Haiti

In the midst of an earthquake and a cholera outbreak, the Haitian media has battled against the odds to rebuild itself and to keep spreading vital humanitarian information to hundreds of thousands of people who continue to struggle in the tent cities inside and outside the capital. Since June, the Haitian Journalists Association (AJH) has worked closely with the Haitian government’s department of civil protection to train journalists in over a dozen cities across the country to report faster and more efficiently on humanitarian issues. Specialized radio broadcasts on hygiene and protection measures, close collaboration between the media and international humanitarian organizations and networks of over 250 journalists across the 10 Haitian departments have helped to minimize the spread of disease and protect those most at risk. But the challenges of days gone by when the Haitian media were plagued by organized crime and gang warfare have started to emerge once again. Only, a little over 2 weeks ago, gunmen shot up and robbed a bus carrying journalists covering the campaign of a Haitian presidential candidate, killing the driver and injuring a reporter. The bus was carrying seven Haitian journalists to a campaign stop by candidate Jacques Edouard Alexis, an ousted former vice president who is considered a front-runner in the Nov. 28 election. And while the elections remain low on the totem pole of humanitarian risks and priorities, a proactive media corps that is prepared to deliver in-depth and hard-hitting reports remains key to ensure that reporting on billions of dollars still hanging in the balance around the reconstruction process does not get sidelined in the electoral tug-of-war to find a new leader. In order to prepare Haitian journalists for the elections, from 29 to 31 October, the AJH began training with over 70 journalists from a variety of communes covering the Northwest of the country as well as the capital. Joseph Guyler Delva, BBC and Reuters correspondent in the capital Port-au-Prince; chairman of a committee to promote the investigation and prosecution of cases involving the murder of journalists was threatened by gang members. Many Haitian journalists work for little or no money and the earthquake in January only worsened the situation. Dozens of journalists lost their homes or family members, and afterwards many lost their jobs. Many journalists were forced to work with the government. Before the earthquake, the situation had slowly and steadily improved, and there were efforts to address the murder of journalists and related problems with impunity. The Independent Commission to Support the Investigations of Assassinations of Journalists was launched in 2008 by the president and the local press freedom group S.O.S. Journalists to assist in the investigation and prosecution of the murderers of journalists in recent years. Last year, Judge Fritzner Fils-Aime, who was in charge of the investigation of the 2000 murder of radio journalist Jean Dominique, was suspended for "serious acts of corruption." Two other justice officials involved in the case were also suspended for similar reasons. Fils-Aime was the sixth judge to have led the Dominique murder investigation.