CNN executives came to Miami on Friday to discuss with Cuban exile leaders the network's intention to set up a bureau in Havana.
``It wasn't a lobbying mission,'' said Tom Johnson, CNN's president and chief executive. ``Basically, we came to listen to and answer any questions they might have about us. We want to establish lines of communication.''
Accompanying Johnson were Eason Jordan, executive vice president of CNN International; Bernard Shaw, news anchor; and Larry Register, the network official in charge of negotiating the bureau arrangement with Washington and Havana.
The four met privately at a Westchester restaurant with U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, both Miami Republicans, and with Francisco Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation.
After the meeting, Ros-Lehtinen said the two legislators criticized CNN's past Cuba coverage for being ``liberally partial to [President] Fidel Castro.''
CNN reports ``exaggerate the [Cuban] government's cosmetic reforms . . . never tell about political prisoners, and ignore dissidents,'' she said.
Johnson defended CNN but said that more could be done.
``I categorically reject the notion that we are soft in our reporting, but there are many stories about Cuba that need to be covered and that's why we hope to have a permanent bureau there,'' he said, adding that ``our coverage has been fair and balanced.''
Foundation President Hernandez said later that he sees CNN's permanent presence in Cuba as ``a favorable development. The more we know about the reality in Cuba, the better. But it shouldn't be exclusive. [Washington and Havana] must give an opportunity to other journalistic enterprises.''
The meetings were held at a time when Washington is debating whether to issue CNN a license to open a bureau in Havana. In November, the Cuban government gave CNN the green light, paving the way for it to become the first U.S. news agency since 1969 to station reporters and editors on the island.
The U.S. government has postponed a decision on issuing the license, concerned that the Castro government might begin to ``pick and choose'' representatives from other U.S. media.
The White House is considering whether to insist that a group of news organizations, The Herald among them, be included in any agreement benefiting CNN.
After CNN's announcement in November, Herald Publisher David Lawrence Jr. wrote several letters to officials in Washington asking that The Herald be included ``in the first wave of any negotiation involving news agencies in Cuba.''
Johnson initially interpreted the letters as an attempt by Lawrence to block CNN's bid to Havana.
Not at all, Lawrence said Friday, after he and other executives of The Herald and El Nuevo Herald met with the CNN visitors.
``The position of The Herald and El Nuevo Herald is clear -- the same as it was before,'' he said. ``We have no opposition to CNN having a bureau in Cuba. Indeed, we believe that news media from this country should be able to report from Cuba.''
Lawrence went on to say that ``The Herald, with its decades of coverage of Cuba and [considering] the fact that 55 percent of all Cuban Americans live in South Florida, ought to be there early. Immediately, if possible.''
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald