Changing the conversation: How developing countries handle the international media during disasters, conflicts, and tourism crises

World leaders, especially those of developing countries, tend to be concerned with their country's media image during conflicts and disasters. These leaders often believe that a negative media image can lead to a tourism crisis and loss of international standing. Using qualitative content analysis, press interviews with officials, and examinations of media policy, this study aims to uncover the strategies used to handle the international media and to affect nations' media representations during and following tourism crises. The “multistep model for altering place image” is the central theoretical framework. The study's analysis illustrates the use of seven strategies by the governments of developing countries: buying news space, developing media relations, raising general and specific complaints about the media, applying economic and physical threats, blocking media access, and using testimonies and the Internet.