While the extent of the damage exacted by Hurricane Matthew on Haiti is not yet known, more than 500 deaths have been reported. But with the storm moving toward the US, media too are moving, leaving in their wake the sorts of stories you would predict: “Fragile Haiti in the Line of Fire From Matthew” (USA Today, 10/3/16), “Impoverished Haiti Braces for ‘Catastrophic’ Floods as Hurricane Approaches” (Reuters, 10/4/16) and, from the New York Times (10/4/16), “A List of Previous Disasters in Haiti, a Land All Too Familiar With Hardship.”
It’s hard to wish for more of this sad, static storyline, even as research shows a relationship between the amount of media coverage a disaster receives and the generosity of the response in terms of aid. In a piece for Common Dreams (10/5/16), anthropologist Mark Schuller explained that the relatively high media profile of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake came at a price:
With stories of devastation appearing to many foreign observers as hell on earth, with phrases like “state failure” often repeated, foreign media coverage also naturalized foreign control of the response.
Media’s disaster narrative, Schuller noted, is influential—with all its messages about who’s a hero and whose efforts are ignored. He suggests journalists could find a new approach by listening to Haitian scholars, journalists and social movements, who would prefer support for Haitian-led initiatives, attention to root causes (including neoliberal policies enforced by the US) and the participation of local groups in identifying and prioritizing work to be done—over a dozen ostensibly sympathetic stories about poor Haiti and its beleaguered people.
Janine Jackson is the program director of FAIR, and the producer and host of CounterSpin.
While all the big shot “aid” NGOs are busily collecting money for their operations there is one group which actually puts the money they raise into the hands of the progressive people in Haiti. That is Haiti Emergency Relief Fund — see http://www.haitiemergencyrelief.org Don’t be misled by groups who are trying to steal the name. Don’t support groups who want to expand a sweatshop economy in Haiti. Go to an outfit run led by a local Haitian who has been working to support Haitians working for democracy and for an economy which serves the people.
Two other themes come to mind:
* Media coverage is rare that explains WHY Haiti is so vulnerable to weather disaster: international interference — mainly by the U.S., but also by Canada, France and others — has left an unequal society and an undemocratic, weak and corrupt government incapable of helping its people. Only Hillary Clinton’s connivance in this interference may be mentioned, and only in a partisan way that overlooks the anti-democratic U.S. role.
* Practically no media (including this story) mentioned the extensive damage in eastern Cuba, including to one of the oldest cities in this hemisphere. Was it because Cuba has an organized and effective system to deal with hurricanes that once again prevented any human fatalities?
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