Rural and Urban Newspaper Coverage of Wildlife: Conflict, Community and Bureaucracy

Abstract

A content analysis of six daily Minnesota newspapers shows that the type of wildlife stories published depends on whether the newspaper is in an urban or rural setting and on whether the story is on the news or “outdoor” pages. Stories about wildlife conflicts are more common in urban than rural news pages, but neither type of newspaper publishes much about conflict in its outdoor pages. All newspapers relied heavily on bureaucratic sources.