How Sharks and Shark–Human Interactions are Reported in Major Australian Newspapers

Nigel Hardiman, Shelley Burgin and Jia Shao
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Nigel Hardiman: School of Strategy and Leadership, Faculty of Business and Law, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
Shelley Burgin: School of Science, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith 2751, Australia
Jia Shao: SIGMA and Centre for Financial and Corporate Integrity, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Few phrases evoke more negative emotion, or generate more media coverage, than ‘shark attack’ despite the few deaths that have been attributed to shark bite. Typically, tabloids are considered to provide more sensational coverage than broadsheets. We investigated how sharks and shark–human interactions were portrayed in four major Australian newspapers during a period of a record number of shark attacks in Australian waters. There was strong focus on human risk from sharks, and over-reportage of negative aspects. Thirty incidents were recorded: two fatal, 20 injury, and eight ‘near-miss’. Of 309 ‘shark’ articles surveyed, 24% mentioned fatalities (65% occurred prior to the study, some decades earlier). Injury was reported in 40% of articles, and ‘near-miss’ in 33% (89% related to an incident in South Africa involving an Australian surfing celebrity). The tabloid, Telegraph , published substantially more shark-related articles and photographs than other newspapers. There was otherwise no consistent pattern of difference between genre or newspapers.

Keywords: biased reporting; anthropogenic focus; shark incidents; shark attacks; news media bias; genre bias reporting; shark conservation; marine ecosystems; ‘fake news’ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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