New Internationalist

On 28 November 1980, Haiti’s former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier unleashed a campaign of violent repression on the independent press and human rights activists in #Haiti. That 'Black Friday' as it had been called marked the end of a budding democratic spring in the country. Duvalier, nicknamed ‘Bébé Doc’, was personally involved in many of the crimes committed by his government, including arresting hundreds of journalists and opposition voices and torturing several of them.  Liliane Pierre Paule was a prominent journalist in Haiti at the time. She was the first person, along with the late Konpè Filo, to introduce Creole into Haitian newscasting, making local and international news accessible to the poorest people in the country. As such, she got into the crosshairs of the Bébé Doc dictatorship, and was forced into exile in Venezuela. This week’s guest on The World Unspun podcast is Paule’s son, Harold Isaac. An independent journalist based in the capital Port au Prince and a regular contributor to New Internationalist, Harold joins us to talk more about his late mother’s legacy and how the country’s complex history contributes to the crisis we’re seeing play out on our screens today. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Full transcript via the link below. https://lnkd.in/ezaeu9HY

🎧COMING SOON: As Haiti’s worsening gang violence once again makes global news headlines, we spoke to independent journalist Harold Isaac about what’s really going on in the country and the historical factors that have led to the crisis we’re seeing play out on our screens today. Subscribe and listen to #TheWorldUnspun wherever you get your podcasts. 

'When will world leaders finally speak up?' Jamil Sawalmeh, director of @ActionAid Palestine, calls for international action against Israel’s latest move to dissolve @UNRWA.

The pre-emptive arrest of 25 climate campaigners in the UK highlights a dirty secret, writes Danny Chivers in our latest issue’s Temperature Check. But as action network Reclaim the Power said: ‘We aren’t going anywhere’.

🎉 We've surpassed 1,000 downloads of #TheWorldUnspun podcast! 🎉 Thank you to all those that have listened to the first two episodes and shared their feedback with us. Next week's episode features the Haitian-Canadian journalist Harold Isaac, who tells us how Haiti’s escalating gang violence is linked to the country’s colonial history and independence ‘debt’ to France. If you haven’t already, read up on our Haiti Country Profile and subscribe to ‘The World Unspun’ wherever you get your podcasts. That way you‘ll be the first to know when the episode is released! You can listen back to our latest episode with Ece Temelkuran here: https://lnkd.in/eaV5XR8U

Despite the rocky climate for independent media, we have not faltered in our mission to tell the stories that the mainstream media sidesteps, championing social and environmental justice wherever we can. This year the situation in #Palestine has never been far from our minds. Though our Palestine issue was published just before Israel began its genocidal campaign in #Gaza in October 2023, we made the rare decision to re-print the publication in solidarity with the Palestinian people and those campaigning for a ceasefire. Later in the year, our issue on #SouthAfrica marked 30 years since the end of apartheid there and touched on the country’s seismic prosecution of Israel in the Hague. Through journalism and events, we continue to put as much energy as we can into covering the unfolding genocide and wider regional conflict while our Ethical Shop sells fairtrade items produced in Palestine. Meanwhile, we are not taking our eyes off the other challenges the world faces, from various conflicts to #climatechange. In these tough times #journalism like ours can make a difference. There is so much to share about what was our 50th anniversary year in print – read on in our Annual Report to find out more.

🔍 From the archive In our April 1989 issue, Paddy Coulter shook the aid world by writing a piece that launched a powerful attack on aid agency fundraisers for relying on 'starving children' imagery and ignoring the indispensable work that local partners did. 'Indeed the advertising which has recently been appearing for voluntary aid agencies portrays a universally squalid Third World full of passive, needy people - especially children,' he wrote. 'With very few honourable exceptions, the causes of this suffering are never mentioned although we are assured that the solutions are easy.' Paddy Coulter was a regular contributor to New Internationalist, and we were very sorry to hear of his sudden death on 3 November. In honour of his vital work and contributions to the development sector, we've published his full piece on our website: https://lnkd.in/enqVXNqd You can also explore the full issue 'Set Me Free: How to Help Children' in our digital archive here: https://lnkd.in/eks8uV56 #BandAid #Oxfam #Development #Aid #Africa

This weekend, New Internationalist will be in Budapest as the proud media partners of #LabLeft, hosted by Szikra Mozgalom and Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung. We’ll be joining Jacobin Magazin, Living Rent, Progressive International, Left Alliance and other activists, experts and politicians for a weekend of workshops, panel discussions and strategy sessions. Make sure to catch Sunday’s panel ‘Raising our Banner’, moderated by NI co-editor Bethany Rielly! Registration is closed, but you can stream and watch back the talks through the Szikra Mozgalom pages - visit the link below for more information. https://lnkd.in/evwwd5ii

Five years ago, Javier Milei wasn’t even a politician. Yet, since his election in 2023, this self-coined ‘Lion’ has mauled everyone from neighbouring Brazil’s ‘corrupt’ President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to ‘filthy leftist’ Pope Francis. Our latest addition to the NI Hall of Infamy is Argentina's 'anarcho-capitalist' libertarian turned corporate pawn, President Javier Milei. Illustration by Mari Fouz.

🎧 OUT NOW: In the second episode of #TheWorldUnspun, we speak to acclaimed Turkish journalist and writer Ece Temelkuran about the descent from democracy into fascism and the ‘magic formula’ for global resistance. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts. https://lnkd.in/eaV5XR8U