Haiti, journalism, Twitter and Carel Pedre

In my radio class yesterday, we listened to several radio stations which are still broadcasting from Haiti. Despite the devastation, they are still broadcasting. I don’t know how. But you can listen Live via the Internet. If you Google Haiti Radio, you will find a list of stations, and their links. Sure most haven’t updated their content since January 12, which was when the earthquake hit.
But Radio One, the FM music station in Haiti is still broadcasting. (As of today, Wednesday three days later, it is no longer on the air. But radio Signal FM is….)
Listen here.
And it’s riveting listening to the announcers discuss water, and food, and need for assistance, and courage.

They are taking phone calls from people this morning: one says “Aide moi, help me” and “I am trying to locate my family.”
One of the most popular DJs on the Radio One station, is Carel Pedre, in Port Au Prince. He’s been Tweeting since the earthquake, on his Twitter account, passing on messages of folks who are still buried, and where they are located. Other posts show who is injured, what street they are on, and where to find now. Now reporters from CNN and CBC have started looking at his Twitter feed as a source for stories as well. One story on his feed this morning had a survivor being rescued and given medical treatment by an Israeli doctor and taken to hospital on a CNN truck.
He’s also started a Facebook group to try to put families in contact with each other. But Facebook’s only permitting him to have 5,000 friends, so he’s now trying to get Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg to eliminate the limit. Someone has nominated him for the Shorty Awards for using social media to try to save lives and provide a public service.

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