Every evening, between 9 and 10 p.m., people in areas affected by the January 12 earthquake listen to the program “Nouvel pou nou Konnen” (News to Know). Huddled in tents or sitting in the open air, men and women cling to their transistor radios to get news on the latest decisions of the Haitian government or agencies coordinating international assistance in affected areas. The program comes via the California-based media development agency Internews, which opened a press center in the Haitian capital,
Romel Pierre has been coordinating news for the agency since the quake. His task is to send his reports to different radio stations in the capital for immediate broadcast. Under an agreement between private media outlets and Internews, a nearly 10-minute news report on the needs of people in affected areas is broadcast daily. The report provides information on dates and places for the recruitment of workers to ease congested streets, locations of food aid distribution or hospitals and health centers, as well as actions to be taken ahead of the upcoming rainy season that could cause severe flooding.
As part of an Internews initiative to contribute to the spread of information, hundreds of transistor radios have been distributed to various media outlets in the capital for delivery to local populations.
With his tape recorder and his laptop,
In an interview with CPJ from
Editor’s Note: If you have any information on journalists and media outlets in
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Hi Jean,
Thanks so much for your post about Internews Network and our Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen (News You Can Use) program. Although it has been several months since the quake hit, there is still a lot to do, with almost 2 million Haitians still living in displaced peoples camps and tent cities. 85% of Haitians depend on our program everyday to get health tips, clean water locations, and other vital information. Today, June 16, is Bonus Day on Global Giving. We are happy to have our project featured on GlobalGiving.org and encourage interested readers to check it out at http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/infohaiti/. Thanks again for covering our work with your post.
--Riva Warrilow, Outreach & Development Intern at Internews Network”