<p>The head on CNN’s home page right now is, “Wilma hits Yucatan as tourists take cover.” Yeah. The tourists took cover in sturdy hotels all by themselves while the residents did what? Oops! I forgot. The Yucatan only has tourists, no residents for the general public to be concerned about.</p>
<p>And check out how the story begins:</p>
<p>CANCUN, Mexico (CNN) – The center of fierce Hurricane Wilma brushed Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday as thousands of tourists huddled in shelters and hotels in the deadly storm’s path."</p>
<p>Am I the only one who is wondering exactly where the residents are particularly since I doubt that the residents could take planes and escape (as did many tourists) nor do I think that the residents have homes as sturdy as the hotels are?</p>
<p>Maybe they’ve changed the header since you originally posted but the main article now on the website mentions both residents and tourists were evacuated to shelters further inland. The reports I saw on their tv coverage this afternoon reported the same, with stories about both tourists and also about residents.</p>
<p>If I remember Yucatan correctly, most if not all of the coast is the tourist areas, the locals sometimes live in the hotel where they work, or much further inland in horribly crowded shacks with dirt floors.</p>
<p>The head that I referred to was on CNN’s homepage in the place on the left that now has the Hairi story. Te main Wilma story then was as you posted it.
I guess they figured people would only click on the Wilma story if tourists – i.e. Americans – were featured.</p>
<p>Remember the Monty Python sketch? –> All the news stories were reported based on how they pertained to parrots and whether any parrots were involved.</p>
<p>I get so aggravated with CNN because we get only the news they want us to hear. My brother gets CNN in SE Asia and gets news we never hear about. One thing I’ve noticed on CNN, also, is that they refer to George W. as “Mr. Bush,” whereas when Bill Clinton was in office, he was always “President Clinton.” You rarely heard “Mr. Clinton.”</p>
<p>I really don’t see what is the big deal. CNN’s audience is Americans who may have been or can identify with tourists visiting the Yucatan. Americans can relate to the hardship of the tourists there and ponder what it might be like to be a tourist when a hurricane hits. I am willing to bet that the local media coverage will also focus on the effect of Wilma on tourist business.</p>
<p>Yeah, you’re right. I have a cousin right now out there on a cruise and I’ve been wondering where they went to avoid the hurricane. The news rarely mentions cruise ships and how it affects them - except for that one that got knocked over by that 70’ wave last year.</p>
<p>“I really don’t see what is the big deal. CNN’s audience is Americans who may have been or can identify with tourists visiting the Yucatan.”</p>
<p>That makes lots of sense. Why should Americans identify at all with people who live in an area that is hit by a severe hurricane. That’s why all of the Katrina stories focused only on tourists.</p>
<p>Hmmm. When the earthquake struck, I guess this is how CNN should have sent out their news bulletin: “American tourists’ vacations cut short by Kashmir earthquake.”</p>
<p>Americans identified with Katrina residents because the residents were Americans. The folks in the Yukatan are not American and few Americans know how they live.</p>
<p>Not many Americans vacation in Kashmier given that it is a war zone.</p>
<p>If you will recall the Tsunami coverage, many of the stories were about American and English speaking tourists. </p>
<p>Sorry to burst your “we are all equally important” bubble, but CNN is doing its job which is trying to attract viewers which means focusing on what Americans are interested in seeing.</p>
<p>It isn’t as if they don’t do it for American problems as well. When the large fires in southern California forced the evacuation of the San Bernardino mountains, there was very little talk about what happened to the residents until houses had been destroyed. In fact, I noticed that they continually called Lake Arrowhead a “popular resort town” and talked about the “cabins” that were being lost, nevermind the multi-million dollar houses that were being threatened.</p>
<p>“You can’t be all things to all people” is what I think of, and yes, CNN is a business as much as any other major news source: ratings and viewers are what matter.</p>
<p>CNN Europe (British) is terrible, and unfortunately, considered the prime source of news of America for many. No wonder everybody hates us. They are definitely trying to build their European base upon the premise of “The Evil Empire.”</p>