Macollvie Neel, an editor at the Haitian Times, woke up to police cruisers outside her home on Monday. Neel told CNN the officers had explained that “someone had emailed an [organization] saying they had killed their wife for being racist toward Haitians at my address.”

Just a few days before, the outlet, which has covered the Haitian diaspora since its founding in 1999, had published a story affirming Haitian solidarity across the diaspora in the wake of the anti-Haitian, xenophobic, and racist rhetoric spouted by presidential candidate Donald Trump. It was just one of the stories they’ve continued to publish about the material impacts of Trump’s comments, including bomb threats directed at Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH. The Times also published an article directing Haitians in Ohio to local mental health resources this week.

Observations about Haitian practices during U.S. occupation of Haiti fed the myths about eating animals that, even today, are still being circulated — and belong to a history of discrimination against Black immigrants and in particular, people coming from Haiti.

“We already know what they’re going to say in a lot of ways, so we have to just prioritize getting what’s important out for our community to help us actually fight back, which is what we have to do, and we have to do it in a very sophisticated way,” Neel said.

With enslaved Haitians fighting for and winning their independence from France in 1804, becoming the first nation to outlaw slavery, slaveholding southern U.S. states became afraid free Haitians would liberate enslaved Africans in the U.S. South Carolina passed an 1822 law prohibiting Black sailors from disembarking at docks to prevent word of the Haitian success spreading. And the U.S. overtook the Haitian government for over 20 years, ruling with a discriminatory, racist system similar to that in place in the Jim Crow South. Under Ronald Reagan, Haitian immigrants were turned away as the Haitian diaspora in the U.S. began forming en masse in the 1970s.

And while there has been coverage looping Trump and Vance’s comments into the broader zeitgeist of racism linking immigrants to animal consumption, both solidarity and specificity matter.

“In today’s political environment, the outrage over the racist lie that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are stealing and eating people’s pets has been filtered through partisan presidential politics,” Black Agenda Report editor and contributor Dr. Jamaica Pierre writes. Thoughtful coverage of the comments’ impact should involve taking a broader view beyond collapsing racism solely onto Republicans.

Careful reporting should include specific Haitian context, along with acknowledgment of how the U.S.’s anti-Black and xenophobic policy and sentiment have intersected to foment anti-Haitian hate — and how the mainstream U.S. media has been part of this apparatus, including the New York Times.

—James Salanga

The Xylom’s co-founder links Minari to growing a science newsroom centering AAPI stories: After six years of the newsroom, Alex Ip writes about how the movie about the Yis, a family in Arkansas growing the titular plant, is intertwined with The Xylom’s founding philosophy as it continues its work. Ip also reflects on The Xylom’s internationalist perspective and the importance of reporting stories outside of ethnic enclaves in big metro areas. Read the story in The Objective.

NYMag’s Olivia Nuzzi placed on leave after “emotional and digital” relationship with former source RFK Jr.: Nuzzi, who was engaged to POLITICO chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza, did not name the source, but several outlets, including Status, which broke the news, named the former presidential candidate. She was assigned to profile the former presidential candidate in November 2023 and said the relationship, which began in December and ended in August, was “never physical.” Nuzzi was removed from 2024 campaign coverage, with an unnamed third-party conducting an independent review of her 2024 stories to influence the “final disciplinary decision.” Read the initial story in Status Magazine, NYMag editor’s note to staff on X, and the RFK Jr. profile on NYMag.

Law360 Union secures contract after week-long unfair labor practice strike: Among the provisions are at least a 7% raise within one month of contract ratification, remote work language that requires bargaining over any return-to-office mandates, and protections against unilateral decisions on using artificial intelligence. The last two wins could be a benchmark for other unions facing similar questions in their workplaces. Read about the contract in Law360 Union’s X announcement.

#WritersNotRobots: NYMag Union pushes for basic protections against AI use: The union returned back at the bargaining table on Thursday morning to enshrine protections against AI in their contract, which they’ve been seeking for the past six months. (An AI couldn’t enter an emotional and digital relationship with RFK Jr., Over 96% of the union’s members signed a letter to NYMag and Vox Media (which announced a partnership with OpenAI in May) pushing for codified employer commitment that they “won’t be automated out of their jobs.” Read more on the NYMag Union X account.

New Jersey SPJ anti-bias workshop invites group that’s targeted Palestinian journalists without evidence: The organization will host the executive Director Gil Hoffman of HonestReporting.com (previously a spokesperson for the Israeli army reserves) to talk about “How to Avoid Bias in Middle Eastern Reporting.” In 2023, the organization “questioned” whether or not some Palestinian journalists were involved with the October 7th attacks, which was used by Israeli politicians as political fodder, but later admitted they were just asking questions and recanted their line of questioning. Read the story in Prism.

Modifier, a project of Resolve Philly, is running three community engagement workshops. Tickets to each webinar are $25, or just $60 for all three!

Do you work with journalism or communications students? Contact them at [email protected] to obtain free student tickets.

Get your tickets now!

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