More than 29,000 people were trained to enhance their skills in the field of communication, as part of the national preparation for the entry into force today of the Social Communication Law, the first legal proposal on this matter in Cuba.
In the new construction of the future, communication is not only a tool of power, but an essential pillar for the strengthening of the democratic system, so that public management will gain in transparency and accessibility.
The document, approved last year by the National Assembly of People's Power and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic, aims to regulate the Social Communication System for the strategic and integrated management of social communication processes, as well as to establish the principles of organization and operation for all communication media in the country.
In the television program Mesa Redonda, the details related to the application of the regulation were clarified by the directors of the Institute of Information and Social Communication (ISC), Belkis Pérez Cruz, vice-president; Anamaris Solórzano Chacón, general director of Organizational and Community Communication; Isidro Betancourt Silva, deputy general director of Media Communication; and Lorayne Izquierdo O'Farril, deputy general director of Advertising and Sponsorship.
Below, Granma offers a summary of the regulations.
IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE THE DOCUMENTS
In the television space, reference was made to three areas: organizational, media and community, and how the Law contributes to improve this system to determine the roles and responsibilities of institutional communicators.
Since the implementation of the law, internal and external communication in the entities must be better managed and reach the public with a clear and understandable discourse. It is not enough to have communication management documents if they do not have a practical output.
With the purpose of deepening community communication, both in the physical and digital space, a workshop on Community Communication will be held at ICS on October 28 and 29.
89% OF THE MUNICIPALITIES HAVE TRAINED FORCES FOR IMPLEMENTATION
In recent months, procedures have been defined to enrich this process, with visits to more than 160 municipalities throughout the country, to promote exchanges on the law in different state agencies and entities. In addition, work was intensified to complete the ISC staff, which is now at 90%.
Although the process started from scratch, there are now provincial directors and chiefs or specialists who can begin work in 89% of the municipalities.
In addition, the socialization of the new law has involved universities throughout the country, marking a significant step towards the creation of a specialty in Community Communication, and the Communication Education Program has been promoted, with the objective of developing communication skills in the population and explaining the fundamentals of the new law.
Training was provided to the Council of Ministers, a preparation that is complemented by the development of a specific module for teachers, a television program on social communication, a seminar for media managers, etc.
THE SOCIAL COMMUNICATION CONSULTING SERVICE
Social organizations, state entities and legally constituted institutions are in charge of requesting social communication consulting services from economic actors; each request must include a detailed list of the services required and a clear explanation of the scope of these services, as well as the areas that will benefit from them.
The Institute of Information and Social Communication is in charge of reviewing these requests. If it detects any inconsistencies, it returns the document to the applicant, who has ten working days to correct and resubmit the request.
It will also be necessary to update the national registers of websites and serial publications. The Law establishes that this registration should not be seen as a mere regulation, but as an opportunity to access significant benefits; for example, obtaining the SCCS, an international code that allows global recognition of serial publications, is an advantage that can enhance the visibility and legitimacy of communicative initiatives.
As for the dissemination process, the owner of the radio, television, news agencies, print or digital media must request authorization from the president of ISC, Alfonso Noya Martínez; likewise, to put up a billboard, a hanging or a poster, they must go to the ISC website and fill out the form to request such authorization.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPONSORSHIP AND ADVERTISING
According to the ICS website, advertising is the form of communicative production, for commercial purposes, developed by the different economic actors legally recognized in the country, as part of their marketing plan.
However, sponsorship is the exchange relationship through which the sponsored party receives from a person or organization a financial contribution of goods or services and, in return, the sponsor obtains notoriety and diffusion of its name, brand, product or service.
In the Law it is allowed for cultural, scientific, professional and social activities. With the regulations and all the regulations established, the aim is to ensure that this whole process is gradual, orderly and rational.
OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION, ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
• The director of each fundamental means of social communication is ultimately responsible for compliance with its editorial policy and for ensuring the participation of its professionals and audiences in the management of the priorities of that policy.
• The request for information from journalists and directors of media organizations is considered omitted when, after being received by the directors, officers and employees of the organs, agencies and entities of the State, there is no confirmation of receipt within a period of up to three working days.
• If the party obliged to provide the information denies the request for it, it notifies the interested party of its decision in writing, within three working days from the moment it becomes aware of the request from the journalists and managers of the media organizations.
• The request for information omitted or denied to journalists and directors of media organizations, pursuant to the provisions of Article 12 of the Law of Social Communication, may be claimed before the immediate superior authority of the director, officer or employee of the organs, agencies and entities of the State to which it is made.
• The Institute of Information and Social Communication has the Council of the Country Brand, an entity empowered to authorize the use of this sign and exercise its promotion, protection, administration, control and defense in the national territory and abroad.
• Advertising respects the historical and cultural identity of the Cuban people, the values of the socialist society, promotes inclusion, as well as the national interests and those of the different economic actors.
• The directors, officials and employees of the organs, agencies and entities of the State respond to requests for information with immediacy, timeliness, transparency and truthfulness, particularly in the case of facts and situations that, due to their nature, sensitivity and public connotation, require urgent communication with the population.
• The request for rectification or clarification is submitted in writing, either printed or digital, within seven working days after the content is disclosed. If the plaintiff needs the content disclosed as evidence, the term to claim is extended up to ten working days.
