Minding the gap: Analysis of arguments made in the media for and against closing the breach at Fire Island National Seashore
Hychka K, Remillard J, Druschke CG. 2020. Minding the gap: Analysis of arguments made in the media for and against closing the breach at Fire Island National Seashore. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NCBN/NRR—2020/2147. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2275611
Adaptive management in coastal systems is in large part achieved through knowledge sharing between the public, research, and management communities. This exchange relies upon bidirectional communication and information exchange. We sought to better understand communication about the 2012 Fire Island breach to inform present and future adaptive management of Fire Island breaches. In our study, we analyzed media content about the breach in Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness at Fire Island National Seashore that occurred during Hurricane Sandy. Using media discourse analysis, we identified the arguments mobilized for and against the breach closure in these media accounts. We further identified and grouped these arguments by their dominant framing, including those based on different types of ecosystem services and disservices. We posit that opposition to leaving the breach open is not solely based on a lack of knowledge by the public—the founding assumption of a deficit model of communication—but in some cases is based on competing values and, in turn, different framing of arguments. We hope that understanding the framing of these arguments can improve communication around the management of breaches both in the National Seashore and on other barrier island systems by preparing managers for the kinds of arguments people will make for and against breach closures and informing more nuanced, bidirectional forms of communication.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Hychka, Kristen; Remillard, Jamie; Druschke, Caroline
- Date of Issue
- 2020-06
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/nrr-2275611
- Units
- FIIS , NCBN , NRSS