Abstract

This is a study of the practices and experiences of eight Canadian journalists in the week immediately following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The central assertion of this study is that a reenergized journalistic community is born in disaster in the absence of the comfort, familiarity and technical capabilities of the traditional newsroom and its decision-making structures. The exceptional conditions of the Haitian earthquake produced, with no formal planning, a mutually supportive and cooperative journalistic community. This research concentrates on how journalism operates differently in a disaster zone by rediscovering “the authentic” and how, amidst the ruptured meanings of daily life for Haitians, the earthquake represents a unique opportunity for professional renewal.