HAVANA (AP) — About 30 Cubans sit in a conference room for several hours each week and learn the ABCs of journalism: how to craft a news story, write a headline and check sources.
To their government, however, they are taking part in criminal activity.
It’s not just that they are studying journalism in a country where the mass media is controlled by the state, but how and where they are doing it: inside the U.S. Interests Section, the heavily guarded outpost of a government that has spent decades trying to undermine Cuba’s communist government.
Cubans take the courses in independent journalism, led by U.S. professors via video link, knowing full well that they risk harassment or even arrest.
“These courses are a very good opportunity for us, for those who don’t have any resources, who don’t have work, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that,” said Eleyn Ponjuan, a 19-year-old attending the once- a- week sessions.
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