AUTHORS: *Ashley Hrdina, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, 302 Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211, Robert DiStefano, Missouri Department of Conservation, 3500 E Gans Rd, Columbia, MO 65201 Jacob Westhoff U.S. Geological Survey, Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Columbia, Missouri, USA
ABSTRACT: Magazines are a key communication media used by most state fish and wildlife agencies for public outreach and education. Species conservation and funding can be highly influenced by public perspective and interaction through these magazines. Yet, no studies have analyzed magazine content to assess the relative proportional focus among a range of subjects and species. We quantified the allocation of magazine page space among types of subjects and species , by determining the relative proportional space allocated among these categories: 1) aquatic, semi-aquatic, and terrestrial species, 2) “game” and “non-game” species, and 3) subject of article. We contacted all 50 United States’ fish and wildlife agencies to determine if they published a magazine, then obtained and compiled digital or physical copies of all magazine issues published in 2019 (pre-Covid pandemic). We randomly subsampled 30 magazines using “ImageJ ” software for analysis. Results for taxa specific categories show over four times more space was allocated to terrestrial systems than to either aquatic or semi-aquatic systems. The percentage of space occupied by content in the game species category was 1.8 times higher, than for non-game species. Taxonomic groupings showed that mammals (18.1%) and birds (15.4%) occupied significantly greater mean allocated space than all other taxa, followed by fish (5.4%) and plants (2.2%). Subjects of articles were organized into 12 primary categories; among those categories, wildlife harvest (24.0%) occupied significantly greater mean allocated space than all others, followed by natural history (16.5%) and recreation (15.0%). In summary, the main focus of these magazines was terrestrial taxa and game species, often mammals. Article subject matter was aimed towards wildlife harvest, corresponding to a higher percentage of game species within magazines. Our review provides agencies with an understanding of wide-reaching trends within magazines, and facilitates assessment of intended communication goals.
