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"Haitians live for news"

  • David Exumé

In Brooklyn, radio programs conducted by and for Haitian immigrants have been historically vital tools for those seeking information to survive both under an ideologically restrictive dictatorship and as newcomers in an unfamiliar country. These radio stations and their blend of news and culture programming served as sonic reminders of community, connecting them not just to current events in the United States, but also to news from their country of origin. Through interviews with staff members at three different kinds of radio stations—college-owned, subcarrier, and pirate—this essay explores the role of Haitian radio in community-building, activism, and citizenship for Haitians who arrived in the U.S. in the 1980s. These programs, which existed on the periphery of a competitive media market, embodied a virtual community for Haitians that superseded nation-state boundaries.

  • Keywords:
  • radio,
  • Haiti,
  • culture,
  • ethnic enclaves,
  • autoproduction of culture,
  • immigration,
  • transnationalism,
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David Exumé

Princeton University, United States

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  6. Laguerre M. S. 1998, Diasporic Citizenship: Haitian Americans in Transnational America, Palgrave Macmillan, UK.
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  15. Wang X., Waterman D. 2011, “Market Size, Preference Externalities, and the Availability of Foreign Language Radio Programming in the United States,” Journal of Media Economics, 24(2), pp. 111–131.
  16. Zéphir F. 1996, Haitian Immigrants in Black America: A Sociological and Sociolinguistic Portrait, Bergin & Garvey, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT.
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  • Publication Year: 2022
  • Pages: 282-295

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  • Publication Year: 2022

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

"Haitians live for news"

Authors

David Exumé

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/978-88-5518-661-2.14

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2022

Copyright Information

© 2022 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Embodying Peripheries

Editors

Giuseppina Forte, Kuan Hwa

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

304

Publication Year

2022

Copyright Information

© 2022 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/978-88-5518-661-2

ISBN Print

978-88-5518-660-5

eISBN (pdf)

978-88-5518-661-2

eISBN (xml)

978-88-5518-662-9

Series Title

Ricerche. Architettura, Pianificazione, Paesaggio, Design

Series ISSN

2975-0342

Series E-ISSN

2975-0350

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