95-07-08-haiti -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 7/8/1995
Last Visited: 8/2/2001
In the hour before lunch , the Haitian-American chairman of Wesleyan University's sociology department , Alex Dupuy , offered the assembly a geopolitical overview , tracking the events and philosophies that had culminated in the pounding of Haiti's square peg into the round hole of the New World Order.
As debate rambled on , its focus gravitated to one of the core dilemmas confronting Haiti's media : Were they to be watchdogs or advocates of Aristide's government.How best to balance vigilance with self-censorship.Many of the journalists fretted that objectivity absent self-restraint would play into the hands of anti-democratic forces.It's one little candle with a light with a lot of wind trying to blow it out , this democracy , said Pierre-Paul.Even though you are not satisfied with the way the government's functioning , she had told me earlier in Port-au-Prince , you cannot attack a democratic government the same way you attack a dictatorship..
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The Miami conference seemed to end in disarray - Lilyanne Pierre-Paul and Clarens Renois sparring over the need for a press association ; Edwidge Balutansky and Marie Jean from Radio Tropic FM unwilling to role-play in a silly exercise conducted by a chirpy management specialist from the University of Miami ; George Krimsky , president of the Center for Foreign Journalists , mightily offended by the anti-capitalist rhetoric of Alex Dupuy ; the sponsors grousing about the entire aimless affair.