TV Martí
TV Martí is a U.S. government-funded television service aimed at broadcasting news and information to Cuba, initiated in the spring of 1990 following earlier radio efforts under Radio Martí, which began in 1985. The initiative was part of a broader strategy to provide alternative information to the Cuban population amidst the government's tight control over media. Despite significant investments and efforts, TV Martí's broadcasts face continuous jamming by the Cuban government, which often transmits alternative programming on the same frequencies.
The service primarily broadcasts in Spanish and includes daily newscasts, which are also accessible via satellite and the internet. Although TV Martí is considered a potential source of information for Cubans, its actual viewership on the island is estimated to be very low due to these signal disruptions. The U.S. government oversees TV Martí through the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which was established to manage international broadcasting efforts more effectively. Despite criticisms regarding the balance and objectivity of its content, TV Martí remains a focal point in the U.S.-Cuba media landscape, symbolizing ongoing tensions regarding information freedom and government control.
TV Martí
Identification A television station created by the U.S. government to provide news and current affairs programming to Cuba
Date Began broadcasting on March 27, 1990
Place Miami, Florida
The Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which operates Radio Martí and Television Martí (named for Cuban independence leader José Martí), was created by the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act of 1983 to focus on Cuban domestic and international news and information that is not reported by the government-controlled media in Cuba.
Prior to the 1980’s, the U.S. government tried its hand unsuccessfully at broadcasting to Cuba but, in 1981, President Ronald Reagan declared that it was his administration’s intention to establish a Radio Free Cuba that was modeled on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. With the success of Radio Martí, which began broadcasting in 1985, Congress requested that the feasibility of a television service be explored. TV Martí began broadcasting in the spring of 1990. Almost since its first broadcast, the Cuban government has continuously jammed its signals, especially those on medium wave, but that government’s most effective interference has been to transmit alternate programs on the same AM frequency used by Radio Martí.
With the International Broadcasting Act, signed on April 30, 1994, Bill Clinton’s administration consolidated U.S. international broadcasting operations under an International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) and created a new Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) with oversight authority over all civilian U.S. government international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio and TV Martí. The IBB and the BBG are independent federal entities spun off from the now defunct U.S. Information Agency when it was abolished in 1999 and several of its functions, excluding radio broadcasting, were absorbed by the U.S. Department of State.
National Public Radio’s On the Media noted that while the United States “has spent close to a half billion dollars on TV and Radio Marti, the Cuban government has managed to effectively block the transmission signal,” at least for television, and that “viewership on the island is estimated to be a third of one percent.” TV Martí broadcasts daily programs in Spanish via two aerostats located ten miles above Cudjoe Key, Florida. It airs half-hour early and late evening newscasts, but the channel is also carried on DirecTV, which is pirated by many Cuban civilians, and on the Internet. A low-power Miami television channel, WPMF-TV, carries TV Martí’s half-hour-long early and late evening newscasts. During the 1990’s, both Radio and TV Martí reported on the harassment, detention, arrest, and incarceration of independent Cuban journalists.
Impact
TV Martí remains a threat to the Cuban government, which continues to insist that American penetration of its airwaves violates international law. In 1999, the inspector general of the U.S. Department of State told Congress that the Radio and TV Martí stations had “problems with balance, fairness, objectivity and adequate sourcing that impacted credibility.”
Bibliography
U.S. Congress. House. Committee on International Relations. Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Overview of Radio and Television Martí. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2003.
Youm, Kyu Ho. “The Radio and TV Martí Controversy: A Re-Examination.” International Communication Gazette 48, no. 2 (1991): 95-103.