A characterization of media representation of biodiversity and implications for public perceptions and environmental policy: the case of Québec, Canada.

The term biodiversity is widely used by scientists, international policy makers and the general public. Its representation in mass media plays a key role in shaping public perceptions of biodiversity and informing the public about scientific developments with implications for ecosystem conservation and management. Our exploratory case study of major newspapers in the province of Québec, Canada, characterized the representation of biodiversity in the media from 2006 to 2012 in 567 articles. We showed that biodiversity was not explicitly defined in the media, yet consistently associated with positive outcomes, views and beliefs. The term was used as a catch-all argument frequently supporting proponent and opponent views regarding an issue or project. Overall, the definitions, uses and values associated with biodiversity did not change significantly over the study period, except for a small increase of the term in news media during the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity compared to the average. There was, however, evidence of a shift towards ecosystem services associated with the concept following 2010. As such, potential linkages between biodiversity and ecosystem services reflected in the scientific literature seem to be reflected in media discourse. We discuss these trends and contrast them with the representation of other core environmental issues such as climate change and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]