a191: Haitian radio aims to mature its voice (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Published Monday, December 31, 2001

Haitian radio aims to mature its voice
Goal of investors is professionalism
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com


When a Haitian community activist opted to support a candidate opposing a 
Haitian American in a highly contested mayoral race earlier this year, she 
assumed she was exercising her right to choose.

The next thing Nadia Pierre knew, her character was being sullied all over 
the radio.

Happens all the time, many would say -- on Spanish-language radio. But this 
was Haitian radio.

Citing countless examples of what they say are overly partisan Haitian radio 
shows, a group of investors -- led by prominent family practitioner Guy 
Rudolph Moise -- is hoping to provide another choice on the AM dial for 
Haitian Americans.

It's called Radio Carnivale (WRHB-AM [1020]), a 24-hour Haitian radio 
station that can be heard from South Miami-Dade to Palm Beach as well as in 
the Bahamas. The effort was launched in May and is meeting with some 
listener approval.

With 22 correspondents stationed all across Haiti, it offers up-to-date 
breaking news live from Haiti, music, sports and other types of programming 
in French, Creole and English to the Haitian community.

``We are trying to enrich the lives of all Haitians,'' said Moise, the 
principal investor who began with an initial group of 12. There are now 22 
total, and the majority of them are Haitian. The group pays a monthly 
leasing fee for broadcast rights on the station and is working toward buying 
it outright.

Once a regular on Haitian radio, Moise said he decided to invest in the 
medium because he believes the time has come for the Haitian community to 
have its own. Haitian hosts currently buy time on other people's radio 
stations.

``Communications is big, big business,'' said Moise, an entrepreneur who 
also holds an MBA and a law degree.

No different from Spanish-language radio where on-air personalities and 
irate callers can make or break the careers of politicians, Haitian radio 
carries a lot of weight in South Florida's Haitian community.

This fact is so well known that otherwise outspoken Haitians are guarded in 
their criticism of hosts using shows as their personal platforms. Even the 
radio personalities themselves are cautious in what they are willing to say.


ANTI-HATEFULNESS

``I agree sometimes some of us use the air time to hurt other people, but I 
am not for it,'' said Lavarice Gaudi of Veye Yo, a political watchdog group 
in the Haitian community that has a radio program focusing mainly on Haitian 
politics.

As for the passion some broadcasters display, Gaudi said it comes with the 
territory because often ``when you are speaking about democracy, some people 
won't let you.'' There is no such thing as objectivity, he said -- either in 
the Haitian media or American media.

State Rep. Phillip Brutus, one of the investors in Carnivale, said some 
broadcasters do not understand that radio airwaves belong to the public -- 
not to them.

``The purpose of radio should be to educate, entertain and inform,'' Brutus 
said. ``But some people, new to this country, or after a few years here, 
develop their own standards on what radio is about.''

Brutus, a lawyer, said slanderous talk was once the norm on Haitian radio.

But it has subsided, thanks in part to lawsuits that have been filed over 
the years against overzealous radio personalities and the stations from 
which they operate.


DEFINING SLANDER

``When you go and say, `So and so is a thief,' that is slanderous,'' said 
Brutus, a lawyer, who once filed suit against a local station after one of 
its on-air personalities made unflattering comments about a local pastor.

Pierre knows this first-hand. A Democrat and Haitian American, she worked as 
a consultant for former North Miami Councilman Arthur ``Duke'' Sorey, who 
was running for mayor.

Sorey, a Democrat and African American, eventually lost the bid to Joe 
Celestin, a Republican and Haitian American.

Before the race was over, Pierre was the object of intense debate on Haitian 
radio programs, where she was often villainized for supporting the African 
American instead of the Haitian American candidate.

``It made me realize there is a lack of knowledge in terms of politics in 
the Haitian community,'' Pierre said of the experience, which she has chosen 
to see as a positive.

``It shed light on the ugliness for so many people . . . in terms of the 
name-calling over the air.''

She says Haitian radio has less to do with objectivity than it has to do 
with money.


SACRIFICIAL LAMB

``Whoever pays the most money is the one who is going to get heard. I don't 
think that is how the media should be conducted,'' she said.

``If I had to be the sacrificial lamb to shed light on a problem that 
exists, I don't mind being that person. . . . I do believe the community has 
learned a lot from that election.''

The problems are rooted in the way the stations operate, observers say.

Because Haitians do not actually own the stations, broadcasters must buy 
blocks of time, which they in turn sell to advertisers.

The result: Anyone with anything to say, and a few hundred dollars to spare, 
can take to the airwaves.

In the early years of South Florida's Haitian community, such arrangements 
were welcomed and a necessity for a community in need of a voice, Carnivale 
program director Ed Lozama said.

But the community has since grown.

``Its quality of life, standard of living are different,'' Lozama said.

``It's more educated and needs something a little more sophisticated, more 
objective.''

So far, the reviews for Carnivale's different approach have been mostly 
positive. Supporters say it's a positive change.


STRAIGHT APPROACH

``We want to tell the news the way it is as opposed to commentators acting 
like news anchors or journalists,'' said Lozama, who admits some radio hosts 
in the community are not happy with that decision.

Moise is currently trying to come up with the capital to outright buy the 
station and truly make it South Florida's first Haitian-owned and operated 
station. The price is in the millions.

Meanwhile, Lozama is working on advertising. Listeners can hear ads from 
Western Union, Publix and William Lehman auto dealership.

But the ads are not enough to prevent the station from also having to sell 
blocks of time to ``independent contractors.'' The contractors pay anywhere 
from $100 to $200 to be on the air between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. weekdays and 
all day on weekends.


QUALITY COMPLAINTS

``You can only do so much about regulating quality,'' said Lozama, 44, who 
drives two hours each way every day from Naples to work at the station. 
``This is not what we prefer to do. We do hear the complaints every Monday 
morning that we should shut down the station on the weekends.''

Moise began shopping the idea for a Haitian-owned radio station a couple of 
years ago. Selling the idea was the easy part; Carnivale's format is similar 
to that of radio stations in Haiti. Finding investors, however, was another 
matter.

The station pays $85,000 a month for the rights to broadcast its 10,000 
watts during the day and 1,000 watts at night out of Moise's former medical 
office building at 185 NE 84th St.

There is an additional $30,000 in monthly bills that go to pay 15 staffers 
and other expenses and $5,000 in phone bills from the correspondents who 
call in directly from Haiti with the latest news.

``Radio Carnivale is a very expensive venture,'' said Alex St. Surin, host 
of the one-hour daily Creole-language program Radio Carrefour (Crossroads) 
on WLQY-AM (1320).

He is a 30-year radio veteran who initially worked with Moise on the concept 
and was supposed to run the station.

``How do you keep it on the air and have the money to do it, those are 
really the questions,'' he said.

But when you consider there are 43 radio stations in Haiti's capital, 
Port-au-Prince, including his own station, Radio Lakansyel, St. Surin said 
Carnivale can make it -- with the right support.

``We have the largest Haitian group outside of Haiti. . . . We have the 
buying power, and we can afford this kind of radio station,'' he said.






BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com


When a Haitian community activist opted to support a candidate opposing a 
Haitian American in a highly contested mayoral race earlier this year, she 
assumed she was exercising her right to choose.

The next thing Nadia Pierre knew, her character was being sullied all over 
the radio.

Happens all the time, many would say -- on Spanish-language radio. But this 
was Haitian radio.

Citing countless examples of what they say are overly partisan Haitian radio 
shows, a group of investors -- led by prominent family practitioner Guy 
Rudolph Moise -- is hoping to provide another choice on the AM dial for 
Haitian Americans.

It's called Radio Carnivale (WRHB-AM [1020]), a 24-hour Haitian radio 
station that can be heard from South Miami-Dade to Palm Beach as well as in 
the Bahamas. The effort was launched in May and is meeting with some 
listener approval.

With 22 correspondents stationed all across Haiti, it offers up-to-date 
breaking news live from Haiti, music, sports and other types of programming 
in French, Creole and English to the Haitian community.

``We are trying to enrich the lives of all Haitians,'' said Moise, the 
principal investor who began with an initial group of 12. There are now 22 
total, and the majority of them are Haitian. The group pays a monthly 
leasing fee for broadcast rights on the station and is working toward buying 
it outright.

Once a regular on Haitian radio, Moise said he decided to invest in the 
medium because he believes the time has come for the Haitian community to 
have its own. Haitian hosts currently buy time on other people's radio 
stations.

``Communications is big, big business,'' said Moise, an entrepreneur who 
also holds an MBA and a law degree.

No different from Spanish-language radio where on-air personalities and 
irate callers can make or break the careers of politicians, Haitian radio 
carries a lot of weight in South Florida's Haitian community.

This fact is so well known that otherwise outspoken Haitians are guarded in 
their criticism of hosts using shows as their personal platforms. Even the 
radio personalities themselves are cautious in what they are willing to say.


ANTI-HATEFULNESS

``I agree sometimes some of us use the air time to hurt other people, but I 
am not for it,'' said Lavarice Gaudi of Veye Yo, a political watchdog group 
in the Haitian community that has a radio program focusing mainly on Haitian 
politics.

As for the passion some broadcasters display, Gaudi said it comes with the 
territory because often ``when you are speaking about democracy, some people 
won't let you.'' There is no such thing as objectivity, he said -- either in 
the Haitian media or American media.

State Rep. Phillip Brutus, one of the investors in Carnivale, said some 
broadcasters do not understand that radio airwaves belong to the public -- 
not to them.

``The purpose of radio should be to educate, entertain and inform,'' Brutus 
said. ``But some people, new to this country, or after a few years here, 
develop their own standards on what radio is about.''

Brutus, a lawyer, said slanderous talk was once the norm on Haitian radio.

But it has subsided, thanks in part to lawsuits that have been filed over 
the years against overzealous radio personalities and the stations from 
which they operate.


DEFINING SLANDER

``When you go and say, `So and so is a thief,' that is slanderous,'' said 
Brutus, a lawyer, who once filed suit against a local station after one of 
its on-air personalities made unflattering comments about a local pastor.

Pierre knows this first-hand. A Democrat and Haitian American, she worked as 
a consultant for former North Miami Councilman Arthur ``Duke'' Sorey, who 
was running for mayor.

Sorey, a Democrat and African American, eventually lost the bid to Joe 
Celestin, a Republican and Haitian American.

Before the race was over, Pierre was the object of intense debate on Haitian 
radio programs, where she was often villainized for supporting the African 
American instead of the Haitian American candidate.

``It made me realize there is a lack of knowledge in terms of politics in 
the Haitian community,'' Pierre said of the experience, which she has chosen 
to see as a positive.

``It shed light on the ugliness for so many people . . . in terms of the 
name-calling over the air.''

She says Haitian radio has less to do with objectivity than it has to do 
with money.


SACRIFICIAL LAMB

``Whoever pays the most money is the one who is going to get heard. I don't 
think that is how the media should be conducted,'' she said.

``If I had to be the sacrificial lamb to shed light on a problem that 
exists, I don't mind being that person. . . . I do believe the community has 
learned a lot from that election.''

The problems are rooted in the way the stations operate, observers say.

Because Haitians do not actually own the stations, broadcasters must buy 
blocks of time, which they in turn sell to advertisers.

The result: Anyone with anything to say, and a few hundred dollars to spare, 
can take to the airwaves.

In the early years of South Florida's Haitian community, such arrangements 
were welcomed and a necessity for a community in need of a voice, Carnivale 
program director Ed Lozama said.

But the community has since grown.

``Its quality of life, standard of living are different,'' Lozama said.

``It's more educated and needs something a little more sophisticated, more 
objective.''

So far, the reviews for Carnivale's different approach have been mostly 
positive. Supporters say it's a positive change.


STRAIGHT APPROACH

``We want to tell the news the way it is as opposed to commentators acting 
like news anchors or journalists,'' said Lozama, who admits some radio hosts 
in the community are not happy with that decision.

Moise is currently trying to come up with the capital to outright buy the 
station and truly make it South Florida's first Haitian-owned and operated 
station. The price is in the millions.

Meanwhile, Lozama is working on advertising. Listeners can hear ads from 
Western Union, Publix and William Lehman auto dealership.

But the ads are not enough to prevent the station from also having to sell 
blocks of time to ``independent contractors.'' The contractors pay anywhere 
from $100 to $200 to be on the air between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. weekdays and 
all day on weekends.


QUALITY COMPLAINTS

``You can only do so much about regulating quality,'' said Lozama, 44, who 
drives two hours each way every day from Naples to work at the station. 
``This is not what we prefer to do. We do hear the complaints every Monday 
morning that we should shut down the station on the weekends.''

Moise began shopping the idea for a Haitian-owned radio station a couple of 
years ago. Selling the idea was the easy part; Carnivale's format is similar 
to that of radio stations in Haiti. Finding investors, however, was another 
matter.

The station pays $85,000 a month for the rights to broadcast its 10,000 
watts during the day and 1,000 watts at night out of Moise's former medical 
office building at 185 NE 84th St.

There is an additional $30,000 in monthly bills that go to pay 15 staffers 
and other expenses and $5,000 in phone bills from the correspondents who 
call in directly from Haiti with the latest news.

``Radio Carnivale is a very expensive venture,'' said Alex St. Surin, host 
of the one-hour daily Creole-language program Radio Carrefour (Crossroads) 
on WLQY-AM (1320).

He is a 30-year radio veteran who initially worked with Moise on the concept 
and was supposed to run the station.

``How do you keep it on the air and have the money to do it, those are 
really the questions,'' he said.

But when you consider there are 43 radio stations in Haiti's capital, 
Port-au-Prince, including his own station, Radio Lakansyel, St. Surin said 
Carnivale can make it -- with the right support.

``We have the largest Haitian group outside of Haiti. . . . We have the 
buying power, and we can afford this kind of radio station,'' he said.









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