News

Death By Media

Unfair reporting on crimes is damaging Baja's tourism economy

On Feb, 22, a woman reported she was raped at gunpoint in the early evening as she was jogging near the San Elijo Lagoon in North County, yet that heinous crime initially merited a one-column, two-paragraph news item along with other Crime Watch reports found in The San Diego Union-Tribune's B Section, along with several B Section follow-up reports in later days. Yet when a woman was raped in Baja in October while on a surfing trip with her boyfriend, it was front-page news and related follow-ups continue today.

The point is, heinous crimes are the same anywhere and crime exists everywhere in the world, including San Diego and yes, Baja California. But it seems local and national news organizations love to highlight incidents in Mexico. Unfortunately, this recent overzealous coverage is seriously hurting Baja's crucial tourism industry.

Some numbers put things in perspective. In the last four months of 2007, San Diego recorded 14 murders, 115 rapes, 347 armed robberies, 423 strong-arm robberies and 1,558 aggravated assaults. How many of these crimes merited high-profile news coverage, or repeated rehashing and subsequent national news? Have travel warnings been issued to potential visitors?

Locals rightfully note that San Diego's murder rate is much lower than Tijuana's. But Tijuana's is about the same as Los Angeles, where from Dec. 23 to Feb. 16 the big city to the north recorded 58 homicides. Los Angeles also experienced 114 rapes, 1,922 robberies and 1,751 aggravated assaults. And no travel warnings.

As we cast our net wider, a recent ABC Nightline report focused on how, prior to deploying to Iraq, Army doctors are sent to the emergency rooms in Philadelphia so they can gain experience in treating the 75 or so gunshots, stabbings and other traumatic injuries that occur each night. Higher homicide rates than Tijuana's can be found in Las Vegas, Houston, Dallas and New Orleans, which leads the nation. Yet Americans are encouraged to visit those cities instead of discouraged by U.S. federal travel warnings.

Another Tijuana crime widely reported concerned the kidnapping of two female real estate agents. The only connection to the U.S. is that one is married to a U.S. citizen. The family contacted government officials who turned the case over to the Baja California Organized Crime Unit. The women were rescued unharmed. Four suspects were captured and now face charges in 14 homicides and other crimes. Very long jail sentences are likely. This positive bit of news was buried in the back pages of The Union-Tribune. Why? Contrast this with the rapes and assaults two summers ago on the college students in Mission Beach. The situation got high-profile coverage, as did the resulting convictions of those who committed the crimes. At no time was there a warning to not visit Mission Beach.

The most recent news coverage aberration was a February report entitled, Kidnappings of U.S. citizens on rise. The report indicates 26 U.S. citizens were kidnapped last year in Tijuana. But were they really U.S. citizens?

In the article the individuals are called San Diego County residents and described as typically having business ties in Tijuana. Clearly the description does not fit the definition of a tourist, someone down for the day or longer for pleasure. Indeed a January message from the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana notes, There is no evidence that U.S. citizens are specifically targeted because of their citizenship.

Responding to an e-mail request as to whether the 26 were U.S. citizens or Mexican nationals, the newspaper said citizens. The article cited the FBI as a source. When I posed the same questions to Special Agent Darrell Foxworth, he said the FBI does not keep records as to the citizenship of the victims. In order to find this out, a Freedom of Information request must be made and an answer would take more than two days. The two days is a key time period because during an appearance on CNN's Glenn Beck Program, the U-T writer said once he got the kidnapping tip it took two days to put the story together.

All the above is not to dismiss the crime problems faced in Tijuana and Rosarito that have escalated since President Calderon declared war on organized crime. Nor should we dismiss the seriousness of the problems faced along the coast of Baja, even though incidents involving tourists are few compared to the total number of visitors. Nor is there a suggestion that the local, state or national news media should stop reporting on crime in Baja California, especially when U.S. citizens are victims.

Rather, the hope is for more responsible coverage, with follow-ups when Baja law enforcement makes inroads in winning the war against crime, much of which is fueled by the U.S. appetite for illegal drugs. Each year the economies and cultures of San Diego and northern Baja California grow closer, regardless of criminal acts on either side of the border. The media should provide equivalent coverage.

Patrick Osio Jr. can be reached at patrick@transbordercommunications.com