I’ve heard repeated complaints (reported by the media) from people in the tourist industry claiming that the media has misrepresented the effects of the deepwater horizon disaster. That the media is driving away business because tourists think that every beach on the Gulf is black with oil and tar balls are everywhere you look. I, for one, have never heard the media say such a thing. Perhaps this is still what the tourists think, after all I’m a 15 minute drive away from the Gulf and have more incentive to track the oil’s progress, but there doesn’t need to be any oil on your beach right now to drive everyone away. I see little difference for a tourist planning a trip several months out, with any number of available destinations, whether a beach is black at the moment, or has a strong possibility having oil on it by the time their trip rolls around. I do not expect a casual tourist from a different part of the country/world to have a good grasp of sea currents or the geography of the gulf coast. Do not blame the media for posting pictures of oiled birds and coastlines. Blame BP for creating such a devastatingly newsworthy disaster.