Conflict and Coalitions: An Examination of Outdoor Recreation Magazines

We examined whether value differences between various recreation interest/activity groups are created and sustained by the textual information presented to their readers in magazines. Using a two-stage qualitative approach, our research sought to explore the exact nature of the dialogue in the magazines. We sought detailed, intimate information on a selected number of magazines to assess how the popular press socially constructs knowledge about recreation groups, and we sought to better understand how various recreation group members assign meaning to their activities and interpret the interests of other groups. Findings revealed limited negativity of activity users towards one another; most of the conflict found in the text of the articles in recreational magazines was characterized as macrodispositional. Accordingly, in the articles most of the antipathy was directed towards government because of stricter regulation of activity or towards commercial consumers whose exploitation of resources is perceived to threaten groups' activities. Moreover, such conflict crosscuts various groups whose issues and concerns are often similar. Since environmental battles are no longer any one group's issue, many have coalesced and engaged in conflict with lawmakers and commercial consumers. It is clear that the recreational magazines do play a role in shaping readers' attitudes.