Shark Population Declining Due To Bad Media Coverage

Source-ANI: The media has been particularly harsh towards sharks and this is affecting their survival, a new study has revealed.

The results of a Michigan State University study reviewed worldwide media coverage of sharks – and the majority isn’t good.

Australian and US 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, Meredith Gore, MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife and the School of Criminal Justice said.

“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,” Gore, who is part of the research team led by Bret Muter, formerly at MSU and now with the Udall Foundation, said.

“To the extent that media reflect social opinion, this is problematic for shark conservation,” she added.