Depicting the peril and not the potential of forests for a biobased economy? A qualitative content analysis on online news media coverage in German language articles

Forests play an increasing role in bioeconomy policies, providing the material for bio-based products. However, public opinion regarding forest management in Europe is contested, which is considered a potential drawback for the social license to operate for the forest-based sector. News media articles on forest management are considered an important source of information for public opinion building processes because media provides and creates images. Therefore, this study investigates online news media coverage to analyze existing media representation of forest management using a qualitative content analysis. German-language articles were collected over a period of one year (01/13/2016–01/12/2017) with Google Alert, using the search term “Forstwirtschaft” (Engl. forest management). The sample consists of 613 articles from online nation-wide and regional newspapers, as well as other online news media platforms. The results reveal that the online news media coverage on forest management concentrates on regional media, and the media representations are condensed to ten core topics: state of forests, forest conservation, forest management, technology, work force, forest products, economic performance, promotion and events, political issues, and recreation. There are differences in terms of article frequency and content across different media. A substantial part of the articles reports on ecological and economic aspects of forests, which illustrates the challenge presented by the forest as a central raw material supplier that needs to be managed sustainably. In conclusion, this represents a potential risk for the societal acceptance of a forest-based bioeconomy. Thus, in order to support public opinion building processes regarding forests' potential for bioeconomy, a shift in the publicly communicated topics regarding forest management is required.