.

But there's no new news here. Ms. Arrington has written an article in which she simply recycles old quotes. For instance -

Detroit Free Press today:

 "Will someone please explain this policy to me?" asked Dwight A. Roberts, president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association, at a recent news conference in Havana after describing financial losses to thousands of rice growers when U.S. restrictions were tightened.

Paxety Pages July 6, quoting an L.A. Times story:

"Will someone please explain this policy to me?" Dwight A. Roberts, the Texan president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association, asked a recent news conference in Havana after describing financial losses to thousands of rice growers when U.S. restrictions were tightened.

Is there a significant word different? I even emailed Mr. Roberts and received a reply, both of which were published here.

Detroit Free Press today:

Kirby Jones, the trade association's president, likened the embargo, dating to the early 1960s, to a weighty, out-of-commission ship on a field.

"It's like a tanker that has been sitting there for 40 years," Jones said. "And you've got farmers pushing it, but it won't budge. It's entrenched."

Paxety Pages, July 6, again quoting the L.A. Times story:

Then we have Kirby Jones, president of the US-Cuba Trade Association talking about the embargo.  Read this - it has to be the worst case of mixed-metaphor I've every seen - and the reporter goes right along with it.

Kirby Jones, the trade association's president, likened the embargo, dating to the early 1960s, to a weighty, out-of-commission ship on a field.

"It's like a tanker that has been sitting there for 40 years," Jones said. "And you've got farmers pushing it, but it won't budge. It's entrenched."

A ship in a field with farmers pushing it. It's priceless and is a great example of the fuzzy thinking obviously going on in the organization

Is Ms. Arrington simply lazy and cranking out a story based on her old quotes? Or is she trying to make a political point - propaganda?

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