Keywords
Media, Mexico, Oaxaca, Tourism
Abstract
This thesis examines how travelers evaluate and process mass media news stories about local events. Thanks to its colonial architecture, white sand beaches, and indigenous history, the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca receives millions of foreign and domestic visitors each year. Between 2006 and through 2009 Oaxaca has received a great deal of negative international media coverage, including stories of street riots, drug violence, and the fall out of the H1N1 flu virus. The overall impact of these unfavorable reports, and the resulting decline in the local tourism industry, has been predictable and severe. This thesis is based on anthropological research that I conducted in Oaxaca during June and July, 2009. I interviewed 26 American tourists about issues related to mass-media, personal travel experiences, and the interplay between international news coverage of local events and trip destination selection and planning. My research suggests that interviewees generally approach these media stories unfavorably and with a hefty sense of skepticism. Their reactions may reflect a wider trend in American society whereby mainstream and commercial mass media sources are viewed as increasingly untrustworthy or inaccurate
Notes
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Graduation Date
2010
Semester
Spring
Advisor
Matejowsky, Ty
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
College
College of Sciences
Department
Anthropology
Degree Program
Anthropology
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0003226
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003226
Language
English
Release Date
August 2010
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
Subjects
Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic
STARS Citation
Crosby, Joshua, "Swine Flu, Drug Wars, And Riots: Media And Tourism In Oaxaca, Mexico" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1516.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1516