The office of SAKS, Société d'Animation et de Communication Sociale, a community radio support organisation, in Port-au-Prince was completely destroyed when the 7.0 earth quake hit Haiti on 12th January. Photo: Anne Poulsen/IMS

Haitian journalists and media associations came together to mark World Press Freedom Day in a vibrant discussion about the role of the media in reconstructing their country at a new logistical base for journalists’ associations in Port-au-Prince

- Journalists and the media need to play a vital watchdog role in monitoring the reconstruction process, said Gotson Pierre, Coordinator of Groupe Medialternatif.

- But we also need to prove to ourselves that we can work together, he added.  

Medialternatif, a group supporting the right to communication, AJH, the journalists association, the community radio network of SAKS and the RSF operational media centre came together for a roundtable debate to mark the inauguration of a new set of shared offices at the IMS and UNESCO-supported “Baz Lanbi”** premises.

Read the report "Le rôle des médias haïtiens dans la reconstruction"  from the roundtable meeting here.

Quality, not quantity

Claude Gilles, the director of the RSF media centre, laid the platform for the debate by arguing for a reconstruction based on quality reporting and not quantity of information. While saluting the courage of many journalists to keep reporting after the 12^th of January, he emphasized the “need to improve the way that journalists gather and investigate stories”.

In this spirit, journalists representing mass media networks and the national network of community radios alike engaged in a discussion on the need to support sustained journalism training programmes as well as to address humanitarian concerns through the development of a socially responsible media core.

However, at the same time large numbers of journalists have seen their offices destroyed and their jobs disappear.

- Journalists also have humanitarian needs, explained Jacques Desrosiers, Secretary General of the AJH.

- They need tents and temporary lodging, psychological assistance and financial support. They also need training, he said.

Since the earthquake, IMS has continued to work with the Haitian journalists’ associations in Port-au-Prince, Petit-Goave, Leogane and Jacmel to address these needs by coordinating and building bridges across the media sector.

As Gotson Pierre explains, “quality journalism that can inform and develop the Haitian society will be the backbone behind a humanitarian approach to emergency response work and the overall reconstruction process”.

In their dialogue, the participants raised questions on the meaning of reconstruction and whether or not the overarching debate should be on the one hand reacting to an emergency or on the other hand developing a previously limited media agenda in Haiti.

Sony Esteus, the head of the community radio network, SAKS, explained how “the reconstruction of the country must not only be about roads and bridges but also about social reconstruction and human development”. And he added that “community radios that work hand-in-hand with rural and marginalized populations have a major role to play in this kind of reconstruction”.

Martin Telemaque, the representative of the Minister of Communication and Culture, added that “now more than ever the press has a role to play in the reconstruction of the country”.

** Baz Lanbi is a logistical base referencing a platform of journalists’ associations going back to the basics symbolised by the “lanbi” (sea-shell in creole), which was one of the first methods of oral communication used in Haiti.

Read more about the reconstruction of media in Haiti in Le Nouvelliste. 

Learn more about Communications for Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) initiative in Haiti here.

Watch the inauguration of Baz Lanbi on You-tube.