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| Great White shark
Photo by Terry Goss
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Historically,
the media have been particularly harsh to sharks, and it’s
affecting their survival.
The results of a Michigan State
University study, appearing in the current issue of the journal
Conservation Biology, reviewed worldwide media coverage of sharks –
and the majority isn’t good.
Australian and U.S. news articles were
more likely to focus on negative reports featuring sharks and shark
attacks rather than conservation efforts. Allowing such articles to
dominate the overall news coverage diverts attention from key issues,
such as shark populations are declining worldwide and many species
are facing extinction, said Meredith Gore, MSU assistant professor of
fisheries and wildlife and the School of Criminal Justice.
“The most important aspect of this
research is that risks from – rather than to – sharks continue to
dominate news coverage in large international media markets,” said
Gore, part of the research team led by Bret Muter, formerly at MSU
and now with the Udall Foundation. “To the extent that media
reflect social opinion, this is problematic for shark conservation.”
According to the study, more than 52
percent of global coverage focused on shark attacks on people, and
sharks were portrayed negatively in nearly 60 percent of the
coverage. That’s compared to a mere 10 percent featuring shark
conservation issues and just 7 percent focusing on shark biology or
ecology.
Another interesting fact from the study
is who is quoted in the stories. Conservation groups were typically
quoted or cited highlighting negative effects on sharks. They
weren’t, however, part of stories about shark conservation.
“This suggests that conservation
groups are either not being sought out by the media in regards to
shark conservation issues or they are not engaging enough to make
headlines,” Gore said.
The issues affecting sharks’ survival
are many. They include the threat of overfishing (overharvesting
sharks for their fins), pollution, habitat loss and climate change.
Sharks are especially vulnerable to these threats due to sharks’
slow-growth rates, late age of maturity, long gestation periods and
low reproductive output.
One way to improve sharks’ image
would be to balance the coverage. Examples of positive articles
include highlighting the rarity of attacks, discussing preventive
measures water users can take to reduce vulnerability to attacks, and
discuss conservation issues related to local and threatened species
of sharks, Gore said.
Contact
Layne Cameron
Media Communications
Office: 517.353.8819
Meredith Gore
Fisheries and Wildlife/School of
Criminal Justice
Office: 517.432.8203
Michigan State University has been
working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150
years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses
its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world’s
most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities
to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200
programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
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