When wildlife make the news: an analysis of rural and urban north-central US newspapers

Abstract

This research concerned newspaper coverage of wildlife in the north-central US: what kinds of animals make the news, who speaks on behalf of wildlife, and whether coverage differs in rural and urban newspapers. State wildlife officials dominated news coverage: they were the most frequently attributed news sources, and coverage focused on management actions and management conflicts. Game animals received the bulk of attention (81%), rather than endangered or threatened ones. Although species diversity is an important concept for the public's understanding of science, such an approach was not evident. Almost half of the 592 stories were found on weekly `outdoor' pages, the domain of game management information and little conflict. Rural newspapers differed significantly from urban ones: story themes in rural papers tended to be more `utilitarian' while urban themes were more `stewardship', Rural newspapers also were more likely to print `trophy photos' and less likely to discuss management conflicts.