It seems to me we have a long way to go in Puerto Vallarta to achieve so-called objectivity in reporting news. When I struggle with my bad Spanish to read the local press, what I do understand is way too much opinion and innuendo mixed in with ‘facts’. The English press doesn’t do a whole lot better. Perhaps that’s because this is a small town and personalities count for more here than they would, say, in Toronto, where I was a reporter for Canada’s largest newspaper. Human nature being what it is, I realize that objectivity in its purest form simply cannot and does not exist anywhere, regardless of what journalism schools say. However, it is a professional obligation to continuously strive for such.

This week I attended a session of the Journalism Without Frontiers conference hosted by Vallarta Opina newspaper at the Westin Regina and was encouraged by being in a room of 50 or so journalists from the U.S.A. and Mexico coming together to better understand one another’s perspectives. Speaker Daniel Lund, a researcher in global demographics based out of Mexico City, talked about how Americans and Mexicans perceive news about their country written by the media of the other. He gave examples of the media’s considerable influence on political activities and outcomes in both nations, and said that over the past 20 years, talented journalists across both borders are seeing a much more textured view of reality than their boardrooms do. In other words, their awareness hasn’t necessarily filtered up to their publishers yet. We reporters here in Vallarta could do with a lot more conferences and seminars like this.

My eyes are open wider than usual lately as I travel around Vallarta, anticipating what the estimated 2,000 journalists who will be covering the EMC World Cup here just four months from now will notice and report back. Fellow Viva Productions reporter Joseph Kandoll says that, to his dismay, whenever a bus he’s riding passes a scruffy looking abandoned building, that is what tourist passengers point to and exclaim about. Yikes! What if all these media do that, too? I don’t think that’s the image City Hall or any of us hope to convey.

Have you looked at what’s across from the Hacienda Buenaventura on Francisco Villa lately? It’s a sad state of affairs – an obviously abandoned hotel and some other buildings reminiscent of crack houses in a low budget flick. And then, what about Marina Vallarta with its luxury hotels and residences? At its entrance, the shell of La Ballena restaurant mocks the development. Travel a couple of blocks along the edge of the golf course and rusted rooftop retaining rods jut above a peeling wall from what was to have been another condo. Worse yet is the huge, rundown former plaza that most every visitor to Marina Vallarta’s hotels and timeshare units must pass. Does all this contribute to the image of town where people should invest in expensive real estate?
Speaking of the shape some things are in, did you know that a person can carry the equivalent of a sack of potatoes on one side of their body and it’s not obvious? A local U.S.-trained chiropractor, Basil Abuid, weighed attendees at a seminar he gave this week at the Total Fitness gym and, sure enough, my right side weighs five kilos more than my left! Glancing in the mirror I don’t see it, but when I look closer… Apparently through improper use of my body, spine decompression, carrying heavy books and so on, this can happen. So, I’m renewing my on-again off-again commitment to the gym. If I don’t invest in myself, who will?

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about what you’re reading, you’re encouraged to let me know at heather@mexmags.com.