Comments on: Blogs Offer Counterpoint to Press Coverage of Mexico

By: Travel Warnings Hurt Mexico During Spring Break | Enduring Wanderlust

Travel Warnings Hurt Mexico During Spring Break | Enduring Wanderlust — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:42:00 +0000

[...] spring-breakers safe. Consider reading a few blogs that cover travel in Mexico too including Travelojos for a balanced view on the situation [...]

By: admin

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:33:38 +0000

The media’s poor coverage of this situation highlights the power of the Internet. If this was 1989, most people wouldn’t even have access to the State Department’s Alert –they’d just have to take the media’s word for it that the entire country was under siege.

Also, the blog posts from people living in Mexico are a great source of information that we didn’t have before.

By: Sarah Menkedick

Sarah Menkedick — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:32:19 +0000

Great point, Steven–I’ve had family members and people who are planning on coming to Oaxaca write me asking, “Is it safe there? Are you/we going to get kidnapped?” And I have to say that no, while it is intense, most of the violence is happening between drug traffickers and law enforcement officials, and it’s happening in isolated areas. And the U.S media loves to distract from it’s own issues by sensationalizing whatever crisis abroad. Not that Mexico doesn’t have issues–but it seems to me convenient to suddenly shift the focus to an “imploding” Mexico as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have proved to be disasters.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:36:20 +0000

Good point. Most the stories I’ve seen are painting with a very broad brush. Fortunately, from what I’ve seen most people are not heeding the “warnings.”

By: Gennaro

Gennaro — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:12:31 +0000

If travelers read the U.S. State Department travel warnings for Italy or Spain, they’d have secnd thoughts about going. The current news cycle is the dangers of Mexico. It will last until the next headline hits in another area. Who know the damage that will be done to Mexican tourism in the meantime.

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:05:07 +0000

@Wendy: So glad you’re going to Mexico City– my second hometown is incredible– and so overlooked by travelers!

@Steve: The problem with mainstream media coverage (even my favorites–NPR and NY Times, which had a front page Mexico violence story yesterday) is that it never looks at a country as a whole. It isolates a single issue or problem and magnifies it to the point that it becomes the sole issue… dangerous for locals and foreigners alike. Thanks for bringing attention to this issue– and thanks for traveling to Mexico.

By: CancunCanuck

CancunCanuck — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:57:24 +0000

Thanks Señor Ojos. Really and truly, things are quite calm around here. Life is normal, we’re not living in a state of fear, we just go about our business like you would anywhere else. We took a trip out to the hotel zone yesterday and were happy to see tourists out and about and smiling, nary a gun or grenade in sight. Even the police were helpful and kind. The media is having a field day with this, the scare tactics and fear mongering about Mexico come and go every once in a while. (I think it’s the fault of the Florida tourist board, haha).

By: admin

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:18:59 +0000

I think the media coverage of many places is the same way. Much of the world is portrayed as much more dangerous than it actually is.

By: Wendy-Escape NY

Wendy-Escape NY — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:40:31 +0000

I’m heading to Mexico City later this month and traveling beyond. If I listened to state departments alerts on many of the countries I have been to I never would have gone.