KEN SILVERSTEIN—Haiti: Media provides sanitized history for American audiences

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Haiti: Media provides sanitized history for American audiences

As I noted here yesterday, much of the media coverage (including the blogosphere) of the tragedy in Haiti lacks any sort of historical perspective and makes it impossible to understand events in the country. Why is Haiti so poor? Marginal Revolution asked in a post yesterday. Among the answers were that "Haiti cut its colonial ties too early, rebelling against the French in the early 19th century and achieving complete independence"; and that "Haiti has higher than average levels of polygamy." . . .

Sent from Teresa's iPod :-)