<\/p>\n
When it comes to tarnishing a region\u2019s image in the wake of an environmental disaster, the media can be an accomplice to the disaster itself. The now-famed photograph of the three kayakers afloat in an acidic orange Animas River after the Aug. 5 Gold King Mine spill may have contributed to the pollution of Durango\u2019s and Silverton\u2019s reputations, but it\u2019s difficult to measure the extent.<\/p>\n
According to one media monitoring firm, press coverage about the Gold King spill that deposited 3 million gallons of mining wastewater into the Animas amounted to an estimated $4 million if media articles were quantified in dollars spent on advertising space. The Durango Area Tourism Office recently shared that figure, which was supplied by Arizona-based consultants BurrellesLuce. The company periodically provides the tourism office with reports on the area\u2019s press coverage.<\/p>\n
While DATO is asking $345,000 of the Environmental Protection Agency, which has taken responsibility for the spill, to help boost the area\u2019s appeal through advertising and marketing, Executive Director Bob Kunkel said DATO isn\u2019t overwrought about the spill\u2019s effect on the tourism industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not running around with our hair on fire, shrieking, because how do you qualify the ($4 million) number?\u201d Kunkel said. \u201cWe don\u2019t put that much stock into it, because we don\u2019t know how it\u2019s calculated. And are we talking about the prairie newspaper in Iowa, or The Wall Street Journal? I think people take it with a grain of salt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johna Burke, BurrellesLuce executive vice president of Marketing and Sales, said the company does not quote figures equivalent to public relations costs but rather the cost of column inches. \u201cWe don\u2019t call it equivalency, because there are a lot of schools of thought on the credibility of different coverage,\u201d she said. The number means, in other words, that if DATO purchased the Gold King media coverage as advertising space, it would have cost $4 million.<\/p>\n
Press coverage of an incident like the mine spill is not as influential to locals as to those who don\u2019t live here, said Fort Lewis College professor Larry Hartsfield, who teaches a course on how media dictates perceptions. He said fragmented and biased coverage can skew outside perception, and unless that coverage is countered \u2013 and readers continue to follow the story \u2013 there can potentially be long-term effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdvertising can have a positive impact, but it\u2019s such a complex issue today where most people have learned to ignore ads to some degree,\u201d Hartsfield said. \u201cIt depends where the ads are placed and whether people pay attention to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
DATO anticipates a smaller budget in 2016 and a changing tourism landscape in the long-term; tourism will constantly have to work against the uncertainty of the gas industry and other latent mining mishaps down the road. To keep Durango area\u2019s image strong to outsiders coming in, DATO will dedicate lodgers tax revenue and a future EPA reimbursement to that purpose.<\/p>\n
DATO isn\u2019t alone in its efforts to reinforce positive perception; Trout Unlimited is hoping to secure grant money that could be used in part to counteract impacts of bad press.<\/p>\n
Trout Unlimited, one of the nation\u2019s leading lobbyists for clean rivers and a healthy fish environment, is submitting a grant application, next week, through American Rivers, another major conservation organization.<\/p>\n
Animas River coordinator Ty Churchwell said if Trout Unlimited receives the grant, which would be for an unspecified amount, some of the funds could buy ads relaying to the world that \u201cDurango and Silverton are open for business,\u201d particularly concerning river sports and recreation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were working on Good Samaritan legislation before the spill occurred,\u201d Churchwell said. \u201cIn the wake of it, we\u2019re pursuing a more Animas River-directed comprehensive plan. This (grant) could be employed for parts of that purpose. In the fishing\/boating community, there is certainly still a vision out there that the Animas is still running orange, that it died, and we all know that\u2019s not true.\u201d<\/p>\n