Media Coverage

The history of dark tourism: from Roman gladiator spectacles to contemporary conflict zone tours

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Dark tourism is not new, as my readers (whose insightful comments always inspire further reflection) point out: Travel Muse recalls touring German war sites as a teenager, while Sandy suggests that The Crusades, which revolved around a fascination with the macabre, might also have been an early version of dark tourism. Indeed, the thesis of … Read more about The history of dark tourism: from Roman gladiator spectacles to contemporary conflict zone tours

The Dark Side of Journalism

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A debate over the Hari article and other Dubai-bashing stories, such as a recent piece in the Toronto Star titled ‘Dubai how not to build a city’ (this one in the whole “city of superlatives” sub-genre, and equally as bad as Hari’s, laced with just as many cliches and factual and historical errors) is raging … Read more about The Dark Side of Journalism

The Dark Side of Dubai: a hilarious must-read parody of the Dubai-bashing genre

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A brilliant parody of the Dubai-bashing genre of article of which we’ve seen a spate recently in the US, UK and Australian media, has been published by The Independent called The Dark Side of Dubai by Johann Hari. (To save me linking to all the stories, see this accurate analysis of the process ‘reporters’ visiting … Read more about The Dark Side of Dubai: a hilarious must-read parody of the Dubai-bashing genre