Media bias on communicating conservation interventions: The case of large-scale marine protected areas in the South Atlantic

Since the Aichi Target 11 called for at least 10% of the world’s seas to be conserved through marine protected areas by 2020, there has been an increase in the creation of large-scale marine protected areas (LSMPAs). Despite advances made towards these area-based conservation targets, marine biodiversity continues declining globally, along with related decreases in ecosystem services provided to people. Thus, the challenge for the next decade is to improve the effectiveness of the already existing MPAs to safeguard marine biodiversity and ecological processes. Communication via mass media is a key strategy to advance marine conservation support from the public. Using media content analysis, we examined news on the implementation of LSMPAs in Brazil to understand message framing and to verify any mismatch between the content disclosed by mass media and the scientific community. We found that mass media coverage was mostly framed in an episodic way, with information focusing on specific isolated events (e.g., an increase in the percentage of MPA coverage). The media coverage did not address the gaps often raised by scientists in the design of the LSMPAs, thus mostly disclosing positive issues. Mass media can inform people whether to support or not to support conservation initiatives. Disclosing a broader picture of environmental issues is important not only to raise the public’s level of awareness about the conservation of the marine environment but also for achieving global biodiversity goals, ensuring the sustainable use of ocean resources and ultimately improve human well-being.