Bear hype

Analysis:

Here is a story that WOOD TV 8 decided to hype, even though they admit the risk is almost non-existent. Someone near Sparta may have recently seen a bear, so channel 8 decides to look at the possibility of West Michigan residents encountering a bear. Viewers get to hear from the Sheriff’s department, the DNR, they are even treated to map graphics of the range of female and male black bears. Channel 8 even uses what appears to be home video footage of bears near campsites, but the footage is never sourced. Over 2 minutes is devoted to this story, even tips for avoiding bears are provided, but the story itself is a contradiction. Early in the story, the WOOD TV 8 reporter admits “Let’s face it the odds of running into a bear out here are remote, in fact you probably got a better chance of winning the lottery.” So it is reasonable to ask, why spend so much time on a story about an issue that really doesn’t concern viewers? Was the story was hyped just to keep viewer’s attention?

Story:

WOOD TV 8 News reader – One of Michigan’s great natural treasures is its abundance of wildlife, creatures that most of us would prefer to stay in the wild. As Rick Albin reports occasionally those animals better known for inhabiting the woods do venture into more populated areas.

Reporter – Let’s start with the facts, yes there are black bears in Kent, Muskegon and other counties. Not many, but some.

DNR – In this particular area it’s not a large population, but it is one that we have seen growing in recent years.

Reporter – A recent citing of a bear near Sparta on M-37 between ten and 13 mile road was not verified but it would be nothing new.

Sheriff’s Dept. – There has been bears in Kent County off and on for many, many years.

Reporter – Local citings of bear are probably local animals roaming from their home area to the North.

DNR – They do cover a fairly large area. Females can typically go up to – if you had to put a figure on it – a 20-25 square mile area. Sometimes the males will roam even much larger areas, sometimes even 100 square miles.

Reporter – Let’s face it the odds of running into a bear out here are remote, in fact you probably got a better chance of winning the lottery, but in the off chance you did encounter a bear it doesn’t necessarily impose an unreasonable danger. In the unlikely circumstance that you do encounter a bear, a few common sense, but important things will reduce the possibility of that encounter turning dangerous. Do not feed the bear, it makes them reliant on people and creates nuisance bears that ultimately have to be removed or destroyed. Don’t try to approach a bear and don’t try to chase an animal or tree it. Generally the animals will leave an area when humans are present. The Sheriff’s Department and the DNR deal with relatively few sittings in the immediate area and virtually no problem with bears interacting with people. In Kent County, I’m 24 hour News 8.

WOOD TV 8 News reader – The DNR would like to know if you have a verifiable citing of a bear so that the DNR can keep track of the population as it moves about. Tips on how to keep bears from becoming a nuisance at camp grounds or for that matter in your back yard. All that information can be found on the DNR’s website and you can find a link to that at WOODTV.com.

Total Time – 2 minutes and 8 seconds