A Study in Journalism and Narrative
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the canucks will always be with us — unfortunately
A headline yesterday in the leftist rag Bangor Daily News reporting record 2025 tourism at Acadia National Park reminded me that the paper had spent the spring and summer whipping up hysteria over Trump’s Canadian tariffs and the devastating effect they would inflict on the tourism business. As the summer unfolded, it was obvious that the BDN’s predictions were wrong, but they kept it up anyway because, like all modern journalism, it’s about the narrative, not the truth. As such, I think this otherwise irrelevant, insignificant story serves as a pretty good example of how the media covers news in general.
AI Overview
Based on
Bangor Daily News reports, the 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods imposed in March 2025 by the Trump administration, combined with increased political tension, caused a significant drop in Canadian visitors to Maine. This decline directly impacted tourism, including, according to the Bangor Daily News, reduced traffic to Acadia National Park and on the CAT ferry in Bar Harbor.
Here’s a sampling of the paper’s “reporting”:
April 4, 2025: Trump’s tariffs expected to cause 25 percent drop in Candian tourism to Maine
Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canadian goods could significantly reduce the number of Canadians visiting Maine for vacation, according to the state’s top tourism official.
MAY 23, 2025: Bar Harbor business owners are pessimistic as tourism season begins
With the unofficial start of Bar Harbor’s tourism season just days away, local business owners are apprehensive about what 2025 might bring. President Donald Trump's bellicose rhetoric could deter foreign tourists while federal cuts could also mean more jobs go unfilled at Acadia.
July 15, 2025: Fewer Canadians are coming to Maine this summer on Bar Harbor Ferry
But uh oh, what’s this? Troubling signs: the numbers aren’t cooperating, but not to worry, there are reasons why this is actually awful news, and the BDN provides the needed perspective:
August 18, 2025: Why more people than ever are visiting Acadia National Park
… Since COVID, visitation has climbed even higher, topping 4 million in 2021 and hovering around 3.9 million each year since. Warmer and drier weather, which experts say is a result of climate change, has been cited frequently by both Acadia and local business officials as a factor in Acadia’s growing crowds, including its highest-ever monthly total just last month.
This increase coincides with a global phenomenon called overtourism, in which some critics say the number of visitors in a particular place exceeds what that host community can comfortably accommodate. The tide of tourists has been met with squirt gun protests in European cities, government scrutiny in Japan and complaints about cruise ships in Maine and Alaska.
Those who object to the throngs of tourists say the proliferation of housing units dedicated to vacation rentals puts the cost of housing out of reach and that crowds overwhelm local resources and infrastructure, making the experience unpleasant for residents and tourists alike.
Now back to the narrative:
SEPTEMBER 12, 2025: Turned off by Trump rhetoric, Candians cancel trips. New England pays the price.
…. [T]hese days, tariffs and White House rhetoric have left Canadians a rare breed of visitors in New England, usually a hotspot vacation ..
And finally:
JANUARY 24, 2026:
Acadia set new record for total visits in 2025
Acadia National Park saw its busiest year on record in 2025, according to statistics released by the National Park Service this month.
The park recorded more than 4 million visits last year, surpassing Acadia’s previous record set in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an influx in outdoor recreation across the country. The surge in park visitors has helped strengthen Bar Harbor’s booming tourism industry but has also required park and town officials to cope with packed crowds, heavy traffic and exorbitant housing costs.
The park counted 4,079,318 visits last year. Until now, 2021 was the only year in recorded history that Acadia tallied over 4 million visits. Last year’s numbers broke the record by over 10,000 visits, according to National Park Service data.
Acadia’s visit count hovered between 2 million and 2.5 million for decades, and first surpassed 3 million in 2016, when the park turned 100 years old. Barring a brief interruption at the outset of the pandemic, visits have steadily increased since then.
