Puerto Rico: World or Nation?

[patricia]

At our paper, we put stories and briefs about Puerto Rico on our World pages instead of our Nation pages. I think that because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico stories should go on our Nation pages. One of our editors says one of the reasons we put Puerto Rico on our World pages is because such stories move on the International wire (AP). What do your publications do? Where should such stories go? --Patricia Marroquin, Ventura County Star

[fev]

Wire service cluelessness is not an appropriate reason for policy. Put 'em on the nation page.

[Deadline Dame]

I'll play Devil's advocate here.

I can understand the feeling news should go on Nation pages because Puerto Rico is a U.S. terroritory, but I think Puerto Ricans feel they are a nation separate from the United States, with many not wanting to be a territory of the U.S. I think their identity is as their own nation, so I can see it going on the World page. And I think most Americans think of it as a separate nation. They don't have representation in the House and Senate, either.

Think of Tiwan. China says its part of China, but the Tiwanese would be a tad upset if their news was put on a "China" page.

[fev]

We could ask what we think Puerto Ricans feel or we could look at how they vote and what they tell public opinion surveys. And independence appears to have consistently finished behind -- usually far, far behind -- either US statehood or the status quo.

Taiwan's about as completely unrelated as you can get. That's where the Chiang government fled after it lost a civil war to the Communists. For quite some time, Taiwan insisted that there was only one China and that Taiwan was it.

[Jim Thomsen]

I'm comfortable with Puerto Rico (as well as Guam and other far-flung U.S. territories) being on the World page. Political distinctions to me are less important than cultural and common-identity ones. As feeble an argument as it may be, Puerto Rico just doesn't feel like a part of America to me.

(Neither does Florida, really ... but being a bona-fide state, with all the governmental ties that embodies, makes all the difference here.)

[Paul Ybarrondo]

Puerto Rico does have a resident commissioner to represent its interests in the House of Representatives. The officeholder can't vote on the floor but can vote in committee and sponsor legislation.

Until it becomes a state, I wouldn't consider it part of the Nation.

[Phillip Blanchard]

Puerto Ricans are American citizens. News of Puerto Rico is U.S. national news.

[Deadline Dame]

We don't have this issue at our paper, since we use a combination-- Nation/World.

Oh, and my example of Tiwan was simply to illustrate an example of a population's feeling a separate national identity no matter what, which I think Puerto Ricans feel when it comes to their status, not to equate the two.

I'd be interested to know what the majority of them would say on the matter.

[fev]

If you're interested in knowing what a majority of Puerto Ricans would say about independence, could I -- again -- suggest that you look at the plebiscites that have dealt with the issue or the survey research on the matter? If I'm recalling it correctly, in the most recent vote, independence was around 3 percent and statehood around 46 percent.

The post-WWII history of China is also pretty widely available, but it'd probably help to use the standard spelling of "Taiwan."

[patricia]

Thank you, everyone, for your perspectives. I agree with Phillip. To me, it's a simple matter: Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and its residents are U.S. citizens. That makes such stories Nation stories, in my opinion. I am a longtime member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and I have heard Puerto Ricans say they feel insulted to be considered "foreigners." Again, thanks. --Patricia

[Deadline Dame]

As I said--again--I was simply playing Devil's advocate with a suppostion.

Just because a majority of Puerto Ricans want to remain a territory doens't mean they don't "see" themselves as their own nation in their hearts and minds.

It's good to know Puerto Ricans feel "insulted" to be considered foreigners. That was my question--how they felt about it all. I would have guessed the majority felt the other way--that they wanted to be seen as a nation separate from the United States.

[Deadline Dame]

Oh, and to the spelling of Taiwan. When I first posted here as a newbie a few months ago, I mentioned that I'd be writing free and easy and there would probably be a lot of typos as I wasn't going to edit myself, as I do enough of that at work. No spell checking, etc.

But hey, if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy about yourself to point out my errors, feel free, doesn't bother or embarrass me.

[Deadline Dame]

In case anyone is interested--since this topic interests me, I did a quick search of CNN, MSNBC and FOX news. There is a big story in Puerto Rico about dogs being killed. CNN and MSNBC places news from Puerto Rico on their World link, sub-link Americas. FOX has this story on their U.S. link. I would imagine newspapers follow the same pattern of some one way and some another, though it was mentioned that wire news places it in the World category.

I guess on this one there is no right or wrong, just strong opinion.

[csmount]

If you're interested in knowing what a majority of Puerto Ricans would say about independence, could I -- again -- suggest that you look at the plebiscites that have dealt with the issue or the survey research on the matter? If I'm recalling it correctly, in the most recent vote, independence was around 3 percent and statehood around 46 percent.

I, too, am interested. My quick, at-home Internet search turns up only results from advocacy groups. Can you suggest some ways to find those plebiscite results?

[fev]

If you don't have Lexis or something, try an archive search at the NYTimes or WashPost.

[meperl]

Deciding where to put Puerto Rico can be simply a matter of context. If the story is about the Navy's use of Vieques as a bombing range, that seems more Nation than World, IMHO. If it's about a killing, or something that is about Puerto Rico itself, and not its relationship to the U.S., then World seems more logical than Nation.

Be glad you still have separate Nation and World pages!

[Gerri Berendzen]

That can be true in other cases as well.
Over the weekend I put the International Monetary Fund story on a World page, even though the dateline was Washington. It just seemed more appropriate there.

However, I suspect the readers didn't care one way or another.

If you have a lot readers in your coverage area of Puerto Rican descent, they may notice and care where you put the stories.