As soon as January came around, the media in Belize could not wait to post the murder statistics of the past year. This week they splashed in their headlines the first murder of 2011. What has happened to the mainland media that they have come to glorify murder and crime so much in their headlines? Have they come to condition Belizeans to crave for such bad news and read the papers or tune in to the TV newscast just to see who the next murder victim is?
It is very disconcerting looking at all the headlines and watching the news when all you see is murder, theft, assault and scams. It’s very hard to read and see day in and day out. Yes, it’s part of the reality in which we live in, but there is definitely a lot more going on in our country that can be reported on.
What message do you think this is sending to the outside world? “Don’t come to Belize, it’s all evil here!” That’s what. It can come back to bite us back. Too much negativity out in our media can chase away tourists, who these days do much research online about the place they visit before making their decisions.
Bad news is found all over the world, but do we need to glorify it on the headlines like that is all what is happening in our country? Ninety percent of news casts and newspapers in the city are about crime. A tourist and potential investor to our country recently posted on the popular message board that it was because of all this negative talk on the message board and media in Belize that they decided not to come to Belize. “Think before you post,” he said. Really, we do need to think about that.
We can’t be naïve and ignore the fact that crime is not a problem in Belize. It is practically everywhere. But the country’s media need to do some more positive reporting. More, being the key word, because we are not saying that they are not doing their part either. How about this, for every bad news out there let’s post another positive and human interest story that shows the life in our beautiful country. Balance things out; positive thinking goes a long way, even in conditioning people to do more good than bad.
Ambergris Today prides itself of posting the news with a positive attitude. Yes, we report when crime takes place, but we also try to take out the positive that comes with the negative and also try hard to boost the wonderful life that we live in San Pedro and throughout the country. How about it: can we give it a try?
