Raymont Claims American Press Improving Hemisphere Coverage

United States press coverage of the April Cuban invasion was a "great flasco," but the quality of reporting from Latin American is gradually improving, Nieman Fellow Henry Raymont said last night.

Raymont, a Latin America correspondent for United Press International, declared that "interpretive reporting is creeping in" to replace the superficial and incomplete accounts that have usually characterized the American press.

"Dealing with an issue as explosive as Cuba becomes a soul-searching experience," Raymont explained at a panel discussion sponsored by the Latin American Association and the International Relations Council.

"The reporter develops a feeling of great responsibility," he continued, "because the news he sends forms the basis for speeches and policies."

Raymont added that one of the chief defects in U.S. reporting has been the use of "Cold War language" instead of "the more detached, cautious and balanced" style of European news agencies.

His fellow-panelist, Bertram Johansson of the Christian Science Monitor, asserted that the traditionally poor showing of the U.S. on Latin American news is a result of publishers giving the public "the sensationalism they think it wants."

"The day is long since past for Americans to wake up to the serious social and economic problems of Latin America," he said, but the "information curtain" has hindered this process.