The Press and Citizen Participation: A Content Analysis

Authors

Lisa Pelstring, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
James Shanahan, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Ben Perry, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Date of this Version

October 1997

Comments

Published in Proceedings of the Eighth Eastern Wildlife Damage Management Conference, Roanoke, Virginia, October 16–19, 1997, edited by James A. Parkhurst. Copyright © 1997 by the authors.

Abstract

We conducted a content analysis of regional New York State newspapers to assess media coverage of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) deer management program. The goal of this analysis was to ascertain media depiction of DEC’s deer management program during the 1985-97 time period. Specifically, this research examines how deer management issues were portrayed both prior to and after implementation of a DEC public participation program (the Citizen Task Force [CTF] process) to determine if deer management issues received more favorable coverage after CTFs were implemented.