Resource industries like oil and fishing are characterized by boom-and-bust cycles – there are “good years” and “bad years.” In communities that are highly connected to a particular resource, these economic shocks are foregrounded in the public attention. But how well does news coverage of the shocks reflect the actual health of the economy?
In a new report, ISER researchers compare economic indicators with media coverage over a 10-year period in Homer, Alaska. The research explores the economic shock of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and looks at how media coverage aligned to the fishery performance during the recovery years. Even as the fishery recovered to pre-spill performance in dollars, the media sentiment did not “bounce back” as quickly. The paper offers an example of how media sentiment can diverge sharply from objective indicators of economic performance, and explores the social and public policy implications of this misalignment.
Click here to read the full report.
