a1528: Palm Beach Post: Tuning In Haitian Interests (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>


Tuning in for Haitian interests


By Susan T. Port, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 1, 2002



BOCA RATON -- Lesly Jacques considers himself more of a
motivational speaker than a disc jockey.

"I tell my listeners they can do anything," said Jacques,
who broadcasts 60 hours a week on WHSR-980 AM in Boca
Raton, reaching about 220,000 Haitians from Fort Pierce to
Miami Beach. "I am there to help educate them."

Jacques is one of a growing number of Creole- and
French-speaking voices heard on local airwaves. He doesn't
just play Haitian music. He reads excerpts from novels,
teaches English, discusses Haitian politics and offers news
from Haiti.

"We had to depend on WLQY (1320 AM) out of Miami for 20
years," said Daniella Henry, executive director of the
Haitian-American Community Council in Delray Beach. "Now
Haitian radio shows are growing like mushrooms."

Regionally, WPBR-1340 AM and WPSP-1190 AM in West Palm
Beach, WIRA-1400 AM in Port St. Lucie and WHSR feature
Creole and French shows during the week. At least 30 shows
have been added during the past five years, programmers
say.

Most local Haitian-interest programming is produced by
independent brokers who pay from $80 to $250 an hour to the
radio stations. Such broadcasters must find their own
advertisers to cover costs.

Paul McSweeney, first vice president and analyst for
Salomon Smith Barney in New York, said radio stations are
wise to offer Creole- and French-language shows in South
Florida, where the Haitian community is growing. In Silicon
Valley, where there is a larger number of Asian immigrants,
stations play Vietnamese- and Chinese-language shows, he
said.

The local Haitian population appears to be growing rapidly,
though still not as quickly as the Hispanic market.

In 1990, the U.S. Census Bureau reported there were 20,441
West Indians in Palm Beach County, with 2,465 in Martin and
St. Lucie counties. The West Indies include Haiti and other
Caribbean nations.

Estimates from the 2000 Census put the number of West
Indians between 37,732 and 62,509 in Palm Beach County,
with 7,999 to 32,725 on the Treasure Coast. More precise
numbers are expected this year.

Henry says those numbers are much too low, and he estimates
the number of Haitians alone is about 50,000 in Palm Beach
County, most of whom depend on radio programs for education
and entertainment.

Henry's Haitian-American Community Council has a show
Sunday mornings on WHSR for Haitian newcomers about
adjusting to life in South Florida. That program reaches
people all the way to Belle Glade, she said, and some
listeners record the show and pass it along to others who
might have missed it.

"We can reach a lot of people through the radio show," she
said. "That's the only way to communicate with everybody."

Markes Pierre-Louis, director of Haitian programming for
WPBR, said his show, Radio Galaxie International, is on the
air 25 hours a week. He sells radio time to about 20 other
independent brokers.

Galaxie reaches about 100,000 listeners in Palm Beach
County, Pierre-Louis said. WPBR began broadcasting Haitian
shows in 1994.

Pierre-Louis, 35, who worked for National Radio in Haiti,
said his show includes a mix of music, politics and issues
affecting South Florida's Haitian community.

"If I am sick one day, all these people go crazy," he said.
"These people need information about Haiti. We are the
Haitian version of CNN."

One of Pierre-Louis' listeners is Philipe Jean-Pierre of
Lake Worth, who describes himself as a regular devotee of
WPBR.

"I turn on the radio every night at 7 and listen," he said.
"I don't miss a day. I want to know what's going on in my
country."

Haitian-interest programming also has increased on the
Treasure Coast.

Greg Wyatt, vice president and general manager of Treasure
Coast Radio Broadcasting of Port St. Lucie, said WIRA
offers Creole-language shows on weekends, and he hopes to
expand it to weekdays.

About a year ago, Wyatt's privately held company bought
WIRA, which has been offering Creole-language shows for a
couple of decades. Wyatt said he is beefing up
Haitian-interest presence on the air by offering election
news this year in three languages: English, Spanish and
Creole. Those trilingual dispatches will be heard on
Wyatt's WPSL-1590 AM and WSTU-1450 AM, both in Port St.
Lucie, along with WIRA.

"The Haitian population is growing to the point that, as
broadcasters, we can't ignore it," he said.

Wyatt said broadcasters haven't had trouble finding
advertisers that target the Haitian population.

Shows such as Lesly Jacques' on WHSR are standard local
radio fare in that they focus on listener calls, some music
and announcements for such things as an upcoming ladies'
night at a restaurant in Lantana.


Serious and fun shows
Jacques, 41, starts his weekdays at 6 a.m., briefing his
listeners on the latest news from Haiti. At 10 a.m., he
plays music, bobbing his head along with the melody,
sometimes singing along with the performers.

"It's about entertaining people and making them laugh," he
said. "It's a fun show focused on education for Haitians."

At one point, he plays a cut from a new CD by gospel singer
Eric Virgal. Shortly afterward, Virgal calls in and talks
about the music.

"I told him I thought the CD will do well," Jacques said.

At 11 a.m., a local Haitian chiropractor comes in and talks
about health for a half-hour.

Much of the focus at another Haitian program, Dominique
Joseph's Radio Lacaye, is on educational material. The show
is on for two hours each weeknight on WPSP, and the topics
include domestic abuse, politics and applying for a
mortgage.

Joseph, 53, said he tries to educate his 65,000 listeners
about the legal system and how they should act in the
United States.

"People leave Haiti and come into town without knowing the
difference between the two legal systems," he said. "We
talk about everything."

The toughest part of doing a Creole-language show and
buying airtime is to convince advertisers to sponsor them.

"During the day, I prepare for the show, and I hit the
streets of the Haitian community to find advertising and
keep the show on the air," said Radio Galaxie's
Pierre-Louis. "It's not easy, but it's what I love doing."

Business is made tougher by so-called pirate stations,
unlicensed stations that broadcast on the AM and FM bands.
They undercut the price for commercials on legal stations,
said Jacques.

"It's a serious problem," he said.

The Rev. Sidney Champagne, who buys the 9 to 10 a.m. slot
on WIRA, said the underground stations are popular because
they offer Creole shows all day. There is a need for more
high-quality Haitian radio shows, he said, adding that he
hopes one day there will be a locally owned Haitian
station.

Champagne, 43, a Port St. Lucie minister, said that at
times he pays out of pocket to support his show, called The
House of God. He began the show two years ago to talk to
Haitians about religious issues, even though he had no
radio experience.

He said being on the radio allows him to reach a large part
of the Haitian community in St. Lucie and Indian River
counties.

"There is no way for me to reach everybody, but with the
radio show I can try," Champagne said. "I need to make a
difference. I can say, 'I know I touched somebody today.' "


susan_port@pbpost.com




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