Keith Somerville
Cecil the Lion in the British media – the pride and prejudice of the press
The killing of the lion which had been named Cecil by researchers, in Zimbabwe by an American dentist in July 2015 led to media coverage of an unprecedented nature. As David Macdonald of WildCRU, which was studying the lion and his pride, the media hits on the story were greater than for any previous conservation story in living memory. But the tone and content of the stories was also as important as the scale. The use of language was hyperbolic, the attention to detail poor and the use of sources fell outside what is normally considered good journalistic practice. This study analyses the coverage of the story in the British media and the likely effects for the understanding of lion conservation and wildlife in general. The study looks at the way that the coverage of the killing of the lion represented a media feeding frenzy generating a burst of moral outrage. The silver lining is that it may have sparked a useful debate on the relationship between conservation, hunting and lion survival which could have constructive consequences for the future of the African lion.