Review of Border Environmental Websites/Planeta.com

1998 Review of Border Environmental Websites
by Ron Mader

Tijuana, Baja California
December 6, 1998
Investigative Reporters and Editors Workshop

The following presentation was made at the 2nd Meeting on the Border, held in Tijuana, Baja California in December, 1998 and organized by Periodistas de Investigacion (Investigative Reporters and Editors). A Powerpoint presentation (available for the Mac) accompanies the following text. For more information about the organizers, visit the Periodistas de Investigacion website: web: http://investigacion.org.mx

Outline

The U.S.-Mexico borderlands is a region rich in culture and environmental diversity, yet poorly covered by the media in the United States and Mexico. However, online daily papers (San Antonio Express News, San Diego Union Tribune, El Norte, El Imparcial) and news services (Yahoo, NewsTracker, etc.) offer the best means of reading and keeping up with border happenings.

While there are a large number of border-related websites, most remain content-empty. Academic and environmental group websites display a curious lack of original content. Many are glorified brochures, devoid of in-depth information. Institutional websites are managed anonymously. There is rarely a sense of "authorship" or concern for information online. The future of such sites is uncertain.

Forecast - readers will demand more information from websites and return to the sites with in-depth coverage. Journalists will use the web more and more to dig into financing issues as well as the success or failure of projects in this region.

View Powerpoint presentation.

Favorites: Examples of Good Websites

Andanzas al Web Latino
ELAN - Environment and Latin America Network
NACEC/La Paz Agreement
BBS Laguna

Government Agencies

EPA - US-Mexico Border XXI
EPA Border Environmental Health
BECC/COCEF

Academic sites

University of Texas at El Paso
Desert Fishes Council
University of California, San Diego
Border Eco Web

Environmental Groups and Non-Profits

BISN - Border Information and Solutions Network
Pro Esteros
Rio Grande Alliance
Incitra

Media

Borderlines
Sacramento Bee
ZETA
Ambiente sin Fronteras
Arid Lands Newsletter
El Planeta Platica

Biography

Besides hosting the award-winning Eco Travels in the Americas website (http://www.planeta.com), Ron Mader is the author of the new guidebook, Mexico: Adventures in Nature and co-author (with James Gollin) of Honduras: Adventures in Nature. A journalist dedicated to covering Latin America, Ron has researched and written about the internet for the past ten years and currently writes a monthly feature, "Mexico on the Web" for Business Mexico magazine. Articles of this column are archived online the Mexico Connect website at http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/rmader/rmaderindex.html.

PLANETA.COM GUIDES

Borderlands Guide

Mexico on the Web: Borderline Info-rich websites, Business Mexico, September 1998

Weaving the Web

1998-1999 Copyright Ron Mader. Permission granted to cite this article and/or to create links to its home on the web (http://www.planeta.com).

1998 Review of Border Environmental Websites by Ron Mader