A former Carnival singer and media hound, Martelly embraces the spotlight. Coverage of any kind, he says, is okay, as long as it’s balanced and accurate. On Latin America Freedom of the Press Day, June 7th, however, he cautioned journalists to be more responsible. And to be more united, working together for a common cause - the betterment of Haiti.
This particular mantra struck a chord with me after a provocative two-day journalism training this past weekend in St. Marc, a town some 75 minutes north of the capital. With a population of just over 60,000, it has nearly two dozen radio stations, none of which has a newsroom. News is either rebroadcast or pirated from other stations. Talk shows and ad-libbing are as acceptable as personal opinions during regularly scheduled newscasts.
St. Marc was thrust into the limelight last October, as the center of the cholera outbreak. It was also in the spotlight in 2004 following a massacre in the days leading up to the collapse of Jean Bertrand Aristide’s government.
The division around the massacre, pro and anti Aristide, has left such deep wounds that even now, two governments later, the journalists of St. Marc are polarized according to their political orientation On the final day of the four-weekend training, the animosity among the journalists bubbled over. By the end of the day, tempers had cooled and everyone was cordial. But the fundamental rift remains.
Such a schism is not unique to St. Marc, nor did it interfere with the successful training. The journalists reported on unaccounted taxation by the police for motorcycle taxis, on unaccounted fees tacked on to public school tuition, and on unauthorized markets that tax the municipal’s resources but don’t contribute to its coffers.
Still, the division is at best disturbing. In my experience here as a reporter before my Fellowship, the solidarity with my colleagues (both foreign and local) was the fuel that motored me through some extraordinarily difficult times. If it wasn’t for that camaraderie, I might have been less inclined to report on stories that were at best wrenching, if not downright dangerous.
Jacques Desrosier, president of the Association of Haitian Journalists, who organized the trainings, used the eruption of tensions to stress this very point. While praising the journalists for their participation, he also emphasized that it’s time for them to put their political and personality differences aside. The journalists seemed to understand what Desrosier was saying, although they had their reservations about how easy it would be. Still, they promised that they would be open-minded, and all of them said they were looking forward to using the new press center AJH is opening later this month. Desrosier is hoping that it will be a meeting ground to bring everyone together, literally and figuratively.
This won’t happen overnight. Still, the center is a starting point. And the more such trainings as ICFJ offered can emphasize the importance of collectivity, and the more reinforcement the society as a whole and journalists in particular can get from their new leader, the greater the chance this country can heal from years of political strife and polarization. Together the journalists can work as professionals as opposed to individuals, to help Haiti advance. This, at least, is a point they all seem to agree is crucial if change is going to happen here.