HYSTERICAL FEARS OF BAJA RESULT IN CHILD CUSTODY HEARING

by Jose Perez, July 2008

Yellow journalists, especially San Diego’s xenophobic media outlets, are wantonly abusing free speech by scaring folks away from traveling Baja.  The proverbial example of yelling fire in a crowded theatre is exactly what these panderers of fear are guilty of.  And the worse offender is ABC network affiliate channel 10, who produced a recent series covering U.S. victims of violence in Northern Baja. 

Nine “investigative” scary reports in the month of May.  That is more than two per week.  How many “investigative reports” are posted on the “investigative team” web site about crime in San Diego in May?  I found none.  Who are “the 10 investigative team”? On their website is  a nice photo of them but they are nameless.  Just another set of pretty faces on television, anonymously producing ca ca equivalent to what I can find on the internet from anonymous cyber freaks.

These specious and prejudicial reports were entered into “evidence” in a case brought before family court judge, the honorable Edward Allard, June 6 of this year.  I was asked to testify at the hearing, as an expert witness on Baja California.  The mother of a 14 year old girl brought her ex husband to court in an effort to bar him from taking their daughter on visits to Baja.  The mother’s fears were understandable, given the constant drum beat against Baja by the media.  Fortunately judge Allard ruled against the mother, indicating there was not clear or sufficient evidence to hear her arguments in open court.

Baja “fear attacks” don’t hold up in court but that doesn’t prevent “the investigative” channel 10 news team from secreting their venom - with devastating affects on our Baja economy.   Reports like these have sent a shock wave through obvious tourist sectors: realtors, developers, restaurants, hotels and shopkeepers. And those folks who sell goods and services to these industries and their employees.  Essentially everyone’s pocket book is being affected in  Baja’s heavily tourist  dependent economy Media fear mongers have created panic among even the most veteran of Baja travelers. When crime statistics are factually compared, Baja California is a safer place to be than San Diego –always has been and still is.  However, the facts don’t change the real fear this mother, who lost the custody ruling, still feels.  I had an opportunity to speak with her after the hearing and I was moved by the genuine angst she experiences every time her husband takes their daughter to his vacation home in the La Fonda area. 

As a parent, I empathize with her desire and need to protect one’s child.  I shared with her that I would have similar fears if my 15 year old son was roaming the back alleys of San Diego.  My young man is not restricted by my wife or I to be on the streets of Ensenada –day or night.  Nor did my parents restrict me, as a teenager, from the streets and blues club of Oakland, where I grew up.   As parents, we know the streets of Ensenada are safe and well protected by the police of our city.  Our son is a responsible kid who makes good decisions about who he is with and where.  An outstanding student who does not use drugs, I would be penalizing him by unjustifiably limiting his freedom with my unfounded fears.

I explained to the anxious mother that, in my 26 years of residence in Ensenada, there have been no incidents of violence against tourists in the La Mission area where the father’s vacation home is located. I further invited her to come to my home, in a typical Ensenada neighborhood, so that she and her daughter could meet my son and his many adolescent cousins.  We could all: “hit” the Ensenada streets together at night.  I would like her to experience “first hand” how irrational her fears are.

The attorney, representing the mother in this case, is a seasoned Mexican traveler who loves Baja and Baja Californianos. She is the organizer of a philanthropic effort with the Discover Baja club.  Every year, she re-enlists, fifty burly and tough so. Cal developers and contractors to donate their time and expertise to help Baja’s poor build their own homes.  According to the attorney, these “tough guys” have also been frightened by press reports and canceled their charitable  trip this year: “If these testosterone  filled males are afraid of Baja, it is understandable that my client would be fearful for her daughter’s safety” said the attorney .

We can no longer be passive about the onslaught of sloppy, sensationalist reporting by these callous gringo tabloid “tontos”.  We must fight back as Baja Californianos, gringo or Mexican residents of this beautiful and hospitable peninsula.  In the sixties I participated in sit ins, strikes and demonstrations against racial injustice.  This is another form of injustice and we must confront it. 

We, “Cachanilla” (term for Baja Californianos) know that the violence being reported by the U.S. media is too little too late.  These drug wars have been going on for the past four years.  Why did it take so long to begin covering the problem?  I submit that investigative reporting is no longer the goal. The goal is to sensationalize in order to tantalize-not inform, the public.   Why are they not reporting that, instead of getting worse, the security in Baja has greatly improved since a rash of incidents took place five months ago?  Military presence is everywhere and we welcome it because it is working to safeguard us and our cherished tourists. 

Ratings and ad revenues are the sole objectives in this “vast wasteland” of negative reporting.   Whether the story is about Britney Spears, Reverend Wright or Baja drug wars: half truths, innuendo and gossip have replaced digging for facts.  Edward R. Murrow must be turning over in his grave.  Shame on you San Diego Press club and every other member of the journalistic community for not shedding light on this freedom of the press abuses.  I hereby resign my membership and participation to your wine sipping Press Club events in which you practice back slapping instead of examining your professional ethics. Stop calling yourselves journalists.  Tell it like it is: You have all lost your professional “cojones” in an effort to keep working in a “sell your soul to the company store” media cesspool.  
I am organizing a demonstration at the studios of ABC station 10 to fight back.  We must use their tactics of tantalizing the public in order to obtain the coverage for uncovering real crime stats on both sides of the border.  From my sixties civil rights experience, I believe a demonstration will have the affect of bringing attention to another form of injustice.  Nothing short of direct action will succeed in getting out the truth. 

Jose Perez is the founder of Mexicomatters, serving the foreign investor since 1984.
You can consult with Jose by calling 619 819 9369 U.S. Phone or 011 52 646 1766759, see our website www.mexicomatters.info
Jose email: :leejose@mexicomatters.info