As CPJ’s Haiti consultant Jean Roland Chery wrote Wednesday on the CPJ Blog, “Community radio stations play a leading role in local news coverage in Haiti’s most remote communities, filling the void left by private radio stations in the capital.” Today we can show you two videos clearly depicting the devastation to the Haitian local radio community after the earthquake.
The first features Sony Esteus, executive director of SAKS, a local organization of community radio stations, talking about the destruction to his group’s building in Port-au-Prince. Esteus said he was on the top floor of the building when it collapsed.
The second shows the heavy damage done to Radyo Zetwal Peyizan (Radio Star of the Peasant) in Fondwa, which has a population of about 8,000 people. The station has been off the air since the quake.
The videos were produced by SAKS and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).
Editor’s Note: If you have any information on journalists and media outlets in Haiti please post a comment below or notify us via e-mail msalazar@cpj.org, or Twitter: @HelpJournalists. We are collecting funds that will go directly to Haitian journalists. If you’d like to make a contribution, please click this link and enter “Haiti” in the “Notes” section on the second page.