Radio Haiti-Inter was the first independent

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. The station was notable for its use of the

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...

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 activist for human rights and democracy in Haiti. His station, Radio Haiti-Inter, was the first to broadcast news, investigative reporting, and political ana ...

, 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" (, ), was a Haitian dictator who held the presidency of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father François ...

, 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 in 1991 before being deposed in a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught liberation theo ...

. 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 20 ...

. 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 ''The Agronomist'' is a 2003 American documentary written and directed by Jonathan Demme about Jean Dominique. The documentary follows the life of Dominique, who ran Haiti's first independent radio station, Radio Haiti-Inter, during multiple re ...

''.

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

History

See also

References