Rediscover Rosarito: a public diplomacy initiative for the local community in Rosarito Beach, Baja Mexico

Abstract

Rediscover Rosarito is a cross-cultural public affairs graduate class initiative started in February 2008. That year, 28 graduate Communication Management (CM) students from diverse backgrounds and nationalities, taught by Dr. Gregory Payne of the Communication Studies Department, reached out to elected governmental leaders, public officials, citizens and expatriates of Rosarito Beach in Baja Mexico. Together, they launched a public affairs campaign that stressed the importance of grassroots public diplomacy as a major strategy. The goal of the program then and now is to develop and implement an ongoing campaign to help restore the image of this heavily tourism dependent beach community, which had been devastated by a drastic drop in visitor levels as a result of Mexican President Jose Caledron’s ‘war on drugs,’ a violent reaction from the drug cartels against this action, as well as biased media coverage regarding the crisis from sources on both sides of the border, which reflect the all too often proclivity of the media to sensationalize such stores in the effort to secure readership