The Media - Playa Del Carmen

Pretty much anywhere with a significant English-speaking presence, you'll be able to seek out copies of Mexico City's English-language daily The News , a frumpy, uninspiringly-written, US-oriented organ. There are also free bulletins in English that can be picked up in Mexico City and anywhere with a sizeable tourist population - either in large hotels or from the tourist office - and Time and Newsweek are widely available, too.

Few domestic newspapers carry much foreign news, and what there is mainly Latin American; they are often lurid scandal sheets, full of violent crime depicted in full colour. Each state has its own press, however, and they do vary: while most are little more than government mouthpieces, others can be surprisingly independent. Probably the best national paper, if you read Spanish, is the new Reforma , which although in its infancy has already established an excellent reputation for its independence and political objectivity. Also worth a read is La Jornada , which with its unashamedly left-wing agenda, is quite daringly critical of government policy, especially in Chiapas, and whose journalists regularly face death threats as a result. As the press has gradually been asserting its independence since 1995, subjects such as human rights, corruption and drug trafficking are increasingly being tackled, but journalists face great danger if they speak out, not only from shady government groups but also from the drug traffickers. In 1997 for example, three journalists were murdered and five abducted; many more were victims of lawsuits under Mexico's punitive defamation laws.

On Mexican TV you can watch any number of US shows dubbed into Spanish - it's most bizarre to be walking through some shantytown as the strains of the Dynasty theme tune come floating across the air.

Far and away the most popular programmes are the telenovelas - soap operas that dominate the screens from 6pm to 10pm and pull in audiences of millions. Each episode seems to take melodrama to new heights, with nonstop action and emotions hammed-up to the maximum for the riveted fans. Plot lines are like national news while telenovela stars become major celebrities, despite their ludicrously over-the-top acting styles.

Cable and satellite are now widespread, and even quite downmarket hotels offer numerous channels, many of them American.

Radio stations in the capital and Guadalajara (among others) have programmes in English for a couple of hours each day, and in many places US broadcasts can also be picked up. The BBC World Service in English can be picked up by radios with short wave on 5975kHz in the 49m band, especially in the evening; on 15,220kHz in the 25m band, especially in the morning; and on 17,840kHz, especially in the afternoon. Other possible frequencies include: 6135kHz, 6175kHz, 6195kHz, 9590kHz and 9895kHz. The Voice of America broadcasts on 1530kHz, 1580kHz, 5995kHz, 6130kHz, 9455kHz and 13,470kHz.

The world service website at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice lists all the world service frequencies around the world.