Jumping the Shark: White Shark Representations in Great White Serial Killer Lives—The Fear and the (Pseudo-)Science
Independent Researcher, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009, USA
Academic Editors: Carrie P. Freeman and Núria Almiron
Journal. Media. 2021, 2(4), 584-604; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia2040035
Received: 1 August 2021
/
Revised: 26 August 2021
/
Accepted: 22 September 2021
/
Published: 13 October 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Communication in Defense of Nonhuman Animals during an Extinction and Climate Crisis)
Sharks are among the most endangered nonhuman animals on the planet because of industrial fishing, the shark meat and fin trade, expanding recreational fishing, and other anthropogenic causes. White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), the most visible in popular culture, remain vulnerable (VU, IUCN Red List) and understudied, although population recovery is having a measure of success in regions like the Eastern Pacific and the Northern Atlantic of the United States. As numbers rise, Jaws associations also remain in vogue in programming that emphasizes human–wildlife** conflict such as Shark Week’s Great White Serial Killer Lives. Network marketing typically promotes this content by hyping shark science. Textual analysis, however, suggests that exposure to pseudoscientific narratives and unethical fear-inducing images is counterproductive to wider support for conservation programs and public recognition for sharks’ rights to their habitats.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias); shark–human conflict; predators/carnivores and perceived threat; fear; science; pseudoscience; Jaws; media representation
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Cermak, I. Jumping the Shark: White Shark Representations in Great White Serial Killer Lives—The Fear and the (Pseudo-)Science. Journal. Media. 2021, 2, 584-604. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia2040035
AMA Style
Cermak I. Jumping the Shark: White Shark Representations in Great White Serial Killer Lives—The Fear and the (Pseudo-)Science. Journalism and Media. 2021; 2(4):584-604. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia2040035
Chicago/Turabian StyleCermak, Iri. 2021. "Jumping the Shark: White Shark Representations in Great White Serial Killer Lives—The Fear and the (Pseudo-)Science" Journalism and Media 2, no. 4: 584-604. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia2040035
Find Other Styles
