By Jesús Díaz Jr.

Just over two weeks ago, I wrote about our dismissal of two El Nuevo Herald reporters and a freelance writer who did a significant amount of work for us while simultaneously working for and being paid by Radio and TV Martí. I explained that I approved of the dismissals because I am deeply committed to the separation of government and a free press and because the employees violated our conflict of interest rules.

We cannot compromise principles that protect the free press from government intrusion. I well understand that totalitarian governments, such as Fidel Castro's regime, cannot exist in a country that enjoys a free press. This separation and the adherence by our employees to our conflict of interest rules are also essential for us to sustain our transparency and ensure that editors and reporters will continue to function as impartial and independent watchdogs in our community. Our readers deserve and should expect nothing less.

On Sept. 6 we knew only that two employees and a freelancer had received payments through contracts from Radio and TV Martí. After investigating, we found that six other El Nuevo Herald newsroom employees also received payments from Radio and TV Martí over the past five years in amounts ranging from $125 to $3,350 per employee. Of these six, only one was still working for Radio and TV Martí when we started our investigation.

POOR COMMUNICATION

We also discovered that over many years, our conflict of interest policies were poorly communicated and inconsistently applied in the El Nuevo Herald newsroom. Of the six newly identified employees who took payments, four tell us they had permission from the late Carlos Castañeda, then the executive editor of El Nuevo Herald, to appear in Radio and TV Martí and to be paid for those appearances. In interviews prior to their dismissal, the two employees who were terminated said that while supervisors who are no longer with us knew of their work on Radio and TV Martí, they did not recall discussing payments. Some of the employees who worked for Radio and TV Martí recruited others within the El Nuevo Herald newsroom to do the same, indicating a general pattern of acceptance for this type of behavior.

AMNESTY EXTENDED

While I still believe that the acceptance of such payments by the nine journalists was a breach of widely accepted principles of journalistic ethics that violated the trust of our readers, our policies prohibiting such behavior were ambiguously communicated, inconsistently applied and widely misunderstood over many years in the El Nuevo Herald newsroom. It has been determined that in fairness we should extend an amnesty to all involved and enforce our policies more forcefully and consistently in the future. Those who were dismissed will be allowed to return to El Nuevo Herald, and the six newly identified employees will not be disciplined. They cannot accept money from Radio or TV Martí, and their executive editor must expressly approve any future appearances in writing.

BETTER ENFORCEMENT

Effective immediately, the policy on conflict of interest for Miami Herald Media Company employees will be strengthened and rigorously, consistently enforced. Among other things, we will require advance, written permission by an editor for any journalist who wishes to perform any outside journalistic work, whether paid or unpaid; annual signed statements by each employee attesting to their understanding and adherence to our conflict of interest policies; increased training related to these policies; and the understanding that a violation of these policies can mean immediate dismissal.

Finally, I want to take the liberty of sharing with you some personal aspects of this situation that have led me to a decision to resign.

My 24-year business career within and outside the newspaper industry has always been founded on having a clear vision of my guiding principles and sticking to them. During my life, I have had the fortune of being exposed to many individuals who served as role models and helped me grow professionally and personally. I have tried to serve in a similar capacity to others. My focus has also been on delivering growth and profits, by driving toward a vision, while holding people accountable and treating them fairly. This requires foresight, an embrace of change, flexibility and, most importantly, teamwork.

REPLACEMENT FOUND

I realize and regret that the events of the past three weeks have created an environment that no longer allows me to lead our newspapers in a manner most beneficial for our newspapers, our readers and our community. Therefore, I informed our parent company of my intention to resign as soon as my replacement could be found. The decision has been made to name David Landsberg, our general manager, and someone I am proud to have worked with, as my replacement as president of Miami Herald Media Company and publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, effective immediately. David is a good man, and he will serve our newspapers, our readers and our community well.

I want to thank our employees for the support they have given me over the last four years and for the results we have achieved, first in my position as General Manager in charge of our business operations and for the past 14 eventful months as publisher of our newspapers. We did some outstanding journalistic work over the past year, and I will dearly miss the ability to encourage and support such work directly. I wish our employees well as they continue to serve the South Florida community through the difficult task of putting out two world-class newspapers.

It has been an honor to serve you.