CHECK THE COMMENTS SECTION: EXPLORING DRIVERS OF ONLINE COMMENTARY ON COLORADO’S WOLF REINTRODUCTION

Abstract

The success of carnivore reintroductions depends on public tolerance of species and public acceptance of management decisions. Agenda-setting theory holds that mass media coverage shapes both what issues are salient and how audiences understand and discuss those issues. Previous studies have demonstrated that media coverage influences how publics perceive carnivores and moderates tolerance toward those carnivores; however, the convergence of top- down media agendas and decentralized online discourse during an active reintroduction remains understudied. We examined the sentiment and thematic content of online discourse surrounding Colorado’s gray wolf reintroduction (Proposition 114) and tested whether prior mass media and stakeholder media coverage predicted the content of social media comments. Using mass media articles, YouTube and Reddit posts, and the comments on posts from 2020 through 2025, we quantified sentiment through multi-lexicon classification and themes through transformer-based topic modeling coupled with qualitative thematic coding. Governance and Management dominated mass media coverage, while Rural Livelihoods occupied the largest share of comments. Comment sentiment tracked originating posts more closely than mass media coverage and trended more negative over time. Above average mass media coverage of Rural Livelihoods predicted the same theme in subsequent comments. These results are consistent with second- level agenda-setting and suggest that management agencies can monitor online discourse and media coverage of ongoing initiatives, and frame communications appropriately to support management objectives.