Spiders are able to arouse strong emotional reactions in humans. While spider bites are statistically rare events, our perception is skewed towards the potential harm spiders can cause to humans. We examined the human dimension of spiders through the lens of traditional media, by analysing more than 300 spider-related news published online in Italian newspapers between 2010 and 2020. We observed a recent, exponential increase in the frequency of the news, particularly those focused on medically important spiders – the Mediterranean black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) and the Mediterranean recluse (Loxosceles refescens). The news quality was generally poor: 70% contained different types of error, 32% were exaggerated, and in virtually none was an expert consulted. Overstated news referring to spider bites were significantly more shared on social media, thus contributing to frame a distorted perception of the risk associated with a spider bite and possibly reducing general public tolerance of spiders.

中文翻译：

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蜘蛛的媒体表现可能会通过扭曲对风险的感知来加剧蜘蛛恐惧感

蜘蛛能够引起人类强烈的情绪反应。虽然从统计上讲，蜘蛛咬伤是罕见事件，但我们的看法偏向于蜘蛛可能对人类造成的潜在危害。我们通过分析2010年至2020年之间意大利报纸在线发布的300多个与蜘蛛相关的新闻，通过传统媒体的角度研究了蜘蛛的人文维度。我们观察到新闻的频率最近呈指数级增长，尤其是那些集中报道的新闻上具有医学重要性的蜘蛛-地中海黑寡妇（Latrodectus tredecimguttatus）和地中海隐居者（Loxosceles refescens）。新闻质量通常很差：70％包含不同类型的错误，32％被夸大了，几乎没有人咨询专家。在社交媒体上，与蜘蛛咬伤有关的夸大新闻被更多地共享，从而有助于歪曲人们对与蜘蛛咬伤有关的风险的认识，并可能降低公众对蜘蛛的耐受性。