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[HCDX] South Florida Radio
Ethnic radio is a lifeline for Caribbean expatriates in South Florida
South Florida transplants rely on local stations for news of home
By Georgia East | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 11, 2008
Jean Jabouin host of Good Morning Diaspora on 1580 radio, during his
show in Miami. The show broadcasts in Palm, Broward and Miami and serves
the Haitian American audience. Jabouin gives hurricane updates, along
with politcs and sports on his show. (CRISTOBAL HERRERA, SunSentinel /
September 12, 2008)
FORT LAUDERDALE - It was 6 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, and Paul Andre
Mondesir was trying to save a life.
The caller had given up hope. He had no job. He was sleeping on a
friend's front porch, living with the fear that he could be deported to
Haiti at any time because of his illegal immigration status.
He heard Mondesir's radio program on 1320 AM while scanning the dial and
felt the urge to call.
Mondesir, whose listeners call him "Doc," told the caller that as long
as there is a tomorrow there is hope. Then he swiftly ticked off a list
of resources that could possibly offer him some temporary assistance.
"I give them information with a little self-motivation," Mondesir said.
The incident points to the unique role radio plays in South Florida's
Caribbean-American community. It goes beyond entertainment. For local
transplants, ethnic radio serves as an information hotline, crisis
lifeline and communication link to the islands they left behind.
"It's like an umbilical cord to their cultural heritage," said Jean
Jabouin, host of the morning show Good Morning Diaspora, which up until
recently broadcasted on WSRF 1580 AM, a Haitian station.
Caribbean radio in South Florida can be heard on almost a dozen
stations. The majority of the programs are on AM, and most are in
Creole. But there are at least two English-language stations.
WAVS 1170 AM, which serves the English-speaking Caribbean community, had
43,700 listeners when surveyed this past spring, according to media
research firm Arbitron, and some say those estimates are low. There are
about 500,000 Caribbean natives in South Florida.
Even with ethnic radio's reach, some within the medium say there's often
an uphill battle to get major businesses to advertise with their
station. In March, Mystik Radio, a Caribbean AM radio station, pulled
the plug.
Part of the problem, radio officials say, is that mainstream radio
rating systems don't get an accurate count of their listeners.Arbitron
sends out listening diaries to a sample of the community, spokeswoman
Jessica Benbow said. But some within the Caribbean community say those
diaries don't reach their listeners.
At WPBR 1340 AM in West Palm Beach, General Manager Markes Pierre-Louis
refers to his station as the CNN of Haitian radio. "We have news live
from Haiti every day," Pierre-Louis said.
On Friday, when a school full of children collapsed in Petionville,
Haiti, many of the Creole-language radio stations here launched into
live reports on the victims and recovery efforts.
"People want to know what's going on in Haiti because a lot of people
want to see change there," said Rodrigue Sejour, a talk radio host on
WPBR. On Monday evening, Sejour took questions from local listeners and
fielded a debate about reports that the school was shoddily built. "I
have a bunch of callers who can't wait to respond."
Fort Lauderdale taxi driver Miche Auguste counts on the radio to fill
his cab with everything from compas music and political commentary to a
roundup of news from Haiti.
It was the first place he turned when friends and family called to say
storms were battering his homeland last month.
"What they do is important," he said. "No matter what, home is home."
While some advertisers are still slow to come on board with ethnic
radio, politicians recognize itsreach. On the Duke of Earle's show on
WAVS 1170 AM, for instance, candidates running for local offices made
steady appearances to tap into the Caribbean base.
Last month, Patrick Gaspard, the national political director of Barack
Obama's campaign, went on Jabouin's show to talk to Haitians about the
campaign. Gaspard is Haitian-American.
Most of the Caribbean-formatted stations in South Florida operate on a
brokered system: Radio hosts essentially buy time on air and bring their
own advertisers.
"I don't think some of the larger advertisers understand the value of
our community and the value of radio in our community," said Pat
Montague, president of Princess PM Productions and a radio host on WAVS.
Just ask Hopeton Green.
Before the Hollywood furniture refinisher grabs his drill or pounds any
nails, he turns his radio to 1170 AM. It's as automatic as switching on
the lights. This is where he can count on hearing a reggae classic.
He's also an avid listener of Winston Barnes' Open Mic, a show where
listeners talk about everything from politics to the economy, and he
makes it a point to catch the Caribbean news roundups.
"I have to know what's happening back home because I go home all the
time," Green said.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/fort_lauderdale/sfl-flbradiosbnov11,0,5982721.story
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