Give the Media Something Positive to Talk About

Photo by:Joaquin Sarmiento of the New York Times

One of the things that was brought to my attention a few days ago, while skyping with my friend from Colombia, was the incident that happened a few months ago in Cartagena, Colombia. Yes, you’ve heard about it. President Barack Obama was in the city for ….well, I’m not entirely sure. Does anyone really know why he was there? What we DO know is that twelve secret service agents were accused of sexual misconduct. The short end of it was that these Secret Service agents hired a prostitute in Colombia, where prostitution is illegal, and refused to pay them.

That’s exactly the point. Well, that was my friend Vanessa’s anyway. “The only thing that hit the media was the fact that Colombian prostitutes were refused money and it turned into a scandal!” she said. "Stories like this enable generalizations. Everyone in the U.S. thinks that Colombia is a place of only drugs, prostitutes, and corruption because that’s all that anyone ever hears about! That exists everywhere!” And it’s true. Latin America, and even sometimes Latin people, are all seen to be these dangerous criminals and it’s a problem. It's not true! We either really need to demand a change or give the media something positive to talk about.

Anyone agree? What do you all think?

P.S. President Obama was there for the Summit of the America's. To read about what actually happened, read this: New York Times.