[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 141 (Monday, October 18, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2114-E2115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO THE NEW HAITIAN TIMES NEWSPAPER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 18, 1999

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Yves 
Colon and Garry Pierre-Pierre, two budding young Haitian-American 
journalists who will launch, later this week, a new weekly newspaper, 
The Haitian Times. These two veterans of big city newspapers, Mr. 
Colon, a Miami Herald editor and reporter on leave from the paper, and 
Mr. Pierre-Pierre, a former New York Times reporter, have both taken a 
leap of faith to launch this new venture which is set to hit newsstands 
in Miami-Dade County, New York City and Port-au-Prince on October 20, 
1999.
  I commend Mr. Colon and Mr. Pierre-Pierre on their new venture. It's 
certainly an idea who's time has come. May The Haitian Times be around 
for many years to come.
  I enter into the Record the attached news article from the Miami 
Herald announcing the launch of the Haitian Times.

               Journalists Launch Voice for U.S. Haitians

                           (By Curtis Morgan)

       Their numbers are substantial and growing--some 300,000 in 
     South Florida and twice that in New York City. Yet Haitian-
     Americans remain an often overlooked ethnic group, 
     registering only faintly on mainstream media radar.
       Two journalists, both Haitian-born veterans of big city 
     American newsrooms, hope to change that with a small but 
     ambitious weekly newspaper, The Haitian Times, scheduled to 
     hit stands in Miami-Dade County, New York City and Port-au-
     Prince on Oct. 20.
       While there are already two well-established stateside 
     papers covering Haiti, this one is designed with significant 
     differences, said Yves Colon, a Herald reporter and editor 
     taking leave to serve as editor. For one, its voice will be 
     in English not French or Creole.
       The target audience, said publisher Garry Pierre-Pierre, a 
     former New York Times and Sun-Sentinel reporter, are people 
     not unlike himself and Colon: Of Haitian heritage, educated 
     or raised in the States, fluent in all things American.
       ``It is the quintessential Haitian-American, a person who 
     really wants to be Haitian but is also very much part of the 
     other world,'' Pierre said. Thus, the message in the 
     masthead, ``Bridging The Gap.''
       While potential readers are reserving judgment until they 
     see the product, some believe the paper, if it succeeds, 
     could be a social milestone.
       ``I think this is going to fill a vacuum,'' said Jan Mapou, 
     director of Sosyete Koukouy, a Miami-Dade organization that 
     mounts cultural and arts shows. The two major existing papers 
     stateside--Haiti En Marche, published in Miami, and New York-
     based Haiti Observateur--are both mostly French, with limited 
     English and Creole. Mapou writes Haiti En Marche's lone 
     Creole page, a column about cultural events.
       ``Having a newspaper for the Haitian community in English, 
     that will cover the whole community,'' he said. ``We have so 
     many kids that are disconnected with what's going on in Haiti 
     and the community.''
       Ossmann Desir, the lone Haitian-American on the North Miami 
     council, a city with a large Haitian population, echoed 
     Mapou. ``We have a Haitian-American community that is 
     increasing every day, and they're becoming more and more 
     aware of English.''
       Author Bernard Diederich, who published the English 
     language Haiti Sun on the island from 1950 to 1963, also was 
     enthusiastic. While he said major papers like The New York 
     Times and The Herald do solid coverage, the country has many 
     critical and stubbon issues that go unexamined or are 
     reported with clear political bias by the Haitian press.
       ``There is a crying need for this, a real balanced 
     newspaper that has no agenda,'' he said.
       Mike McQueen, chairman of Florida International 
     University's journalism and broadcasting department, said the 
     paper could become ``a pretty important voice'' and provide a 
     sense of validation for a community.
       ``Even though Haitians have been in Miami-Dade County for 
     about 20 years,

[[Page E2115]]

     they're still sort of forgotten exiles,'' McQueen said. 
     ``They're black, but they're not African-American, they're 
     Caribbean refugees but they're not Cuban or Dominican, and a 
     lot of them aren't refugees.''
       McQueen had a mixed reaction to the Enligh-only decision, 
     saying it could shut out recent arrivals. But Pierre-Pierre 
     and Colon, who both immigrated as children, called the choice 
     key to the paper's philosophy and identity.
       In Haiti, language is loaded. The Upper-class minority 
     favors French. Creole is the language of the vast poor 
     majority, most of whom can't read it. Most Haitian immigrants 
     succeed by speaking English.
       ``For us,'' Colon said, ``English is the great equalizer.''
       With Hispanics, language isn't divisive but unifying, he 
     said. Spanish-speakers also have the benefit of larger 
     populations in cities like Miami, which often allows new 
     immigrants to thrive, even without mastering the new 
     language.
       Scope and approach are the things Colon hopes will really 
     separate the paper--an approximately 40-page tabloid with an 
     internet site also under development (www.haitiantimes.com)--
     from its counterparts. The staple of both French papers is 
     politics, dry ``insider baseball,'' he said.
       While the paper already has a bureau in Port-au-Prince, 
     Colon intends to emphasize issues and personalities 
     stateside, eventually expanding from the New York-Haiti-Miami 
     triangle into other cities.
       ``I'm interested in holding up the mirror to the Haitian 
     community, our successes and our failures to say, `This is 
     who we are,' '' Colon said.
       Colon, who has covered Haiti for The Herald and The 
     Associated Press, said he will strive for objectivity. At the 
     same time, he hopes to stir passions, a task he admits is 
     difficult, given the collective cultural experience.
       ``The perfect word for it is that Haitians are inured. 
     Haitians have seen so much--poverty, corruption, the 
     brutality of their own brothers and sisters--but there is 
     very little reaction to it.''
       The bigger challenge will be luring buyers and advertisers.
       John Morton, a media analyst and president of Morton 
     Research in Maryland, said that to last, the paper will have 
     to leap hurdles. For one, while some ethnic newspapers--
     particularly Spanish-language papers in major cities--have 
     succeeded, many others are only ``marginally profitable.''
       ``Starting up a new publication is always fraught with a 
     lot of heavy lifting and usually loses a lot of money 
     initially,'' he said. ``That's often the problem that keeps 
     these things from succeeding--they're undercapitalized.''
       Because the readership is spread across the map, it also 
     may be more difficult to attract advertisers, he said. The 
     critical key may be expanding from Haitian businesses to 
     mainstream advertisers.
       Because the readership is spread across the map, it also 
     may be more difficult to attract advertisers, he said. The 
     critical key may be expanding from Haitian businesses to 
     mainstream advertisers.
       Both Colon and Pierre-Pierre agree the venture is a risk 
     but one they say is worth it. Investors are committed, 
     Pierre-Pierre said, reaction stateside has been strong and 
     there's also a large audience in Haiti, a country of eight 
     million.
       The paper plans a first run of 40,000 and will ``probably 
     level off to around 25,000 and work its way up,'' he said. 
     ``This is an idea whose time has come.''

     

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