Volume 1, No. 17. September 21, 2001
Local anglers
The media taketh away, and the media
gives.
When civil disturbances erupted in Cincinnati, Ohio, last spring (LOOP,
May 4), the media's coverage went national and subsequently dampened
the summer tourism industry for the whole Cincinnati area, including the Newport
Aquarium across the Ohio River in Newport, Kentucky. The aquarium saw a significant
drop in attendance, which was a unfortunate for an attraction that had just
mounted one of the most unique water exhibits in North America, "Guardians of
the Deep" featuring rare South African species of sharks (LOOP,
May 18).
Um, sharks? When later in the summer shark attacks around Florida and up the
U.S. east coast became the sensational news du jour, Newport Aquarium suddenly
became the must-cover entity for journalists from Cleveland, Ohio, to Louisville,
Kentucky, seeking local angles on a big national story. Throughout the summer
the aquarium received frequent press visits, said Genine Drozd, the aquarium's
public relations assistant.
Then came the Virginia Beach attacks over Labor Day holiday weekend. Within
15 minutes of returning to work the day after Labor Day, Drozd said she received
seven calls from television stations wanting to shoot footage at the aquarium.
"I had them scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 and a live shot at 4:30, and wouldn't
you know six of the seven stations came at 12:30," she said.
Overall, she said the coverage was balanced. Many reporters arrived apparently
intent on doing "dangerous shark" stories, but Drozd had them walk through the
"Guardians of the Deep" exhibit, which clearly dispels many common myths about
sharks, and then lined up interviews with curatorial staff and Newport Aquarium
General Manager John Tighe. "We could tell them the true natural history of
the animals and that they are not the human-hunting creatures of legend," he
said. "In one interview I said I had been diving most of my life, and I've never
seen a shark in the wild." Consequently, the broadcasted stories ended up focusing
on the exhibit and offering tips on how to avoid injury from sharks.
The aquarium then started seeing an upswing in visitation. August attendance,
in fact, exceeded projections, Drozd said. "I think (the media frenzy over sharks)
had something to do with it." Tighe said he couldn't verify how much impact
the shark stories had on attendance because the aquarium was still recovering
from the fallout of the riots' coverage. "More people are hearing your name
on the radio and TV," he said; "It has to help attendance."
SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas was also affected by the Florida shark attacks
as the theme park launched its new Shark Interaction Program. See that New Arrival
in this issue by clicking here.