You are here:
Rivers and streams in the media: a content analysis of ecosystem services
Citation:
Weber, M., S. Caplan, P. Ringold, AND K. Blocksom. Rivers and streams in the media: a content analysis of ecosystem services. Ecology and Society. Resilience Alliance Publications, Waterloo, Canada, 22(3):15, (2017).
Impact/Purpose:
This research seeks to define Final Ecosystem Goods and Services of rivers and streams by analyzing media publications. This product offers a different source of information from prior focus group and interview research on the same topic. The product also demonstrates social science techniques that can be applied to secondary data to gain insights that could be used for other environmental research questions. Results document not only prevalent attributes of rivers and streams, but also motivations, including recreation, public health, or preservation of resources for future generations. Comparisons between general and environmentalist news can be made, as well as co-occurrence of specific river and stream attributes with specific motivations. It contributes to SHC 1.1
Description:
While ecosystem services research has become common, few efforts are directed toward in-depth understanding of the specific ecological quantities people value. Environmental communications as well as ecological monitoring and analysis efforts could be enhanced by such information. For example, small changes in the way ecosystems are described could strongly influence relevance to the public and improve the foundation for environmental decision-making. Clarifying valued attributes is particularly important for nonmarket ecosystem services, since price and quantity data cannot be readily observed as with goods and services bought and sold in traditional markets. Focusing on rivers and streams, we conducted a content analysis of existing publications to document the breadth and frequency with which various measurable attributes, such as flooding, water quality characteristics, and wildlife appeared in different news sources over a multiyear timeline. In addition to attributes, motivations for human interest in river-related resources were also coded, such as recreation or preservation for future generations. To allow testing of differences between materials written for different audiences, three sources were sampled: a blog hosted by National Geographic, New York Times articles, and Wall Street Journal articles. The coding approach was rigorously tested in a pilot phase, with measures developed to ensure high data quality, including use of two independent coders. Results show numerous similarities across sources with some notable differences in emphasis. Significant relationships between groups of attribute and motivation codes were also found, one outcome of which is further support for the importance of “non-use” values for fish and wildlife. Besides offering insight on ecosystem services, the project demonstrates an in-depth quantitative approach to analyzing preexisting qualitative data.
