Difference between revisions of "Michael Deibert"

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Michael Deibert (born 1973, Lancaster, Pennsylvania) is a U.S. born journalist and author that has been criticized for what is perceived as his right wing stance in regards to his reporting on Haitian politics as well as factual errors, for example in his book on Haitian politics. Michael Deibert was a Reuters correspondent based in Port-au-Prince for a number of years. He has also extensively written about other countries around the globe.

Michael Deibert's Haiti journalism

Michael Deibert has been frequently criticized in media articles such as Kofi Annan's Haiti by Justin Podur, How to Turn a Priest Into a Cannibal: Michael Deibert and U.S. Reporting on the Coup in Haiti by Diana Barahona and Haitian Activist Speaks out Against Deibert's anti-Haiti Propaganda by Patrick Elie. These articles among others, document the frequent criticism Deibert's journalism has received, especially where it pertains to his reporting on Haiti.

The range of Michael Deibert's vociferous critics includes among others Haitian, Canadian and U.S. activists for example a former Haitian government official in several administrations, political activist and writer: Patrick Elie [1], as well other journalists from Haiti and abroad such as the journalist and academic Justin Podur: [see: A Dishonest Case for a Coup.: part of a dialogue with the writer Michael Deibert].

Many newspaper articles, blog entries and and other written material attest to the not inconsequential amount of negative attention Deibert has garnered in response to his articles on Haiti.

Deibert's journalism has included allegations of child sacrifice: ["The charges culminate with Deibert’s uncritical reiteration of a gang leader’s claim, from his Florida exile, that a baby missing from a Port-au-Prince hospital had been kidnapped by So Anne and murdered in a vodou ritual to strengthen Aristide." (Podur p. 159) by a well known Haitian activist, Annette Auguste a.k.a. Sò Anne. These charges, in spite of their serious nature and implications, were never documented have been regarded by many Haitian activists as part of anti-Haitian propaganda.

Responses to criticism of Michael Deibert

• Response to Tom Luce (second part) - Michael Deibert defending his reporting of the 2004 coup d'état in Haiti.
• Haiti, Aristide, and Some Liberals - An exchange, one of many, that Deibert had with a critic.
• Reply to Justin Podur - Comments by Michael Deibert on Justin Podur's book review.

References

• Amnesty International. (2006) Release political prisoner Annette Auguste - 20 months of arbitrary detention Haiti appeal case: AI Index: AMR 36/003/2006 Accessed on July 10, 2011.
• Auguste, Anette (2004) Statement of Sò Anne from prison. Pétionville. Archived on haitiaction.net. Accessed July 13, 2011. [2]
• Barahona, Diane. (2007) How to Turn a Priest Into a Cannibal - U.S. Reporting on the Coup in Haiti. CounterPunch. Accessed July 13, 2011. [3]
• Miéville, China. (2009). Multilateralism as terror: International Law, Haiti and imperialism. Finnish Yearbook of International Law 18. London: Birkbeck ePrints. Available at [4] Accessed on July 10, 2011.
• Podur, Justin. (2006) "Kofi Annan's Haiti - Podur on Michael Deibert, Notes from the Last Testament. Untenable defence of Aristide’s overthrow New Left Review. London. Available online: [5] .pdf file: [6] Accessed on July 13, 2011.
• Taylor, Jeremy. Apocalypse Now - Jeremy Taylor on 'Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti', by Michael Deibert. Caribbean Review of Books. Issue No. 8 - May 2006. Accessed on Jul 21, 2011.
• Wikipedia: Michael Deibert Accessed on July 6, 2011.

External links

• Photo of Michael Deibert, labeled "With Guy Philippe" Mr. Deibert is at the far right of the image - posted on michaeldeibert.com. Accessed on July 11, 2011.
• A Review of Peter Hallward’s Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment
  • Haiti Debate: Peter Hallward Responds to Michael Deibert's Review of Damming the Flood

The media on Michael Deibert's Haiti Reporting

• UK Times' AA Gill Gets Haiti Wrong by Joe Emersberger
• The Proxy War in Martissant and Gran Ravine
• Michael Deibert and Elizabeth Eames Roebling Attack IPS Journalists Writing on Haiti
• Haiti Debate: Peter Hallward Responds to Michael Deibert's Review of Damming the Flood
• Grand Ravine's Massacre: A Response to Michael Deibert
• Haiti Debate: Peter Hallward Responds to Michael Deibert's Review of Damming the Flood

Book by Michael Deibert

• Deibert, Michael (2005). Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti, New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 10 1-58322-697-4