Matt Lauer will be hosting NBC’s “Today” show live from Cuba today to report on the political and economic climate there. My curiosity as to how accurately depicted things will be. Given Castro’s current health situation, government restriction on access are high and should pose an interesting backdrop. I am sure they will not be interviewing any official heads of state. However, although the Today Show is my daily morning ritual…I don’t see it as the forum for real hard lining news.

Although Lauer is a world traveler for “Today,” it took them over 18 months to negotiate the visit to a country only 90 miles from the United States, said Jim Bell, the show’s executive producer. Bell used his ability to speak Spanish in the negotiations.

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After having the chance to watch the entire broadcast from Cuba, I believe they tried to do too much in such little time. With a little over 1 hour of true Cuban content, we were left wanting more. I sure hope that they are taping other segments for other shows while they were there, if not, the trip and all that effort were in vain. Afterall, it takes months and even years to get that kind of access approved by the government.

I believe that although NBC played the role of unbiased media outlet, that the coverage was very vanilla and really didn’t get at anything important. I believe the reporting was a 30,000 mile perspective of what life in Cuba is about. It did not deal with anything difficult…or easy for that matter.

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