News media stories about cancer on Facebook: How does story framing influence response framing, tone and attributions of responsibility?

Assigning Responsibility for Depression and Diabetes: Frame Building Factors in Health Coverage

Although frame building is a crucial part of framing in health communication, it is much less understood than media frames or their effects on audiences (i.e. frame setting). To address this research gap, we analyzed the individual, organizational, and external factors of influence contributing to the media's portrayal of responsibility for two major health issues: depression and diabetes. To identify relevant factors, we conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with German journalists who regularly report on these health issues. Our findings indicate that the way in which media coverage portrays responsibilities in depression and diabetes is affected by a variety of factors. These include individual (journalist role perception, journalistic routines, academic background and personal experiences with depression, diabetes-related knowledge, and personal values and beliefs), organizational (editorial lines, space limits, time limitations and payment, and newsroom structures), and external (health news sources, audience interest, newsworthiness, and social norms) factors. Notably, there are differences between depression and diabetes coverage - especially regarding individual factors - confirming that frame building, similar to framing in general, should be examined with regard to specific issues. Nevertheless, some factors that seem important across different topics could be identified.

Culpability Framing Influences on Community Support for Those Managing Illness: A Multi-Malady Comparison of Mediated Health Stigma

Prior research demonstrates an influence of culpability framing on news consumers' perceptions about, and willingness to provide support for, those managing illness. Framing research of this sort has typically focused on the effect of frames on a particular health context (e.g. cancer). It is necessary to examine how three health frames which are overwhelmingly represented in health news could be uniquely influencing perceptions about those managing illness in a number of disparate health contexts. Specifically, we explore the nature of health frame influence as it relates to news reports regarding alcoholism, morbid obesity, and cancer. These illnesses represent the three of the most prominent health concerns for Americans that also vary in terms of how they relate to four chief cues for stigma communication. Experimental findings reveal unique ways in which culpability framing influences social support dispositions for those managing illness, as a function of intergroup anxiety perceptions.

Framing of female medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study of the Chinese official media

This paper analyzes the media frames adopted by the official WeChat and Sina Weibo accounts of the People's Daily between January 1 and December 31, 2020, for reports about female medical personnel involved in pandemic prevention and control. Although the number of female medical personnel involved in pandemic prevention and control far exceeded that of their male counterparts, the extent of media reports on the former was far less than that of the latter. The human interest frame about female medical personnel was mainly applied, while the use of the action frame was less frequent, which highlighted the gender identity and family role of these women but weakened their professional identity. This was not conducive to praising the contributions of female medical personnel in fighting the pandemic. The media frames of reporting medical personnel in WeChat and Sina Weibo accounts of the People's Daily are not always the same. After Wuhan's lockdown ended on April 8, the proportion of the human interest frame of the report text of female medical personnel decreased, and the proportion of the action frame increased, while the proportion of the human interest frame of the report text of male medical personnel increased and the proportion of the action frame decreased. Previous studies mainly analyzed the use of the media frames of female news personalities, but few studies focused on whether women had the possibility of breaking away from the gender media frames. This study shows that some female medical personnel with exceptional professional competence are likely to transcend the gender media frames and receive similar coverage to that of male medical professionals, like Li Lanjuan and Chen Wei.

Sourcing and framing in cancer control continuum: A content analysis of Malaysian English and Chinese online cancer news

Background

In health news production, sourcing and framing are two critical mechanisms that influence how newsreaders think about and perceive the severity of a health issue. Understanding how local media covers the cancer control continuum is vital. However, very limited studies have looked at the effect of sourcing and framing in cancer news coverage, and it is still unknown how sources and news frames shape cancer coverage, especially in non-Western countries.

Objective

This study examines framing and sourcing patterns in news stories reporting on cancer control in Malaysian mainstream (English) and ethnicity (Chinese) online news sites, uncovering underlining associations between essential news components, source, and framing.

Methods

We used a predesigned code book to conduct a quantitative content analysis on cancer news stories (n = 841) published on two Malaysian English and Chinese online news sites from 2017 to 2019. Cancer news received adequate coverage in Malaysian English and Chinese media and was also session-centered.

Results

Two logistic regression models demonstrated the internal relationships between sourcing, framing, and different elements in cancer coverage. In terms of news sources, the results revealed that medical journals were the most likely to be cited when the news focused on medical research, followed by primary cancer prevention. When the news concentrated on statistical cancer reports and environmental/occupational risk factors, government agencies were more likely to be interviewed. Of news frames, when the news articles engaged with medical institutions and mentioned medical publications, the lifestyle frame was very likely to be shown, but the environmental frame was more likely to be portrayed when interviewing medical practitioners.

Conclusion

This study is the first comprehensive assessment to analyze and compare Malaysian English and Chinese online cancer news coverages and uncover underlying associations between news components, sourcing, and framing paradigms. We contributed to the scholarly understanding of cancer news coverage. This study can serve as a model for future health promotion researchers, journalists, and policymakers. Implications for cancer risk communication research, health journalist practices, and health policymaking were discussed.

A Comparative Analysis of Health News in Indigenous and Mainstream Media

It is important to evaluate the media's health coverage of Indigenous communities both because these communities have been hit very hard by health inequities, and because misinformation can negatively affect the future health of Indian Country. This study takes the unique angle of examining both Indigenous and non-Indigenous ("mainstream") news publications to evaluate information gaps in health, health policy, and health efficacy coverage. The Indigenous media examined, which covered 14 times more health stories than mainstream media, highlighted health issues in Indian Country through the lens of resilience by using framing to emphasize unequal power, while at the same time providing depth and specificity. Instead of putting Indigenous health stories into historical and cultural context, mainstream media focused on the lack of resources and the chronic struggle of Indigenous communities. Mainstream media often only covered the topic once per outlet; however, those outlets with connections to Indigenous communities did provide more balanced coverage. Instead of promoting change, most mainstream media stories blamed Indigenous people for their situation and offered a doom trajectory for tribes hit hardest by health disparities. This study reveals how embedded framing and mediatization direct non-Native readers' attention away from the systemic deprivation of support to U.S. Indigenous tribes that was guaranteed to them by the U.S. government in tribal agreements. The implications for journalism and policy are discussed.

How the Media Places Responsibility for the COVID-19 Pandemic-An Australian Media Analysis

Global pandemics are likely to increase in frequency and severity, and media communication of key messages represents an important mediator of the behavior of individuals in response to public health countermeasures. Where the media places responsibility during a pandemic is therefore important to study as blame is commonly used as a tool to influence public behavior but can also lead to the subjective persecution of groups. The aim of this paper is to investigate where the media places responsibility for COVID-19 in Australia. Specifically, we identify the key themes and frames that are present and observe how they changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to government actions and progression of the pandemic. Understanding media representations of the COVID-19 pandemic will provide insights into ways in which responsibility is framed in relation to health action. Newspaper articles from the Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald were sampled between January 20 and March 31 2020 on every second Monday. Factiva was used to identify and download newspaper articles using the following search criteria: "COVID-19" OR coronavirus OR "Wuhan virus" OR "corona virus" OR "Hebei virus" OR "wet market" OR (Wuhan AND virus) OR (market AND Wuhan and virus) or (China AND Virus) or (Novel AND Virus). Articles were imported into Nvivo and thematic and framing analyses were used. The results show that framing of the pandemic was largely based on societal issues with the theme of economic disruption prevalent throughout the study time period. Moral evaluations of the pandemic were infrequent initially but increased co-incident with the first signs of "flattening of the curve." Explicit examples of blame were very rare but were commonly implied based on the causal origin of the virus. The Australian printed media were slow to report on the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition they were reluctant to apportion blame until the end of the study period, after confirmed case rates had begun to slow. This is interpreted as being due to an evaluation of the pandemic risks as low by the media and therefore the tools of othering and blame were not used until after the study period when the actual risks had begun to abate, more consistent with an inquiry than a mediating mechanism.