Radio Haiti-Inter was the first independent
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
in
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
. The station was notable for its use of the
Haitian Creole
Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...
language, spoken by most Haitians, while most other media broadcast in French, and also for its broadcasting of international and local news.
History
The station was founded as Radio Haiti and was broadcast on both AM and FM and later renamed to Radio Haiti-Inter.
Jean Dominique
Jean Léopold Dominique (31 July 1930 – 3 April 2000) was a Haitian journalist and noted activist for human rights and democracy in Haiti. His station, Radio Haiti-Inter, was the first to broadcast news, investigative reporting, and politic ...
, who started working at the station as a reporter, bought the lease to the station in 1968. The station was the target of various attacks by oppressive government regimes throughout its history, due to the democratic and anti-corruption stance of Dominique.
In 1980 the Haitian regime closed the station and arrested some station journalists, and Dominique was forced into exile. The station resumed its activity in 1986 after the fall of
Jean-Claude Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( ht, Bebe Dòk), was a Haitian politician who was the President of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father F ...
, but closed again in 1991 after the coup d'état against
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...
. The station reopened in 1994 after Aristide's return.
Jean Dominique was assassinated on April 3, 2000, upon attempting to enter the station. A station employee Jean-Claude Louissaint was also killed in the attack. The station continued to broadcast for 3 years after Dominique's death, helmed by his wife
Michèle Montas
Michèle Montas (born 1946) is a journalist from Haiti and the former Spokesperson under UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (January 1, 2007 - January 1, 2010). Prior to her appointment, Montas headed the French unit of UN Radio. From 2003 to 2004 ...
. Radio Haiti-Inter ended broadcasting in 2003, due to threats against Montas and other employees.
[
]
The station and the story of its founder was documented in
Jonathan Demme's film ''
The Agronomist''.
See also
*
List of unsolved deaths
This list of unsolved deaths includes well-known cases where:
* The cause of death could not be officially determined.
* The person's identity could not be established after they were found dead.
* The cause is known, but the manner of death (homi ...
*
Media of Haiti
As in many developing countries, radio reaches the widest audience in Haiti. Estimates vary, but more than 300 radio stations are believed to broadcast throughout the country. Talk show programs serve as one of the few ways in which ordinary Haiti ...
References
1935 establishments in Haiti
2003 disestablishments in Haiti
Defunct radio stations
Haitian Creole-language mass media
Radio in Haiti
Radio stations established in 1935
Radio stations disestablished in 2003
{{NorthAm-radio-station-stub
Defunct_mass_media_in_Haiti