RWB: Centre for Haitian journalists will need technical and financial aid from foreign media

An emergency centre of operations for Haitian journalists is being set-up by  Reporters Without Borders and the Canadian media group Quebecor in the Port-au-Prince neighbourhood of Canapé-Vert.

But to be able to continue operating in the medium term, the centre will need technical and financial assistance from other NGOs, international bodies and foreign media, RWB says.
The centre’s priority is to provide journalists who have not been able to work since the earthquake with essential means of communication. It is also intended to facilitate contact between media representatives and to provide government officials, politicians and NGOs with a a way to communicate with the Haitian media.
The Canapé-Vert centre also aims to provide a service to international news media seeking to understand Haitian reality, and could eventually produce and disseminate news and information in its own right by, for example, employing journalists with Haitian print media whose distribution has been suspended as a result of the earthquake.
Up to 20 journalists will be able to work in the centre at any one time. It also has a news conference room that can hold 40 people and a terrace that can hold 60 people. It will have broadband Internet, telephone lines, an audio and video conference system, a satellite TV link and printers, as well as facilities for journalists in distress.
The centre is meant to relay Haitian journalists’ requests to the international community and to help evaluate the reconstruction needs of Haitian news media and the assistance needs of individual journalists and their families.
RWB has  reiterated its appeal for donations and technical assistance.