In 1976, Jamaican government officals claimed that their island had received an especially negative press in the United States during 1975 and 1976 with serious consequences for the economy and tourist trade. This accusation was not made about Canadian coverage, with one major exception, and Canadian tourism to Jamaica increased during those years while U.S. tourism fell off considerably. A study was conducted with the hypothesis that coverage of Jamaica by the Canadian press was more positive than that of the U.S. press and that coverage of social change was less often presented in a cold war context in the Canadian press. An analysis of six daily newspapers in the U.S. and three in Canada showed that negative coverage in the two countries was about the same but that U.S. coverage did tend to emphasize the cold war context more than the Canadian coverage did. In addition, interviews with travel agents in both countries revealed that Canadian travel agents discounted negative news much more than their U.S. counterparts. It is suggested that media coverage had less effect on tourism than did the mediated influence of travel agents. (TJ)