Joseph Guyler Delva is a man without a home. As a journalist in Haiti, a country wracked by corruption, poverty and now a devastating earthquake, he is forced to move whenever he thinks his family is in danger. Haiti is a country where journalists are routinely killed or wounded for trying to do their jobs.

“I am also subject to death threats imposed on me by certain gang members,” said Delva. “For that reason, I have no permanent residence. As soon as people learn about our exact address, my family moves.”

Delva, a BBC and Reuters correspondent in the capital Port-au-Prince, is chairman of a committee to promote the investigation and prosecution of cases involving the murder of journalists in Haiti and has been working for a code of ethics for the profession.

The early 2000s reached a peak of political and social turmoil in Haiti, and in fact little has changed. Journalists’ lives are threatened, and many face exile and desperate poverty. The harsh socio-economic situation and growing corruption make it hard to build a framework for journalism ethics. The earthquake in January only worsened the situation.

“Journalists are reluctant,” said Delva. “They are afraid that all of their resources and the freedom of movement would be taken away if they fully commit to their jobs.”

Since 2000, 12 journalists have been killed while many were injured or forced to leave the country. The government claims it is investigating the cases, but not much has been achieved. So in 2007, Delva and eight other journalists founded the committee, and since then 13 people have been convicted for the murders of journalists – something that had not happened since Haiti’s independence in 1804.

Still, journalists continue to receive death threats. Powerful people who find their interests harmed by reports in the media sometimes hire hitmen to take revenge. Sometimes the attacks come from the police themselves.

Many Haitian journalists work for little or no money. In the earthquake, dozens of journalists lost their homes or family members, and afterwards many lost their jobs. Added to that widespread corruption, journalists feel literally forced into siding with the government as the only way of providing for their children.

“Can we practise our profession under such conditions?” Delva asked. “Instead of tackling the issues that interest the public, we fight the battle of survival.”

So how do you maintain press freedom and codes of ethics in a country like Haiti? Delva and his colleagues have organized the SOS Investigative Journalism Unit to help Haitian journalists and their families, providing medical insurance, security, housing and financial help to the families of murdered journalists and setting up a newsroom cafeteria where journalists can work.

“This might sound banal to you,” Delva said, “but for Haitians it is necessity.”

Manipulation of the media is as present as ever in Haiti and with upcoming presidential elections it is bound to become more intense. But Delva believes there is still hope:  “To the values of democracy, long live the press freedom, long live the freedom of expression.”