Print Mass Media Coverage of Wildlife in the Developing World

Wildlife news is assumed to be a less commonly reported item in the media. We studied wildlife related news coverage by the Indian print news agencies and quantified its patterns by reviewing 766 news items across 50 national, regional and business newspapers in the year 2011. We found a considerable size bias towards large bodied species (1 : 8 times) in portrayal of wildlife news items. The Indian print media was also more likely to report large, endangered, terrestrial mammals when they reported about wildlife. Nearly half of the wildlife reports by dailies were on tigers (>250) and other endangered large felids (>150). A tendency towards controversial portrayals with respect to species such as leopards and elephants was observed. We found similar pattern of reporting between national, regional and business newspapers with respect to species and themes covered. Business dailies rarely carried wildlife related news (5 items). It is suggested that a balanced and ecological approach to sensitize the masses by various agencies can be adopted to reduce misconceptions and increase acceptance.