Cruise Law News : Maritime Lawyer & Attorney : James M. Walker : Walker & O'Neill Law Firm : Admiralty Law, Cruise Ship Accidents & Injuries

An article this morning caught my eye: "Newest and Biggest Cruise Ship: Oasis of the Seas." The article contains the usual "wow-look-how-big-it-is!" style of writing which is most typically associated with travel agents.  You know, those travel agents doubling as authors whose interest in describing this monster-of-cruise-ship is hopelessly intertwined with obtaining commissions by selling cruises. 

Then I realized that the article (appearing in a Dallas newspaper) was written by Jane Wooldridge who is the business editor of the Miami Herald.

I have written about the Miami Herald and Ms. Wooldridge in several prior articles: Miami Herald: Asleep at the Wheel Regarding the Cruise Industry and Miami Herald - See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.

There have been an incredible number of newsworthy developments involving cruise lines over the past five years - missing passengers, high profile sexual assaults, endless pollution fines, fires, sinkings, and five Congressional hearings involving Miami based cruise lines. But the Miami Herald wouldn't touch these stories.  It did not even report on the passage of the first cruise crime bill in the 40 history of the cruise industry. 

The Miami Herald's writers never publish anything negative or controversial which might embarrass their cruise line friends.  Credible newspapers with real journalists are left to cover these legitimate stories - like the Los Angeles Times, the San Fransisco Chronicle, or the New York Times.

The Miami Herald sold out to the Miami-based  cruise industry long ago.  This latest article is just the same old cruise cheerleading that the Herald is known for.  Consider the gushing adjectives chosen in the description of the mega ship:  "wow ... amazing . . . revolutionary."  Can you imagine a business editor anywhere writing such drivel? The article contained quotes only from other cruise enthusiasts, travel agents and the cruise line's CEO, Richard Fain. 

The spectacle of the Oasis of the Seas raises disturbing questions which I have mentioned in numerous articles. But you will find no hint of controversy in articles by Miami Herald employees who consistently write travel pieces designed to sell tickets for their cruise line advertisers.  

Is it just coincidence that the article uses the word "Wow" (caps in original), when the corporate mantra at  Royal Caribbean is "Deliver the Wow?"   

And the latest controversy of this Cloverfield-like-beast-of-cruise-ship sailing past the ruins of Haiti to the cruise line's "private destination" of Labadee seems to many like corporate malfeasance on steroids.  But the Herald will look the other way.

See no evil.  Hear no evil.  Speak no evil.  The tradition of the Miami Herald continues.

Credits:

Newspaper vending machine        Daquella Manera Flickr Photostream 

Oasis of the Seas                       Kenneth Karsten via shipspotting.com

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Over the last four years, there have been an incredible number of high profile stories regarding the cruise industry: the "missing honeymooner" case of George Smith IV on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas, the cover-up of Merrian Carver's disappearance from Celebrity Cruises' Mercury cruise ship, and the case of Laurie Dishman who, after she was sexually assaulted, was handed a trash bag by the cruise ship's officers and instructed to go and collect evidence from the crime scene herself.   

These terrible tales rocked the Miami-based cruise industry.  Connecting these tragedies have been five Congressional hearings - four hearings before the House of Representatives and one hearing before the U.S. Senate - leading to the introduction of the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security act of 2009.  For the  first time in the history of the 40 year old cruise industry, cruise lines will be forced to report shipboard crimes to the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI.

And throughout this incredibly historic period of time for cruise victims, the Miami Herald has refused to report anything of significance.

Miami is rightfully called the "Cruise Ship Capital of the World."  Home of Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises which together own and operate 75% of the cruise lines in the world, Miami should be the hot bed of a never ending cycle of cruise-related news stories.  These events deserve the best and brightest of journalists and the highest standards of ethical reporting.

Instead, we have the Miami Herald.

The Herald is a provincial newspaper, with a travel fanatic as the business editor.  The paper is entirely beholden to the local cruise lines which pay the Herald for advertising and invite the Herald "reporters" to free cruises and parties where they hob nob with the executives and promoters.  In return, there is a quid pro quo where the Miami Herald looks the other way when stories break which could embarass its cruise lines friends. 

These stories have to be covered by legitimate newspapers like the New York Times, L.A. Times, and San Francisco Chronicle and many other smaller yet reputable newspapers which have filled the void created by the Herald's abandonment of its journalistic obligations.

I have touched upon the Herald's sell-out in prior blogs:     

Miami Herald: Asleep at the Wheel Regarding the Cruise Industry and Oasis of the Seas - A Vision of All Consuming Hell.

For the last week there have been multiple stories about the cruise-crime crisis in the Bahamas. Carnival and Royal Caribbean passengers departing from Miami have been robbed by shotgun in broad daylight in Nassau on tours sponsored by the Miami-based cruise lines.  The crime problem in Nassau poses a particularly troubling problem for Royal Caribbean's excutives in Miami who have to use Nassau because it is one of the few ports which can accomodate its mega-ship Oasis of the Seas.

And today, a story broke about a Princess Cruises' crew member "disappearing" under suspicious circumstances off of a cruise ship from South Florida which scream out for for the FBI to board the ship and try and determine what happened.  Although Miami-based Carnival Corporation owns the cruise line, this is the type of story which the Miami Herald writers won't touch out of risk of embarrassing their sugar daddies who, in essence, pay their salaries and keep them employed.

So who covered the stories?  ABC News, the Associated Press, AOL Travel, the Bahama Journal, Cruise Critic, FoxNews, the Freeport Journal, the Nassau Guardian, the Sun-Sentinel, the Telegraph, the Tribune, and USA Today.  But the Miami Herald?  Of course not - this is a compromised rag which  

Sees No Cruise Evil

Hears No Cruise Evil 

and

Speaks No Cruise Evil . . . 

Credits:

Censorship       Eric Drooker www.drooker.com

Herald Vending Machine      Daquella Manera Flickr Photostream  

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil    Tom Otterness (via MeijerGardens Flickr Photostream)  

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On Friday, the United States House of Representatives passed landmark legislation requiring cruise ships to promptly report crimes at sea to the United States Coast Guard and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.  Newspapers throughout the United States covered the historic legislation which finally brought some long overdue accountability to the cruise industry.  And, as usual, the Miami Herald didn't cover the story.

Plenty of Stories - No Coverage from the Miami Herald

There have been a remarkable number of high profile stories involving cruise passengers over the course of the past five years.  Shipboard crimes, ship fires, and missing passengers.  These events are covered routinely by the L.A. Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and other national newspapers. 

But the Miami Herald has remained oddly silent over the past many years. One reason is that the Miami Herald is best known for its puff pieces and color photographs in its Sunday travel (i.e., cruise) section.  The Miami Herald's Executive Business Editor, Jane Wooldridge, was the newspaper's former Travel Editor for the past ten years.   

The Herald's "Cruises" page resembles more of a "food and wine" or "lifestyle" section than actual news.  You can still reach Ms. Wooldridge at "Travels with Jane."  You can follow her on Twitter @JaneWooldridge, where her profile includes a reference to being a "travel addict." 

The Miami Herald - A "Cruise Travel Section" Masquerading As A "Business Section"

Does the Herald contain some interesting travel articles and happy cruise stories?  No doubt.  But undercover investigation, probing journalism, or insight into hard issues like sexual assault, cover ups of shipboard crimes, and cruise ship dumping?  No way. 

The Miami Herald depends heavily on the cruise line advertising to keep it afloat.

Look for Insightful News Regarding the "Cruise Capital of the World" from Reporters in Iowa 

So we are left with newspapers outside of Florida to cover the uncomfortable issues involving the hundreds of foreign flagged cruise ships based in Miami.  No reporter in Miami - the "Cruise Capital of the World" - will touch the stories. On Friday, newspapers like the Greenwich Post, Connecticut Post, and even the Daily Reporter from Spencer Iowa covered the new cruise crime bill. I posted articles mentioning the victims who have been responsible for pushing for this legislation over the past five years in articles "Congress Passes Cruse Crime Law" and  Cruise Safety Bill Heartens Greenwich Victim's Family.

The closest story to Miami came from the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel newspaper, in an article entitled "Legislation to Keep Cruise Passengers and Crew Safe Passes U.S. House."  The article mentioned the Cruise Line International Association ("CLIA"), but neglected to explain that CLIA spent millions fighting the legislation over the years and threw in the towel when it appeared the legislation would pass.  The article didn't mention the International Cruise Victims ("ICV") association or any of the many cruise crime victims whose efforts led to the safety legislation. 

Photo credit    Daquella Manera Flickr Photostream  

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