Promoting safety and well-being among Haitian journalists and newsrooms

Journalists in Haiti work in dangerous conditions, marked by political instability and the ever-present threat of organized criminal gangs, who operate with near impunity. They face serious threats, including intimidation and arbitrary detention by state security services, and accusations of defamation and anti-state activities. This is against a broader backdrop of violence and kidnappings across the country, further endangering their safety.

“Some journalists have been kidnapped while driving through difficult neighborhoods,” explained Maude Malengrez, who heads the Media Program at the Fondation Connaissance et Liberté (FOKAL) in Haiti. “Others have been kidnapped while trying to cover dangerous stories,” she said. These threats are particularly acute in urban centers, such as the capital Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs wield considerable influence and law enforcement struggles to protect journalists.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented the killings of 12 journalists in the country over the past 10 years. It has also documented numerous cases of journalists in the country being abducted or forced to flee due to direct threats.

Overcoming barriers through partnership and co-design

To address these challenges, FOKAL asked Open Briefing to provide security training for a group of Haitian journalists. FOKAL was introduced to us by the ACOS Alliance, a global coalition of news organizations, press freedom NGOs, and journalist associations. FOKAL, a non-profit organization working for a just and democratic society in Haiti, supports journalists through a special media program. They stepped up their efforts to protect journalists after an increase in kidnappings and attacks in late 2020. However, they had been unable to find a suitable security trainer in Haiti due to local perceptions of journalists.

After extensive consultation and co-design with FOKAL and the ACOS Alliance, members of Open Briefing’s safety and security team delivered five days of security workshops to 36 Haitian journalists. Travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic made in-person training by our team impossible. Fortunately, we have extensive experience designing and delivering remote training and mentoring, including in situations where communication is unreliable. Nevertheless, we recognized that partnership and co-design would become even more important than usual as we overcome a number of challenges.

First, the emotional weight of the training and the stressful safety environment required significant trust and empathy building among participants. Even on the first day of the training, FOKAL was responding to the disappearance of several journalists in the capital. By involving a local psychologist in the sessions, we were able to provide practical support to journalists struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while also gaining essential cultural understanding for our own team.

The emotional burden of the training and the stressful safety situation required building trust and empathy among the participants.Click to tweet

Secondly, the volatile security situation in Haiti required different types of journalists to have very flexible security protocols. We therefore developed tailor-made training sessions to address the unique risks faced by staff journalists and freelancers, for example.

The workshops covered a wide range of practices, from informing newsrooms of plans and sharing real-time locations using apps to raising awareness of sexual harassment. Participants were given advice on working in remote and hostile environments and how to prepare for unforeseen events, including having to work with different vehicles.

Through interactive sessions, participants contributed to and learned about safety procedures and emergency protocols. The collaborative nature of the workshops allowed journalists to share their own safety measures, enriching the training with practical, context-specific insights. FOKAL also created guides, posters and social media content with essential safety checklists to increase the impact of the workshop.

Changing perceptions of safety and security

Melengrez noted a positive response from participants, who initially doubted the effectiveness of safety protocols in Haiti’s volatile environment. “We had no expertise in Haiti on journalist safety,” she said. Nor did they have “practical day-to-day tips on how to organize your newsroom to ensure safety,” she added.

Melengrez recalled a young photojournalist who had not adopted any safety protocols, despite covering a story about a prominent gang leader. “He went to a friend’s house to borrow a camera and said he was going to meet a gang leader. He worked alone. He went without coordination or a safety net,” she told us. The precaution of simply sharing your location was not common in Haiti. The photojournalist was murdered.

Melengrez emphasized the role of our workshops in shifting mindsets and equipping journalists with practical measures to mitigate risks. “They now understand that there are things they can do to mitigate the risks they face as journalists,” she said. Melengrez shared that Open Briefing had filled a critical gap and acted as a springboard for many journalists to access further training.

New champions for safety and well-being

Participants, including leading investigative journalist Roberson Alphonse, pledged to support less experienced colleagues by passing on the knowledge and practical support they had gained in the workshops. Roberson, who had previously survived a shooting in Port-au-Prince, later worked with FOKAL to produce a video on the importance of safety and security protocols for journalists in Haiti.

Following the training, Open Briefing provided further institutional support to FOKAL by advising on communication strategies and preparedness protocols to manage stress and maintain operational control during times of heightened security threats. Our advisors recognized the impact of constant physical security risks on well-being and provided critical psychological support. We also provided executive coaching to help FOKAL’s leadership design new strategic objectives, clarify team roles, and define a roadmap for programmatic development. Melengrez noted that this holistic and preventative approach was crucial for staff who were experiencing extreme stress and hypervigilance due to external threats and internal changes.

Since then, FOKAL has continued to expand its support networks for journalists in Haiti by distributing safety kits and printed and digital safety resources.

The partnership of Open Briefing’s holistic security expertise and FOKAL’s country knowledge and networks provided the perfect foundation to successfully navigate Haiti’s volatile security environment. Open Briefing was proud to stand in solidarity with FOKAL and the incredible journalists and newsrooms they support in Haiti.