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How She Did It: Yoani Sánchez Launches Cuban News Outlet 14ymedio

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This article is more than 9 years old.

A groundbreaking Cuban journalist and entrepreneur, Yoani María Sánchez Cordero gained international recognition for her depiction of Cuban life under its present government -- observed with a critical eye. Listed as one of TIME's 100 most influential people in 2008, Sánchez has been praised for practicing "under the nose of a regime that has never tolerated dissent ... what paper-bound journalists in her country cannot: freedom of speech."

Sánchez achieved such acclaim and a worldwide following through her blog, Generación Y. Available in 17 languages, Sánchez overcame the obstacles presented by Cuban censorship by emailing the blog entries to friends living outside Cuba, who would subsequently post them online. US President Barack Obama proclaimed that her blog  "provides the world a unique window into the realities of daily life in Cuba" and praised her efforts to "empower fellow Cubans to express themselves through the use of technology."

Now, Sánchez has launched 14ymedio, a digital news outlet born out of her efforts to enact social change within Cuba and beyond.

I interviewed Sánchez recently, in order to learn more about her fascinating journey from Cuban public figure to international media entrepreneur, becoming a force for change.

Tiffany Pham: What inspired you to enter into the world of journalism and start your own impactful blog, as well as the first independent digital media outlet in Cuba?

Yoani Sánchez: I started my blog, Generation Y, in 2007, after Fidel Castro retired from the political scene in Cuba. I thought that, finally, Cubans were going to be able to have an opportunity to demand change in their political system. My blog became a way for me to exercise my civic duty of advocating for change on the island.

There was always a desire to make the blog something bigger, to make it a daily news outlet. After building such an important following, I knew that it was time to transition my work from a personal narratives about daily life in Cuba into something much bigger, led by a collective effort. That’s when 14ymedio was born.

Pham: What was your plan of action once you decided to launch 14ymedio?

Sánchez: We hoped to create with 14ymedio a new type of journalism in Cuba, one based on facts and figures instead of propaganda.

We first needed to proof our concept. We had to show that it was in fact possible to create a daily news outlet from the country with the least internet penetration in the Western Hemisphere.

The first thing we did was assemble a team of reporters throughout the island that would have the courage to write about the realities in Cuba. It was also important to have a small team outside of Cuba to support us by uploading our articles into a CMS and helping coordinate our social media efforts.

We also needed a catchy name and brand that would represent a new way of doing things in Cuba. We were founded in the 14th floor of a Soviet-era building in Havana in 2014. I made my voice heard to the world through a blog that carries the letter “Y” in its name - Generation Y. Cuban wit makes us prone to puns - medio is the Spanish word for media. Put all three together and you get 14ymedio. 

We also invested in building a CMS that would support our needs and ensure that we could have a reliable place to host our website. We created a CMS that would allow for a variety of offline tools to accommodate the lack of internet connectivity on the island.

With a team, brand identity, and a website, we were able to get to work and begin reporting daily news out of Cuba. Now our goal is to grow. We are in the midst of closing content sharing agreements with other news sites (such as MOGUL) increasing the number of reporters and correspondents, looking into ways to create new revenue streams, investing in social media to grow our brand, and looking to expand our reach inside and outside of the island.

We are at a crossroads with 14ymedio right now. It's an exciting time to be a part of this endeavor!

Pham: What are some of the personal and professional challenges you have faced in building such a renowned yet controversial media outlet?

Sánchez: Producing a daily news outlet from an island with limited internet connectivity and continuous censorship is incredibly challenging.

The first challenges we overcome is that of censorship and repression. We are currently blocked inside of Cuba, so our users on the island must access our content through proxies and offline versions of our site being shared through USBs. Oftentimes our reporters are brought into questioning by State Security officials and intimidated for working with 14ymedio.

We also face serious connectivity issues. In Cuba, it is not possible to have an open internet connection in your home like in the United States. We operate with a basic email service that has strict quotas and limits on attachment file sizes. When we do connect to the internet, we are forced to pay 5 USD/hour (average salary in Cuba is 20 USD/month) at a hotel and even there many websites are blocked and the speed is incredibly slow. We are what you call an offline newsroom.

Our team, while incredible in their work ethic and commitment to our mission, are not all trained to be journalists. Professional journalists choose not work with 14ymedio because of fear of repression against themselves or their family. So we must work with what we have, if an engineer who wants to have his voice heard wants to work with 14ymedio, we’ll take him and work with him to make sure they can produce quality journalism. For us, passion and deep belief in our mission is very important and we are constantly striving to train our reporters to do better journalism.

Lastly, we face constant distribution challenges inside Cuba. We hope to one day be able to reach a wider number of Cubans on island but our site continues to be blocked. However, nothing is more attractive than what is prohibited. Cubans living on the island access our content daily through anonymous proxies, offline versions of our full site that are uploaded to USBs and through our RSS feeds.

Pham: What do you see as the future of 14ymedio, and what is the impact you hope it will have upon the next generation of Cubans as well as the world?

Sánchez: 14ymedio aims to be the person, the citizen, and the eyes accompanying the Cuban people through the necessary transition that will inevitably happen on the island.

It is a news outlet dedicated not only to reporting our daily reality, but also inciting our fellow citizens to question why things happen, how to improve them, and how to sketch that country of the future that we all desire.

Ten years from now, we hope to be the number one trusted news source for every Cuban on the island and for anyone in the world who wants to know what happens inside Cuba.

Pham: How do you hope your career will inspire other young women to find their own voice as journalists?

Sánchez: Young women (and men) have a responsibility to their country and their fellow citizens to hold their governments accountable and strive to be better citizens. I believe that journalism plays a crucial role in achieving this, and I encourage others to use it as a medium to enact social change. For those journalists working in closed societies, it is particularly difficult to do this but I know that courage will help you through the challenges that await.

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