BORDER CONTINUES TO DRAW NATIONAL MEDIA OUTLETS

EL PASO -- Tourists may be less inclined to visit Mexico. Media
outlets, though, are eager to send reporters and commentators to the
border.

A Philadelphia-based radio crew will be the latest when it arrives in
El Paso next week.

Talk-show host Dom Giordano of CBS Radio's WPHT will travel to El Paso
for two shows about drug smuggling and immigration issues. In March,
CNN's Anderson Cooper came to town, reporting on drug violence in a
piece called "The War Next Door." In January the New York Times
described the sides of the border as "one violent, one peaceful."

Immigration will be on the minds of Giordano and his crew. They will
be joined in El Paso by the owner of Philadelphia's Geno's Steaks,
Joey Vento, who stood in the national spotlight in 2005 after hanging
a sign on his shop that read, "This is America. When ordering, please
speak English."

Vento has become a loud voice against illegal immigration. In 2007 he
donated $10,000 to the city of Hazleton, Pa., supporting its crackdown
on undocumented immigrants. Hazleton's mayor pushed through ordinances
to punish businesses and landlords that hired or rented to
undocumented immigrants. The ACLU challenged the ordinances and won,
but Hazleton has appealed.

"America seems to be now for everybody but Americans," Vento said in
an interview Monday with the El Paso Times.

He said he was sponsoring the radio show's trip because he wants to
bring awareness to immigration issues. The crew will be visiting four
different cities, including Dallas and Phoenix.

In El Paso, Giordano said, he will interview and ride along with
border agents. His show will broadcast from El Paso on July 15 and
16.

Alan Bersin, whom Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano named
U.S. border czar in April, said media interest started in December
2008, when drug-related violence reached a crescendo.

"During the first quarter of '09, one story after the other focused on
the violence of Mexico," he said. "What happened was that the national
media awakened to something we're used to on the border."

Moira Murphy, a visiting professor in UTEP's border studies
department, said that when national media come to El Paso, they have
access to three big topics: the maquila industry, immigration and
border-security issues.

She said El Paso stands out as a border city because it is integrated
with Juarez and it's right on the border, unlike other so-called
border towns such as San Diego.

But Zita Arocha, director of UTEP's student-run Internet newspaper,
said sometimes the press can get carried away with the violence in
Juarez, giving the public a one-sided perspective.

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, in a written statement, said national media
outlets could misrepresent what's happening in El Paso.

"If news outlets are careful and report the facts accurately, then I
believe the coverage can be positive for our community's image because
El Paso's law enforcement agencies have done an excellent job in
keeping residents safe," he said. "Some news reports, however, have
mischaracterized the El Paso community as dangerous, and that is
simply not true."

Bersin said the Obama administration has used the media's increased
interest in the border as an opportunity to form a stronger alliance
between the United States and Mexico.

"The American community needed to be assured that that violence would
not spill over," he said.

For the first time, Bersin said, the United States has accepted
responsibility with Mexico, acknowledging that America's demand for
drugs has fueled the success of drug cartels in Mexico. Once that
responsibility was acknowledged, he said, the countries could start
working on solutions.

As for Giordano, he said he hoped to interview the mayor of Juarez, at
least by phone. He also said he hoped to talk to El Paso politicians
during his border tour.