A news site that covers Haitian-Americans is facing harassment over its post-debate coverage of Ohio
NEW YORK — Journalists at a news site covering the Haitian community in the United States say they have been harassed and intimidated with racist messages for reporting on a fake story about immigrants who eat people’s pets in an Ohio town.
An editor at the Haitian Times, a 25-year-old online publication, was “ambushed” this week by police who showed up at her home to investigate a false report about a gruesome crime. The news site canceled a community forum it had planned for Springfield, Ohio, and has blocked public comments on its stories on the matter because of threats and disgusting messages.
The Times, which commissioned the Committee to Protect Journalists to provide safety training for journalists in Haiti, has now asked for advice on how to protect staff in the United States, said Garry Pierre-Pierre, founder and publisher.
“We have never experienced anything like this before,” Pierre-Pierre said on Wednesday.
The Times has debunked and aggressively covered the aftermath of the story about immigrants allegedly eating the dogs and cats of other Springfield residents, as spread by Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, Donald Trump’s Republican running mate in the presidential election, and Trump himself in his debate with Democrat Kamala Harris.
Despite receiving hundreds of such messages, the site is not giving up, said Pierre-Pierre, a former reporter at The New York Times who reiterated his old employer’s mission when he made that promise.
“We don’t want to go into hibernation,” he said. “We’re taking the precautions that are necessary. But our first duty is to tell the truth without fear or favor, and we have no fear.”
Pierre-Pierre, who emigrated to the United States in 1975, began the haitian times to cover issues affecting first- and second-generation Haitians in the United States, along with reporting on what’s happening in their ancestral home. It began as a print publication that didn’t go online until 2012 and now averages 10,000 to 15,000 visitors a day, though its readership has expanded in recent weeks.
Macollivie Neel, the New York-based special projects editor, was the staff member who police officers appear Monday at her doorstep.
It was triggered when a Haitian advocacy group received an email about a crime at Neel’s address. They, in turn, alerted police, who showed up to investigate. The ringleaders not only knew where Neel lived, they also covered their tracks by routing the report through another organization, she said.
Neel said she had a feeling something like this might happen, based on the hate speech she’s received. But it’s still intimidating, and it’s even more so because the police who responded weren’t familiar with the concept of doxxing, or tracking people online for the purpose of harassment. She said the police searched her home and left.
She was always aware that journalism, by its very nature, can make people unhappy with you. This takes the threat to a whole new level. Racist hate groups that are ready to pounce on any problem are sophisticated and well-funded, she said.
“This is a new form of domestic terrorism,” she said, “and we must treat it as such.”
Katherine Jacobsen, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ program coordinator for the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, said it was a particularly acute case of journalists being harassed in retaliation for reporting on a story. “It’s outrageous,” she said. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation. Yet we are.”
Even before Springfield gained national attention in recent weeks, the Haitian Times was reporting on the influx of immigrants to the Midwest in search of jobs and lower living costs, Pierre-Pierre said. story currently on his site about Springfield describes how the uproar “reflects America’s age-old struggle with the newcomers it so desperately needs to survive.”
Another article on the site talks about the NAACP, Haitian-American groups and other activists from across the country coming to the aid of Springfield residents caught in the middle of the story.
Likewise, the Times has heard from several other journalists — including Pierre-Pierre’s old employer — who have offered support. “I’m deeply moved,” he said.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him on http://x.com/dbauder.