12804: Re: 12796: Re: 12792: Re:12785 Haitians' growing discontent with Aristide m... (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com

I want to add that I find it shocking that a journalist can report that
"thousands" of people demonstrated in Gonaives two weeks ago when by all
reports (and I spent 24 hours working on this question) there were only a few
hundred people demonstrating. And don't say, if it was only a few hundred,
then how was there so much disruption.  Remember Harlan County, there were
only a few handfuls of people "demonstrating" on the dock and that caused the
ship to turn back!

How does the press get away with reporting false information?  Why do they do
it?  Who does it serve? But further, why do astute Haiti enthusiasts now
believe the press reports to be factual when for years we all knew it was
skewed? (Please refer to Haiti's Bad Press by Lawless or The Use of Haiti by
Farmer)

Another littlie note: Today's Reuters' piece reported that Radio Haiti Inter
reported that 50 people demonstrated to lift the embargo.  However, Radio
Haiti Inter revised their report to say "thousands" and I called the Reuters
journalist regarding this discrepancy.  He said he wrote his piece from the
first report but later saw on the television that it was a large crowd.  I
hope that his editors have the decency to revise the story to reflect reality.