Claire Haiber

Annotated Sources

Blewitt, John. “The media, Animal Conservation and Environmental Education.”

Environmental Education Research, vol. 17, no. 6, 2011, pp. 711–718. Taylor &

Francis Online, https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2011.625624. Accessed 30 Oct.

2023.

In this Editorial, John Blewitt elaborates on how crucial media is to educate themselves.

Blewitt goes on a tangent on how media driven this generation is and the power it holds

to bring awareness to issues such as conservation. We as people can be detached from

these issues because we don't see these animals that are impacted on a regular basis.

Because my study centers around the media’s portrayal of sharks, it is important to

connect how this media portrayal is linked to conservation and why this study is so

imperative in the first place.

Carmi , Nurit, et al. “Shattering Negative Stigmas and Creating Empathy and Willingness

To …” Annals of Leisure Research,

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11745398.2022.2145977. Accessed 27

Oct. 2023.

This article begins with giving an overview about sharks and the issues they face,

consequently putting some species on the brink of endangerment. The author then links

the public’s disregard for the conservation efforts involving this species with the negative

stigmas associated with them. After providing valuable background information inducing

the severity of this conservation efforts-the authors conduct a study in the form of an
open-ended questionnaire. This pool of participants was dictated by randomly selecting

participants on their way to the beach and asking them the following questions, “Give me

the first three words that come to your mind when you think of a shark”. The answers

from these, findings were then characterized based off their positive and negative

connotations. This will be useful to include in my introduction (the background

information). Elements to the mechanics of this study will also be utilized in my study, I

will also be looking at the quantity of words with a negative and positive connotations in

shark related media.

Chapman, Blake K., and Daryl McPhee. "Global shark attack hotspots: Identifying

underlying factors behind increased unprovoked shark bite incidence." Ocean &

Coastal Management 133 (2016): 72-84. Accessed 2 Nov. 2023.

Chapman and McPhee primarily cover local shark attack “hot spots” (U.S., South Africa,

Australia, Brazil, Reunion Island and lastly the Bahamas). Similar to one of the previous

articles utilized, this article observes trends that contribute to unprovoked shark attacks.

They found a correlation between increasing human populations, destroying of habitats,

climate change and weather patterns. Although these attacks are very minimal in total it

is imperative to understand why they happen to deconstruct the image that these sharks

are merciless killers. The study covered in this article provided valuable information in

better understanding these creatures.

Francis, Beryl. “BEFORE AND AFTER ‘JAWS’: CHANGING REPRESENTATIONS

OF SHARK ATTACKS.” The Great Circle, vol. 34, no. 2, 2012, pp. 44–64.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23622226. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.

Beryl Francis discusses the cultural and historical impact of the movie Jaws. He conducts

an analysis of Jaws as a media and depicts how is has dramatically impacted the

representation of sharks. The author begins by depicting the societal view of sharks

before Jaws was released, specifically shark attacks. This can be summarized by the

general population being cautious towards the creatures, but not viewing them as a

serious problem. The author then goes on to analyze the public’s attitude post Jaws and

how shark attacks became much more prevalent fear and how this influenced much more

fear, hatred, and violence towards the marine animals. This is essential to be included in

my paper because Jaws is one of the shark related media I will be going over. This could

also be important to include in my discussion to discuss the magnitude media has on real

life situations.

Funk, Christopher. “Sharks on the Precipice of Extinction: A Proposal for National and

International Management of Sharks”. Willamette Journal of International Law

and Dispute Resolution. Vol. 20, no. ½, 2012, pp. 101-136. Accessed 19 Oct.

2023.

Christopher R Funk attended Willamette University and is currently a practicing attorney.

In this scholarly article, Christopher starts by relaying background information on sharks

such as how they reproduce, mate, migrate, mortality rates etc. He follows this by going
in depth with the threats they face including shark finning, recreational fishing, habitat

and degradation. He continues his line of reasoning with, emphasizing current laws and

how they are inadequate to protect these creatures. Finally, he ends in a proposal of the

change the government needs to make to protect sharks from threats. Although

Christopher does not conduct his own study or experiment, he provides a lot of valuable

background information to greater understand sharks, how this issue is relevant (the

current threats they face) and lastly possible solutions to this issue. This article will most

likely be utilized in my introduction and literature view to provide context to my article.

This article will also be recycled into my discussion section through illustrating how if

media perception changes surrounding sharks, this could potentially be reflected through

the lawmakers to exhibit concrete change and action.

Iloulian, Jeremy. "From shark finning to shark fishing: A strategy for the US & EU to

combat shark finning in China & Hong Kong." Duke Envtl. L. & Pol'y F. 27

(2016): 345. Accessed 2 Nov. 2023

One of the most severe threats sharks currently face is shark fishing and finning. The

shark fin trade plays a huge economic rule in a variety of Eastern countries due to a

popular cultural delicacy called Shark fin soup. However, this trade induces a lot of

ecological stress on shark populations, contributing to rendering them on the precipice of

extinction. This article contemplates the nuances of this threat and proposed steps to

implement rules and regulations to provide relief to these sharks. It is important to

understand the need for shark conservation and educate the audience on the threats they
 are currently undergoing to spread awareness. This can help deconstruct the fear and

misconceptions revolving around the species and empower the public to take action and

protect.

Midway SR, Wagner T, Burgess GH (2019) “Trends in global shark attacks”. PLoS ONE

14(2): e0211049. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211049. Accessed 1 Nov.

2023.

This article primarily covers shark attacks and studies the frequency on a global scale. Not

only do the authors cover the frequency in which these attacks occur, but they also observe

the trends in shark attacks to better understand them as a whole as well as the appropriate

response to them. They found that overall the rates and likelihood for a shark to attack are

very low on a global scale, however local conditions are variables to this frequency. This is

extremely significant to include in my paper because a huge factor in the fear and distaste

towards these creatures is fueled by the oversaturation of shark related media. The key to

dismantling this fear is to clear these misconceptions to make room for understanding. This

will most likely be included in my literature review.

Motivarash Yagnesh, B., et al. “Importance of sharks in ocean ecosystem.” Journal of

Entomology and Zoology Studies 8.1 (2020): 611-613. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

This article illustrates the critical role shark play in the oceanic ecosystem. Sharks are

apex predators in the ocean that the food web is extremely reliant on. Sharks are

necessary to prey on weaker creatures/species to maintain biodiversity. They are known

as a keystone species. This article not only provides a larger understanding of the species
 but also provides the necessary context in which why conservation is so important. The

threats that they face do not solely impact them, it impacts the entire oceanic ecosystem

in which they reside. This provides essential context for my study, which will most likely

be utilized in the introduction of my paper. This information will not only educate the

reader on background information of sharks but illustrate their relevance and importance.

Muter, Bret A., Gore, Meredith L., Gledhill, Katie, S., Lamont, Christopher., Huveneers,

Charlie “Australian and U.S. News Media portrayal of sharks and their

conservation.” Conservation Biology, vol. 27, no. 1, 2012, pp. 187–196.,

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01952.x. Accessed 30 Oct. 2023.

Bret Muter and Meredith Gore, attended Michigan State University and are a part of the

Department of Fisheries and Wildlife . Katie Glendale is a part of South African Shark

Conservancy and Christopher Lamont and Charlie Huveneers are a part of the School of

Biological scientists. The authors conducted a content analysis in which they analyzed 300

shark related media articles from 20 major Australian and U.S. news outlets from 2000 to

2010. The results concluded that over half of these articles centered around Shark attacks,

and only 11% emphasized shark conservation. It was found that there was more shark

attack and conservation content in Australia, whereas the U.S. primarily centered around

entertainment. I will also be conducting a content analysis, so this will be a valuable

framework for my study and will also most likely be referenced in my study.

Ostrovski, R. L., G. M. Violante, M. R. de Brito, J. L. Valentin, and M. Vianna. “The

Media Paradox: Influence on Human Shark Perceptions and Potential Conservation

 Impacts”. Ethnobiology and Conservation, vol. 10, Jan. 2021,

doi:10.15451/ec2020-12-10.12-1-15. Accessed 2 No. 2023.

In this article, the authors analyzed how media along with the physical features of sharks

have resulted in a widespread fear and hatred of them within the overall public. The authors

depict how media portrayal of shark is slowly changing towards a lighter depiction

compared to the past. The authors conduct a questionare within Rio de Janeiro, Brazil of

354 people. It was found that older participants were more likely to fear the creatures than

younger ones. This can be correlated with the newer media centering around sharks

directed towards this age group. This demonstrates the power media hold in manipulating

our perception and will most likely be referenced in my discussion and literature analysis.