{"id":11051,"date":"2019-10-11T11:32:09","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T09:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/?post_type=news&p=11051"},"modified":"2019-10-11T11:32:09","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T09:32:09","slug":"recognition-and-reggaeton-for-el-toque-cuba","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/news\/recognition-and-reggaeton-for-el-toque-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognition and reggaeton for El Toque Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"

The El Toque Cuba platform has been recognised at the Online Journalism Awards, 2019 with the Best Explanatory Reporting Award. The award was for the dossier \u201cLa Cuba que viene\u2026\u201d (The Cuba that comes\u2026), a major interactive project created to increase public awareness and understanding of the constitutional reforms that took place in Cuba between July 2018 and February 2019. And the award comes just as El Toque launches its next big interactive dossier \u2013 this time focusing on the Cuban cultural phenomenon that is reggaeton.<\/strong><\/p>\n

El Toque Cuba was originally developed and supported by RNW Media\u2019s Latin America\u202fdepartment in the Netherlands. Following a change in\u202forganisational\u202fstrategy in 2016, El Toque transitioned to become fully independent in 2017. The platform has gone from strength to strength since then and is now one of Cuba\u2019s largest independent media outlets. The Online Journalism Awards<\/a>, launched in May 2000 by the Online News Association of the United States,\u202fhonour\u202fexcellence and innovation in digital journalism around the world\u2014with awards for data journalism, visual digital storytelling, investigative journalism, public service, technical innovation and general excellence.<\/p>\n

Collaborative effort<\/strong>
\n\u201cLa Cuba que\u202fviene\u2026\u201d combines resources, debates, articles and stories focusing on the constitutional reforms that were Cuba\u2019s most important political process in recent years. A collaborative effort involving journalists, researchers, jurists, political analysts, software developers and visual designers, the aim was to present complex theoretical information in ways that were accessible and engaging for a broad audience. To reach as many people as possible, the project also included two offline debates between experts and citizens, framed as safe places for political exchange in Cuba\u2019s\u202fpolarised\u202fenvironment. These events were filmed and shared on social media and via Cuba\u2019s offline El Paquette distribution system using USB sticks.\u202f The project is also available in an offline version for use on desktop computers and on the El Toque mobile app.<\/p>\n

More than just music
\n<\/strong>The award came as El Toque was celebrating the premier of its newest interactive dossier \u201cFlow y\u202fpoder: el\u202freguet\u00f3n\u202fen Cuba\u201d (Flow and power: reggaeton in Cuba). Reggaeton is an eclectic musical mix of salsa, hip-hop and electronica and blasts from shops, cars, bike taxis and clubs across Cuba. It\u2019s more than just a musical genre, though, according to El Toque:<\/p>\n

Reggaeton impacts Cuban society musically, economically, politically, socially and symbolically, even linguistically. It is sexist, it promotes the desire to acquire material wealth and normally resorts to vulgar and rude expressions; but at the same time, it is also impossible to suppress, shape, even though tensions to keep it \u201cat bay\u201d haven\u2019t ceased. It is present because reggaeton is an effect and not a cause, it\u2019s the expression of wishes, values and the aspiration of important sectors of Cuban society in the 21st century.\u202f<\/em><\/p>\n

Official disapproval
\n<\/strong>The Cuban authorities disapprove deeply of reggaeton and it was officially banned in 2012. While restrictions have eased since then, reggaeton artists are still banned from appearing on most State-run TV and radio or recording in State-run studios. Despite Government censorship, the genre has continued to grow in popularity\u2013using the same El Paquette grassroots distribution system that El Toque makes use of. The multimedia \u2018Flow and power\u2019 project\u202fbrings together a database of more than 650 songs that were hits between 2010 and 2018, along with in-depth reporting about all aspects of the musical phenomenon. There\u2019s even a video game<\/a> with a reggaeton soundtrack.<\/p>\n

This video is a compilation of highlights from Flow and power: reggaeton in Cuba<\/p>\n