It's official, Herald is a mouthpiece for castro

Yesterday Humberto Fontova from Babalu blog posted an interesting item about the Herald's web site. It's an article there from ACN. ACN is one of Cuba's many official "news" outlets. That is to say that it's controlled by the government (and communist party) and serves only to put out official regime propaganda.

It's interesting that the article is being hosted in a directory that seems reserved for Associated Press items:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/AP/story/969447.html

Herald.com has republished this item that originated in the regime as if it were news from a credible source and, in fact, a reader might believe it's coming from the Associated Press.

Many who blog and care about Cuba often allege that lazy journalists pick up items from the Cuban "news" services (Castro's public relations agencies) and make a minor modification and publish them. This takes the cake. Herald.com is hosting an article produced 100% by the regime without any disclaimer whatsoever as to the validity of the source. I'm sure most readers have no idea what ACN is and assume that it's one of the many partners of the Herald who provide legitimate content.

I did a search for other ACN content at Herald.com and found that this wasn't an isolated incident. Here's several articles from ACN currently being hosted by Herald.com:

Safer houses for hurricane victims in Cuba

Tobacco Harvest in Pinar del Rio in Final Stage

Fidel Castro: I was right about baseball tourney

Fidel Castro writes about Cuban baseball team

Remains of the Yucatan meteorite found in Cuba

The Arab Union of Cuba to celebrate its 30th anniversary

I've put in an email to Executive Editor of the Herald and the Online Editor asking them when the Herald became an official distributor of regime propaganda.