For the first time in an emergency, media development NGO, Internews, began funding a research unit from the earliest days of their response in Haiti. The research department began as a way of mapping and understanding the best tools to improve communication with affected communities, in order to strengthen their daily humanitarian news programme Enformasyon Nou Dwe Konnen –ENDK (Kreyol for ‘News You Can Use’). This paper describes the implementation process.