Between information campaign and controversy: a quantitative newspaper content analysis about COVID-19 vaccination in Switzerland and Austria

AIMS

Because media portrayal reflects and shapes public opinion and health policy, investigating news coverage of public health issues is highly relevant for public health research and practice. Addressing a topical issue, this study investigated how newspaper coverage framed COVID-19 vaccines in Austria and German-speaking Switzerland and how it developed over time.

METHODS

A quantitative newspaper content analysis of six newspapers from Austria and German-speaking Switzerland published between January 1 and 31, 2022 was conducted. Frames were identified for each country separately through hierarchical cluster analysis (Ward's method) based on frame elements.

RESULTS

Four frames were identified in both countries: (1) Evaluating new vaccines, (2) Discussing mandates, (3) Promoting vaccination, (4) Mentioning vaccines. In Frames 1 (Switzerland 86.4%, Austria 93.3%) and 3 (Switzerland 92.7%, Austria 98.9%), most articles included vaccine-endorsing statements, with Swiss coverage including additional negative statements more often than Austrian coverage (43.2%/44.6% vs 4.0%/3.3%). Frame 2 was closely linked to vaccine skepticism only in Austria and contained more evaluative statements in Austrian newspapers (25.4% endorsing, 35.4% rejecting; in Switzerland 14.5%/18.1%). The Austrian tabloid Kronen Zeitung published most articles (497/1091, 45.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

The commercialized and comparatively high share of tabloid news coverage in Austria may have contributed to oversimplified and polarizing COVID-19 vaccine debates in this context. Insufficiently balanced and adequate information may contribute to a loss of public trust in vaccination and may therefore affect vaccination uptake. Authorities and public health professionals should consider this effect when designing information campaigns.

US Nationwide Multi-City Media Coverage of COVID-19 Responses: Community Structure Theory, Belief System, and a "Violated Way of Life"

Community structure analysis compared city characteristics and newspaper coverage of state/local government responses to COVID-19 in 25 major U.S. cities, sampling all 250+ word articles from 4/4/20 to 7/6/20. The resulting 588 articles were coded for "prominence" and "direction" (favorable/unfavorable/balanced-neutral coverage), then combined into each newspaper's composite "Media Vector" (range=0.3552 to -0.5197, or 0.8749). Twenty-one of 25 newspapers (84%) displayed unfavorable coverage of local COVID-19 responses. Pearson correlations and regression analysis confirmed a muscular "violated way of life" pattern, when a community perceives itself as threatened by a "biological threat or a threat to a cherished way of life." Political and belief system polarization (in particular percent Evangelical and percent voting Republican) were strongly associated with unfavorable coverage of local pandemic responses, compared to more favorable responses linked to percent voting Democratic or percent Catholic. Vulnerability (percent uninsured) was also linked to negative coverage. Conversely, two different measures of access to healthcare (percent municipal spending on health and welfare, and physicians/100,000) were significantly linked to favorable coverage of the same local government efforts. Community structure theory's grass roots "bottom up" expectations linking community demographics to variations in reporting on critical issues were robustly confirmed.

Does lower use of academic affiliation by university faculty in top U.S. newspapers contribute to misinformation about abortion?

BACKGROUND

University faculty are considered trusted sources of information to disseminate accurate information to the public that abortion is a common, safe and necessary medical health care service. However, misinformation persists about abortion's alleged dangers, commonality, and medical necessity.

METHODS

Systematic review of popular media articles related to abortion, gun control (an equally controversial topic), and cigarette use (a more neutral topic) published in top U.S. newspapers between January 2015 and July 2020 using bivariate analysis and logistic regression to compare disclosure of university affiliation among experts in each topic area.

RESULTS

We included 41 abortion, 102 gun control, and 130 smoking articles, which consisted of 304 distinct media mentions of university-affiliated faculty. Articles with smoking and gun control faculty experts had statistically more affiliations mentioned (90%, n = 195 and 88%, n = 159, respectively) than abortion faculty experts (77%, n = 54) (p = 0.02). The probability of faculty disclosing university affiliation was similar between smoking and gun control (p = 0.73), but between smoking and abortion was significantly less (Ave Marginal Effects - 0.13, p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Fewer faculty members disclose their university affiliation in top U.S. newspapers when discussing abortion. Lack of academic disclosure may paradoxically make these faculty appear less 'legitimate.' This leads to misinformation, branding abortion as a 'choice,' suggesting it is an unessential medical service. With the recent U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, and subsequent banning of abortion in many U.S. states, faculty will probably be even less likely to disclose their university affiliation in the media than in the past.

Thrust Into the Spotlight: COVID-19 Focuses Media Attention on Nursing Homes

OBJECTIVE

This study sheds light on the agenda-setting role of the media during the COVID-19 crisis by examining trends in nursing home (NH) coverage in 4 leading national newspapers-The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times.

METHOD

Keyword searches of the Nexis Uni database identified 2,039 NH-related articles published from September 2018 to June 2020. Trends in the frequency of NH coverage and its tone (negative) and prominence (average words, daily article count, opinion piece) were examined.

RESULTS

Findings indicate a dramatic rise in the number of NH articles published in the months following the first COVID-19 case, far exceeding previous levels. NH coverage became considerably more prominent, as the average number of words and daily articles on NHs increased. The proportion of negative articles largely remained consistent, though volume rose dramatically. Weekly analysis revealed acceleration in observed trends within the post-COVID-19 period itself. These trends, visible in all papers, were especially dramatic in The New York Times.

DISCUSSION

Overall, findings reveal marked growth in the frequency and number of prominent and negative NH articles during the COVID-19 crisis. The increased volume of coverage has implications for the relative saliency of NHs to other issues during the pandemic. The increased prominence of coverage has implications for the perceived importance of addressing pre-existing deficits and the devastating consequences of the pandemic for NHs.

COVID-19 and suicides in India: A pilot study of reports in the media and scientific literature

BACKGROUND

Our objective was to analyze reports of COVID-19 related suicides (CRS) to identify associated factors with a broader goal to inform management and prevention strategies.

METHODS

We searched scientific literature, government websites and online newspaper reports in English and nine regional languages to identify relevant CRS reports.

RESULTS

A total of 151 CRS reports were retrieved. CRS was more frequently reported among males (80.8%), those whose COVID status was unknown (48.0%), and those in quarantine/isolation (49.0%).

CONCLUSION

The above findings may assist identification of at-risk individuals for COVID-19 related suicidal behavior.

Carrying Out Rapid Qualitative Research During a Pandemic: Emerging Lessons From COVID-19

Social scientists have a robust history of contributing to better understandings of and responses to disease outbreaks. The implementation of qualitative research in the context of infectious epidemics, however, continues to lag behind in the delivery, credibility, and timeliness of findings when compared with other research designs. The purpose of this article is to reflect on our experience of carrying out three research studies (a rapid appraisal, a qualitative study based on interviews, and a mixed-methods survey) aimed at exploring health care delivery in the context of COVID-19. We highlight the importance of qualitative data to inform evidence-based public health responses and provide a way forward to global research teams who wish to implement similar rapid qualitative studies. We reflect on the challenges of setting up research teams, obtaining ethical approval, collecting and analyzing data in real-time and sharing actionable findings.

Monitoring the 'diabetes epidemic': A framing analysis of United Kingdom print news 1993-2013

INTRODUCTION

The view that we are in the midst of a global diabetes epidemic has gained considerable ground in recent years and is often linked to the prior 'obesity epidemic'. This research explored how the diabetes epidemic was represented in United Kingdom (UK) news over the same time period that the obesity epidemic was widely reported. The research was motivated by a sociological interest in how postmodern 'epidemics' synergise with each other amidst broader political, economic, moral and sociocultural discourses.

METHOD

We analysed three time-bound samples of UK news articles about diabetes: 1993 (n = 19), 2001 (n = 119) and 2013 (n = 324). Until now, UK media has had the least attention regarding portrayal of diabetes. We adopted an empathically neutral approach and used a dual method approach of inductive thematic analysis and deductive framing analysis. The two methods were triangulated to produce the findings.

RESULTS

Framing of diabetes moved from medical in 1993 to behavioural in 2001, then societal in 2013. By 2001 obesity was conceptualised as causal to diabetes, rather than a risk factor. Between 2001 and 2013 portrayals of the modifiable risk factors for diabetes (i.e. diet, exercise and weight) became increasingly technical. Other risk factors like age, family history and genetics faded during 2001 and 2013, while race, ethnicity and culture were positioned as states of 'high risk' for diabetes. The notion of an 'epidemic' of diabetes 'powered up' these concerns from an individual problem to a societal threat in the context of obesity as a well-known health risk.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Portraying diabetes and the diabetes epidemic as anticipated consequences of obesity enlivens the heightened awareness to future risks in everyday life brought about during the obesity epidemic. The freeform adoption of the 'epidemic' term in contemporary health discourse appears to foster individual and societal dependence on biomedicine, giving it political, economic and divisive utility.

Beyond Altruism: Framing Organ Donation in a 19-year Review of Chinese News Coverage

Despite a significant legal transformation of the organ donation system in China, the public's willingness to become organ donors remains low. This study provides the first empirical examination of how Chinese newspaper coverage reflects the complex interplay among multifaceted factors associated with the stagnant donation rate. Using framing as the primary theoretical lens, we analyzed 923 organ donation newspaper articles from 2000 to 2018 in terms of topics, facilitators and barriers, valence, and policy development. The three most common topics emphasized were: a new official information release regarding organ donation promotion; the challenges of promoting organ donation in social, cultural, and legal contexts; and the positive emotional appeals of organ donors, coordinators, and transplant surgeons. Findings suggest that the values that facilitators of and barriers to organ donation represent can be culturally favored but in conflict with each other. Sharp increases in the presence of policy development framing are associated with the official announcements of new legislation. A better understanding of trending topics and interacting influence from facilitators and barriers is imperative for developing culturally tailored messages to raise awareness about organ donation promotion.

Newspaper Adherence to Media Reporting Guidelines for the Suicide Deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain

This cross-sectional study examines newspaper adherence to reporting guidelines for suicide after the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain.

Risk, Stigma, Trustworthiness, and Citizen Participation-A Multifaceted Analysis of Media Coverage of Dioxin Contamination in Midland, Michigan

In the United States, more than 200 communities are designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as areas of concern for dioxins. Informing the public about potential risks associated with dioxins and delivering information about how to avoid such risks are essential activities. News coverage of environmental and health problems affects how members of the public assess those problems in terms of both severity and how they are understood, as well as the extent of attention given to the problem by policy-makers. To contextualize public and institutional responses to dioxin contamination and remediation in a dioxin-affected community, we assessed 176 newspaper articles published over 30 years concerning dioxin contamination in Midland, Michigan, in terms of risk, trust in institutions, environmental stigma, and citizen participation. Articles about dioxin contamination and remediation in Midland appeared in both domestic and international newspapers. Domestically, both national and local newspapers covered this issue. The risks for human health and the environment caused by exposure to dioxins were widely covered, with much less media attention given to the trustworthiness of the organizations responsible for managing the risk, environmental stigma, and citizen participation. News coverage of these four themes also changed significantly overtime. Overall, our findings highlight the important role of local news media in communicating risk information, guiding safe behaviors, and facilitating community-level decision-making.

Media Coverage of Ethical Issues in Predictive Genetic Testing: A Qualitative Analysis

Background: Predictive genetic testing (PGT) raises many ethical issues and is of increasing interest to the general population. Mass media, especially newspapers, are the public's main source of information on this topic. Methods: We conducted a content analysis of British newspaper reporting, assessing which ethical issues were mentioned. The analysis was qualitative with semi-quantitative aspects. All articles about PGT published in The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph from 2011 to 2016 were included. Results: Most ethical issues discussed in the scientific and ethical literature are implicitly or explicitly covered in newspapers, but there was no discussion of incidental findings and the possibility of false reassurance of a negative test result was mentioned only once. There are also important gaps regarding the multidimensional nature and complexity of many issues. The Guardian mentioned ethical issues more frequently than the Daily Telegraph. Most ethical issues were portrayed as first-person narratives. Conclusions: Ethical issues concern potential test users and society more than scientific background knowledge about such tests; therefore, more efforts should be taken to address these complex issues in a manner that is comprehensible for the lay public.

The relationship between press release and newspaper coverage of tobacco-related issues in South Korea

This study investigates an association between press release and news media response on tobacco-related issues in South Korea. We retrieved 231 tobacco-related newspaper articles from all major dailies throughout the year 2005. In total, 37 press releases on tobacco-related issues and policies published by the Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare were obtained from the Ministry website. Content analysis and appropriate statistical tests were performed. Results from our content analysis suggest that producing more press releases on tobacco-related issues may result in a greater volume of newspaper articles, and that a press release on a new topical issue may effect more intense media coverage. Findings also show that when Korean newspaper articles overall held less favorable views of tobacco-related policies and programs in 2005, taxation was the most frequent theme with a non-positive opinion. Findings from our multivariate logistic regression models imply that a newspaper article with a source press release-especially about a new topical issue-is more likely than an article without a source press release to discuss tobacco-related issues more positively. Our findings suggest that a press release may serve as an effective media strategy for reaching out to the public by disseminating tobacco-control efforts and policies.

Media coverage of Robin Williams' suicide in the United States: A contributor to contagion?

Evidence suggests that suicide rates can increase following the suicide of a prominent celebrity or peer, sometimes known as 'suicide contagion'. The risk of contagion is especially high when media coverage is detailed and sensational. A recent study reported a 10% increase in U.S. suicides in the months following the suicide of comedian Robin Williams, who died in August 2014. The authors tentatively linked this increase to sensational media coverage; however, no content analysis of U.S. media was performed. As such, the aim of the present study is to formally examine the tone and content of U.S. newspaper coverage of Williams' suicide. The primary objective is to assess adherence to suicide reporting guidelines in U.S. newspapers after his suicide. The secondary objective is to identify common emerging themes discussed in these articles. The tertiary objective is to compare patterns of results in the U.S media with those in the Canadian media. Articles about Williams' suicide were collected from 10 U.S. newspapers in the 30-day period following his death using systematic retrieval software, which were then examined for adherence to suicide reporting recommendations. An inductive thematic analysis was also undertaken. A total of 63 articles were included in the study. We found that 100% of articles did not call it a 'successful' suicide, 96.8% did not use pejorative phrases and 71% did not say 'commit' suicide. However, only 11% included information about help-seeking, 27% tended to romanticize his suicide and 46% went into detail about the method. The most prominent emerging theme was Williams' struggles with mental illness and addiction. These findings suggest that U.S. newspapers moderately adhered to best practice recommendations when reporting Williams' suicide. Key recommendations were underapplied, which may have contributed to suicide contagion. New interventions targeting U.S. journalists and media may be needed to improve suicide reporting.

Canadian French and English newspapers' portrayals of physicians' role and medical assistance in dying (MAiD) from 1972 to 2016: a qualitative textual analysis

OBJECTIVE

To examine how Canadian newspapers portrayed physicians' role and medical assistance in dying (MAiD).

DESIGN

Qualitative textual analysis.

SETTING

Online and print articles from Canadian French and English newspapers.

PARTICIPANTS

813 newspaper articles published from 1972 to 2016.

RESULTS

Key Canadian events defined five eras. From 1972 to 1990, newspapers portrayed physician's MAiD role as a social issue by reporting supportive public opinion polls and revealing it was already occurring in secret. From 1991 to 1995, newspapers discussed legal aspects of physicians' MAiD role including Rodriguez' Supreme Court of Canada appeal and Federal government Bills. From 1996 to 2004, journalists discussed professional aspects of physicians' MAiD role and the growing split between palliative care and physicians who supported MAiD. They also reported on court cases against Canadian physicians, Dr Kevorkian and suffering patients who could not receive MAiD. From 2005 to 2013, newspapers described political aspects including the tabling of MAiD legislation to change physicians' role. Lastly, from 2014 to 2016, newspapers again portrayed legal aspects of physicians' role as the Supreme Court of Canada was anticipated to legalise MAiD and the Québec government passed its own legislation. Remarkably, newspapers kept attention to MAiD over 44 years before it became legal. Articles generally reflected Canadians' acceptance of MAiD and physicians were typically portrayed as opposing it, but not all did.

CONCLUSIONS

Newspaper portrayals of physicians' MAiD role discussed public opinion, politicians' activities and professional and legal aspects. Portrayals followed the issue-attention cycle through three of five stages: 1) preproblem, 2) alarmed discovery and euphoric enthusiasm and 3) realising the cost of significant progress.

How Journalists Characterize Health Inequalities and Redefine Solutions for Native American Audiences

Many Native American communities experience severe health inequalities, including shorter average lifespan and higher rates of chronic illnesses. Journalism that serves Native Americans is a promising channel for heath communication, but only if scholars first understand the particular cultural contexts of indigenous communities. This research contributes to that goal by investigating how journalists serving Native American communities characterize health and the issues they identify with covering determinants of health. In in-depth interviews (N = 24), journalists contrasted how they cover health issues as embedded in cultural context with shallow, more negative coverage by non-Native media organizations. Interviews also revealed a tension between "medical" and "cultural" models of health, contributing to the oversaturation of certain issues, like diabetes, while other health topics are underrepresented. The journalists also expressed how social determinants and histories of oppression shape health inequalities, illuminating the roles of historical trauma and the destruction of indigenous health beliefs and behaviors. Failure to recognize these issues could stymie efforts to communicate about health issues facing Native American audiences.

No such thing as bad publicity? A quantitative content analysis of print media representations of primary care out-of-hours services

OBJECTIVE

To explore how out-of-hours primary healthcare services (OOHS) are represented in UK national newspapers, focusing on content and tone of reporting and the use of personal narratives to frame stories.

DESIGN

A retrospective cross-sectional quantitative content analysis of articles published in 2005, 2010 and 2015.

DATA SOURCES

Nexis database used to search 10 UK national newspapers covering quality, middle-market and tabloid publications.

INCLUSION/EXCLUSION CRITERIA

All articles containing the terms 'out-of-hours' (≥3 mentions per article) or ('NHS 24' OR 'NHS 111' OR 'NHS Direct') AND 'out-of-hours' (≥1 mention per article) were included. Letters, duplicate news items, opinion pieces and articles without a substantial portion of the story (>50% of an article's word count, as judged by researchers) concerning OOHS were excluded.

RESULTS

332 newspaper articles were identified: 113 in 2005 (34.1%), 140 in 2010 (42.2%) and 79 in 2015 (23.8%). Of these, 195 (58.7%) were in quality newspapers, 99 (29.8%) in middle-market and 38 (11.3%) in tabloids. The most commonly reported themes were OOHS organisation, personal narratives and telephone triage. Stories about service-level crises and personal tragedy, including unsafe doctors and missed or delayed identification of rare conditions, predominated. The majority of articles (252, 75.9%) were negative in tone. This was observed for all included newspapers and by publication genre; middle-market newspapers had the highest percentage of negative articles (Pearson χ²=35.72, p<0.001). Articles presented little supporting contextual information, such as call rates per annum, or advice on how to access OOHS.

CONCLUSION

In this first reported analysis of UK national newspaper coverage of OOHS, media representation is generally negative in tone, with frequent reports of 'negative exemplars' of OOHS crises and fatal individual patient cases with little or no contextualisation. We present recommendations for the future reporting of OOHS, which could apply to the reporting of healthcare services more generally.

The Cultural Competence of Health Journalists: Obesity Coverage in Four Urban News Organizations

This study sought to identify indicators of cultural competence in 670 news stories covering obesity by four urban news organizations: two mainstream newspapers and two ethnic newspapers serving the African-American and Hispanic communities. Through semantic network analysis, the research found that the news organizations converged on five themes: unhealthy lifestyle, food access and education, healthy lifestyle, public policy, and research. Public policy solutions were favored by the mainstream newspapers, while self-efficacy was emphasized in the ethnic papers. In all four newspapers, indicators of cultural competence were mixed. Ethnic newspapers showed particular competence in certain areas, such as community-based sourcing, direct mention of groups at risk for obesity, and lack of medical jargon. Chi-square tests showed, however, that the African-American newspaper discussed obesity less than expected, while the metropolitan daily directly mentioned ethnic groups at risk for obesity less than expected.

Health information and life-course smoking behavior: evidence from Turkey

We investigate whether individuals are less likely to start and more likely to quit smoking in years when newspapers publish more articles about the health risks of smoking. With data from 9030 respondents to the 2008 Global Adult Tobacco Survey in Turkey, we construct respondents' life-course smoking histories back to 1925 and model initiation and cessation decisions taken 1925-2008. To measure information, we count articles published in Milliyet, one of Turkey's major newspapers. Results from linear probability models show that people who have seen more smoking-health risk articles know more about the smoking-health relationship. Holding constant each individual's information stock, education, place of residence, and the price of cigarettes, we find that, as new information arrives, male and female smokers in all cohorts are significantly more likely to quit and women are less likely to start. Our analysis is one of the first that examines how new information affects smoking decisions while controlling for each individual's existing stock of information.

Coverage of Abortion in Select U.S. Newspapers

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

News coverage can shape public understanding of policy issues in important ways. In the last decade, many new state-level abortion restrictions have been passed, often based on claims about the safety of abortion care, yet little is known about recent news coverage of abortion. This study analyzes a sample of news on abortion in the United States and explores the implications for reproductive health policymakers, practitioners, and advocates.

METHODS

We analyzed a sample of news and opinion articles containing the term "abortion" published in three major U.S. newspaper sources in 2013 and 2016. The total sample was 783 unique pieces. We coded for story topics, references to fetal personhood, women's stories, and basic abortion facts. Three trained coders conducted the coding, with intercoder reliability rates ranging from 0.777 to 1.0.

FINDINGS

Most of the time abortion appears in the news, it is merely mentioned, rather than discussed substantively. Abortion is covered as a political issue more than a health issue. The personal experiences of people who get abortions are present in only 4% of the sample, and language personifying the fetus appears more often than women's abortion stories. State abortion restrictions are newsworthy, yet basic facts on the commonality and safety of abortion are virtually absent.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that the news does not support public understanding of abortion as a common, safe part of reproductive health care. Such framing may undermine public support for policies that protect access to this common health care service.

Changes in newspaper coverage of mental illness from 2008 to 2016 in England

AIMS

Since 2008 England's anti-stigma programme Time to Change has lobbied media outlets about stigmatising coverage and worked with them to promote accurate and non-stigmatising coverage. While this may have an impact on coverage and hence attitudes, it is also possible that coverage can change in response to improving attitudes, through the creation of a market demand for less stigmatising coverage. This study evaluates English newspaper coverage of mental health topics between 2008 and 2016.

METHOD

Articles covering mental health in 27 newspapers were retrieved using keyword searches on two randomly chosen days each month in 2008-2016, excluding 2012 and 2015 due to restricted resources. Content analysis used a structured coding framework. Univariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds of each hypothesised element occurring in 2016 compared with 2008 and Wald tests to assess the overall statistical significance of the year variable as the predictor.

RESULTS

The sample retrieved almost doubled between 2008 (n = 882) and 2016 (n = 1738). We found a significant increase in the proportion of anti-stigmatising articles (odds ratio (OR) 2.26 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.86-2.74)) and a significant decrease in stigmatising articles (OR 0.62 (95% CI 0.51-0.75)). Reports on all diagnoses except for schizophrenia were more often anti-stigmatising than stigmatising.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first clear evidence of improvement in coverage since the start of Time to Change. However, coverage of schizophrenia may be less affected by this positive shift than that of other diagnoses. The increase in the level of coverage identified in 2016 requires further investigation, as it may also influence public conceptualisation of what constitutes mental illness, attitudes to mental illness in general and/or specific diagnoses. While most anti-stigma programmes are not diagnosis specific, we suggest their evaluation would benefit from a diagnosis specific approach to allow fuller interpretation of their effects. This could include media analysis driven by hypotheses based on diagnoses to ascertain whether variations by diagnosis over time occur both in the nature and in the proportion of coverage.

Overselling Sit-Stand Desks: News Coverage of Workplace Sitting Guidelines

The first quantitative, specific recommendations for sitting time at work were released in June 2015. This paper examines the implications of news coverage received by this position statement. Media reports about statement published May, 31-June, 29, 2015 were analyzed according to five recommendations and three caveats extracted from the guidelines' press release. Information about how physical activity was framed and mentions of conflicts of interest were recorded. Of 58 news reports, nine reported all five recommendations in the position paper. The topline recommendation (two hours daily of standing and light activity) was reported in all articles. Alleviating musculoskeletal discomfort by sitting less was not reported by 72% of reports. Physical activity was mentioned in 32 reports: 69% said physical activity did not attenuate the risks of prolonged sitting. No reports mentioned any potential conflicts of interest despite co-author links to sit-stand desk industry. These results demonstrate the need to balance public and market demands for public health guidance around sitting; and could encourage more accurate communication of research outcomes. The physical activity component of the "move more and sit less" message requires greater efforts to raise its public salience.

Presenting a strong and united front to tobacco industry interference : a content analysis of Australian newspaper coverage of tobacco plain packaging 2008-2014

OBJECTIVES

In 2012, Australia was the first country in the world to introduce plain or standardised tobacco packaging, coupled with larger graphic health warnings. This policy was fiercely opposed by industry. Media coverage can be an influential contributor to public debate, and both public health advocates and industry sought media coverage for their positions. The aim of this study was to measure the print media coverage of Australian's plain packaging laws, from inception to roll-out, in major Australian newspapers.

METHODS

This study monitored mainstream Australian print media (17 newspapers) coverage of the plain packaging policy debate and implementation, over a 7-year period from January 2008 to December 2014. Articles (n=701) were coded for article type, opinion slant and topic(s).

DESIGN

Content analysis.

RESULTS

Coverage of plain packaging was low during preimplementation phase (2008-2009), increasing sharply in the lead into legislative processes and diminished substantially after implementation. Articles covered policy rationale, policy progress and industry arguments. Of the news articles, 96% were neutrally framed. Of the editorials, 55% were supportive, 28% were opposing, 12% were neutral and 5% were mixed.

CONCLUSIONS

Protracted political debate, reflected in the media, led to an implementation delay of plain packaging. While Australian media provided comprehensive coverage of industry arguments, news coverage was largely neutral, whereas editorials were mostly supportive or neutral of the policy. Countries seeking to implement plain packaging of tobacco should not be deterred by the volume of news coverage, but should actively promote the evidence for plain packaging in the media to counteract the arguments of the tobacco industry.

Media portrayal of Māori and bariatric surgery in Aotearoa/New Zealand

AIM

Media constructs in Aotearoa, New Zealand naturalise the dominant Western culture. Conversely, mainstream news about Māori is rare and prioritises negative stereotypical constructs that are often centred on Māori as economic threats via resource control and political activism. These narratives influence continued discrimination against Māori in New Zealand. Media representations of bariatric surgery in New Zealand are not widely understood. We explored the portrayal of Māori and bariatric surgery in print and online news media articles in New Zealand using an inductive approach to thematic analysis.

METHOD

An electronic search of two databases (Proquest Australia/ New Zealand Newsstream and Newztext) and two New Zealand news media websites (Stuff and the New Zealand Herald) was performed to retrieve news articles reporting stories, opinion pieces or editorials concerning Māori and bariatric surgery published between January 2007 to June 2017. Articles were scored using a five-point scale to assess the level of reporting as either very negative, negative, neutral, positive or very positive. Included articles were then subjected to inductive thematic analysis using the NVIVO 11 to identify and explore common themes surrounding Māori and bariatric surgery.

RESULTS

Of 246 articles related to bariatric surgery over the 10-year study period, 31 (13%) were representative of Māori. Articles were scored as 'neutral' to 'positive' with a mean reporting score of 3.7 (Kappa score of 0.72 [95% CI, 0.66-0.78, p<0.0001]). Five main themes were identified, these were: Attitudes towards bariatric surgery; complexity of obesity and weight loss; access to bariatric surgery; Māori advocacy and framing of Māori. Of the five themes, access to bariatric surgery and attitudes towards bariatric surgery were most prevalent. Māori advocacy was another common theme that arose largely due to the support of public funding of bariatric surgery championed by Dame Tariana Turia. Aside from this, narratives describing equity of bariatric surgery provision and equitable outcomes following bariatric surgery for Māori were sparse.

CONCLUSION

There was limited reporting on Māori health inequalities and equitable access to publicly funded bariatric surgery in New Zealand. We argue that this lack of coverage may work against addressing disparities in obesity prevalence and access to publicly funded bariatric surgery for Māori in New Zealand.

Media use and excess body weight among women in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the (1) time trends in body mass index (BMI) and (2) relationship between media use and body weight status among adult women in Nigeria. We hypothesise that higher frequency of media use is associated with higher likelihood of being overweight and obesity among adult women.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

Urban and rural settings in Nigeria.

PARTICIPANTS

Adult non-pregnant women aged between 15 and 49 years.

METHODS

Data were derived from Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 2003, 2008 and 2013. The outcome variable was excess body weight (overweight and obesity), and main explanatory variables were frequency of reading newspaper, listening to radio and television (TV) viewing. Datasets were merged to perform pooled analysis, and were analysed using bivariate and multivariable regression techniques.

RESULTS

Of the 69 401 participants, 16.2% had a BMI of 25.0-29.9 kg/m² (95% CI 15.8 to 16.6) and 6.6% had >30 kg/m² (95% CI 6.3 to 6.9). Between 2003 and 2013, the prevalence of overweight women increased by 4.1%, and that of obesity by 2.2%. Overall, radio was the most popular media followed by TV and newspaper. Respectively, 15.6% and 11.7% of the women reported using radio and TV almost every day and 30.6% and 25.1% at least once a week. In multivariable analysis, watching TV almost every day and at least once a week were associated with, respectively, 1.6 and 1.2 times higher odds of being overweight, and 2.7 and 1.5 times higher odds of being obese compared with those who never used radio. Similarly, significant associations were observed for newspaper and radio use as well.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is noticeably high among Nigerian women and has been increasing steadily over the past decade. A statistically significant association exists between BMI and the use of newspaper, radio and TV. Further studies are required to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms that underlie this relationship.

A content analysis of chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis in the news from 1987 to 2013

Objectives The aim of this study was to analyze the content of American newspaper articles ( n=214) from 1987 to 2013, in order to understand how the public digests information related to Chronic Fatigue syndrome, a controversial and misunderstood illness. Methods A novel codebook derived from the scientific literature was applied to 214 newspaper articles collected from Lexis Nexis Academic®. These articles were coded quantitatively and frequency tables were created to delineate the variables as they appeared in the articles. Results The etiology was portrayed as organic in 64.5% ( n=138) of the articles, and there was no mention of case definitions or diagnostic criteria in 56.1% ( n=120) of the articles. The most common comorbidity was depression, appearing in 22.9% ( n=49) of the articles. In 55.6% ( n=119) of the articles, there was no mention of prevalence rates. In 50.9% ( n=109) of the articles, there was no mention of any form of treatment for the illness. A total of 19.4% ( n=42) of the headlines mislabeled the name of the illness. Discussion Based on descriptive statistics of all 214 coded articles, media communicated mixed messages for salient variables such as the name of the illness, its etiology and treatment.

Quality assessment of nutrition coverage in the media: a 6-week survey of five popular UK newspapers

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the quality of nutrition articles in popular national daily newspapers in the UK and to identify important predictors of article quality.

SETTING

Newspapers are a primary source of nutrition information for the public.

DESIGN

Newspaper articles were collected on 6 days of the week (excluding Sunday) for 6 weeks in summer 2014. Predictors included food type and health outcome, size of article, whether the journalist was named and day of the week.

OUTCOME MEASURES

A validated quality assessment tool was used to assess each article, with a minimum possible score of -12 and a maximum score of 17. Newspapers were checked in duplicate for relevant articles. The association of each predictor on article quality score was analysed adjusting for remaining predictors. A logistic regression model was implemented with quality score as the binary outcome, categorised as poor (score less than zero) or satisfactory (score of zero or more).

RESULTS

Over 6 weeks, 141 nutrition articles were included across the five newspapers. The median quality score was 2 (IQR -2-6), and 44 (31%) articles were poor quality. There was no substantial variation in quality of reporting between newspapers once other factors such as anonymous publishing, health outcome, aspect of diet covered and day of the week were taken into account. Particularly low-quality scores were obtained for anonymously published articles with no named journalist, articles that focused on obesity and articles that reported on high fat and processed foods.

CONCLUSIONS

The general public are regularly exposed to poor quality information in newspapers about what to eat to promote health, particularly articles reporting on obesity. Journalists, researchers, university press officers and scientific journals need to work together more closely to ensure clear, consistent nutrition messages are communicated to the public in an engaging way.

National citation patterns of NEJM, The Lancet, JAMA and The BMJ in the lay press: a quantitative content analysis

OBJECTIVES

To analyse the total number of newspaper articles citing the four leading general medical journals and to describe national citation patterns.

DESIGN

Quantitative content analysis.

SETTING/SAMPLE

Full text of 22 general newspapers in 14 countries over the period 2008-2015, collected from LexisNexis. The 14 countries have been categorised into four regions: the USA, the UK, Western World (European countries other than the UK, and Australia, New Zealand and Canada) and Rest of the World (other countries).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Press citations of four medical journals (two American: NEJM and JAMA; and two British: The Lancet and The BMJ) in 22 newspapers.

RESULTS

British and American newspapers cited some of the four analysed medical journals about three times a week in 2008-2015 (weekly mean 3.2 and 2.7 citations, respectively); the newspapers from other Western countries did so about once a week (weekly mean 1.1), and those from the Rest of the World cited them about once a month (monthly mean 1.1). The New York Times cited above all other newspapers (weekly mean 4.7). The analysis showed the existence of three national citation patterns in the daily press: American newspapers cited mostly American journals (70.0% of citations), British newspapers cited mostly British journals (86.5%) and the rest of the analysed press cited more British journals than American ones. The Lancet was the most cited journal in the press of almost all Western countries outside the USA and the UK. Multivariate correspondence analysis confirmed the national patterns and showed that over 85% of the citation data variability is retained in just one single new variable: the national dimension.

CONCLUSION

British and American newspapers are the ones that cite the four analysed medical journals more often, showing a domestic preference for their respective national journals; non-British and non-American newspapers show a common international citation pattern.

Local-Community Interests and South Carolinian Newspapers' Coverage of Smoke-Free Policies

In this quantitative content analysis, we assess how smoke-free policies are presented in South Carolinian newspapers. In particular, this study examines the extent to which newspapers' coverage of smoke free-policies has represented the interests of their local communities. We compare newspapers in the communities whose economy relies heavily on the tourism and hospitality industry (The Post & Courier in Charleston and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach) and newspapers elsewhere (The State in Columbia and The Greenville News in Greenville), and see whether there are meaningful differences between the newspapers in the way they portray smoke-free policies, particularly in terms of their selective uses of news sources and key arguments. Our findings indicate that South Carolinian newspapers portrayed smoke-free policies largely as a political issue. Many political reasons to either support or oppose the policies were found in almost two out of three articles. We also found that The Post & Courier and The Sun News were more likely than The State and The Greenville News to make arguments against smoke-free policies, and this was particularly so when they were talking about economic impacts of the policies. Public health and media advocacy implications are discussed in detail.

The Scoop on Health: How Native American Newspapers Frame and Report Health News

The health status of Native Americans is known to be lower than that of other Americans. One way to get relevant health information to this population is through Native-produced media. Tribal newspapers are the most popular form of Native media, consumed more often than their mainstream counterparts. As such, these community-based newspapers are meaningful tools for relevant health information gathering. This study content analyzes a census of health-related newspaper articles (N = 644) over a 1-year period from 20 Tribal newspapers across 10 regions designated by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Findings profile the nature of health topics reported in Native news publications. Health news stories were shown to use episodic frames significantly more than thematic frames. Inclusion of supplementary information (e.g., causes/symptoms, treatment, and prevention) and inclusion of mobilizing information (i.e., provides readers resources for further action) were both shown to significantly differ by health topic. Results provide an important baseline understanding of how health news is reported in Native news publications.

UV tanning advertisements in national high school newspapers

Many young adults have utilized indoor ultraviolet(UV) tanning, putting them at higher risk for development of skin cancers. Prior to the increased regulations on indoor tanning for minors, indoor tanning businesses marketed to teens through modalities such as advertisements in high school newspapers. The purpose of this study was to quantify tanning advertisements in high school newspapers published across the United States between August 2014 and July 2015. Online versions of the newspaper issues were available on issuu.com. Tanning advertisements appeared in 3 of 23 high school newspapers with advertisements of any kind(13%). Among all newspapers with advertisements, 10% were indoor tanning advertisements. One newspaper in Colorado contained advertisements of any kind and had 0 tanning advertisements. A prior study of Colorado high schools showed 11 of 23 schools (48%) to contain tanning advertisements. This suggests that there may be a decrease in indoor UV tanning advertisements owing to increased tanning regulation by state legislatures, national attention to UV tanning, or a general decrease in high school tanning advertisements.

News Coverage of Cancer in Japanese Newspapers: A Content Analysis

Newspapers could provide effective and comprehensive information about cancer to the public. The present study conducted a content analysis of cancer-related articles in Japanese newspapers published in 2011. In total, 5,314 articles were identified and subsequently coded. Coding variables included cancer type, the cancer continuum, and topic of articles mentioning cancer. Approximately half mentioned at least one specific type of cancer, with the focus mostly on lung, leukemia, and breast. Stomach and colon cancers, which have the highest morbidity, were relatively underreported. The continuum received little attention, and was mentioned in only 11% of articles. Treatment was the most frequently mentioned part of the continuum, with prevention and screening mentioned only rarely. The most frequently mentioned topic was social issues. The findings suggest that cancer-related articles were found regularly throughout the year, meaning that they might be one of the most important sources of cancer information. However, they are affected by social issues and there were some imbalances in both cancer type and continuum. Considering the influence of newspapers, it would be helpful for providing more effective and accurate information to the public if Japanese newspapers increased mentions of specific types of common cancers and the cancer continuum, especially prevention.

Framing Autism: A Content Analysis of Five Major News Frames in U.S.-Based Newspapers

The portrayal of child autism-related news stories has become a serious issue in the United States, yet few studies address this from media framing perspective. To fill this gap in the literature, this study examined the applicability of a media framing scale (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000) for the deductive examination of autism-related news stories in U.S.-based newspapers. Under the theoretical framework of framing theory, a content analysis of news stories (N = 413) was conducted to investigate the presence of the five news frames using an established questionnaire. Differentiating between local and national news outlets, the following five news frames were measured: (a) attribution of responsibility, (b) human interest, (c) conflict, (d) morality, and (e) economic consequences. Findings revealed that news stories about autism most frequently fell within the human interest frame. Furthermore, the study shed light on how local and national newspapers might differ in framing autism-related news pieces and in their placement of the autism-related story within the newspaper (e.g., front page section, community section).

Discovering Periodic Patterns in Historical News

We address the problem of observing periodic changes in the behaviour of a large population, by analysing the daily contents of newspapers published in the United States and United Kingdom from 1836 to 1922. This is done by analysing the daily time series of the relative frequency of the 25K most frequent words for each country, resulting in the study of 50K time series for 31,755 days. Behaviours that are found to be strongly periodic include seasonal activities, such as hunting and harvesting. A strong connection with natural cycles is found, with a pronounced presence of fruits, vegetables, flowers and game. Periodicities dictated by religious or civil calendars are also detected and show a different wave-form than those provoked by weather. States that can be revealed include the presence of infectious disease, with clear annual peaks for fever, pneumonia and diarrhoea. Overall, 2% of the words are found to be strongly periodic, and the period most frequently found is 365 days. Comparisons between UK and US, and between modern and historical news, reveal how the fundamental cycles of life are shaped by the seasons, but also how this effect has been reduced in modern times.

Pink Ribbons and Red Dresses: A Mixed Methods Content Analysis of Media Coverage of Breast Cancer and Heart Disease

This research examined media coverage of breast cancer (n = 145) and heart disease and stroke (n = 39) news articles, videos, advertisements, and images in a local Canadian context through quantitative and thematic content analyses. Quantitative analysis revealed significant differences between coverage of the diseases in placement, survivors as a source of information, health agency, human interest stories, citation of a research study, the inclusion of risk statistics, discussion of preventative behaviors, and tone used. The thematic analysis revealed themes that characterized a "typical" breast cancer survivor and indicated that "good" citizens and businesses should help the cause of breast cancer. Themes for heart disease and stroke articulated individual responsibility and the ways fundraising reinforced femininity and privilege. Findings provide insight on how these diseases are framed in local Canadian media, which might impact an individual's understanding of the disease.

A Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of the Seasonal Flu Vaccine in Ontario, Canada, October 2001 to March 2011

Seasonal flu vaccine uptake has fallen dramatically over the past decade in Ontario, Canada, despite promotional efforts by public health officials. Media can be particularly influential in shaping the public response to seasonal flu vaccine campaigns. We therefore sought to identify the nature of the relationship between risk messages about getting the seasonal flu vaccine in newspaper coverage and the uptake of the vaccine by Ontarians between 2001 and 2010. A content analysis was conducted to quantify risk messages in newspaper content for each year of analysis. The quantification allowed us to test the correlation between the frequency of risk messages and vaccination rates. During the time period 2001-2010, vaccination rates were positively and significantly related to the frequency of risk messages in newspaper coverage (r = .691, p < .05). The most commonly identified risk messages related to the flu vaccine being ineffective, the flu vaccine being poorly understood by science, and the flu vaccine causing harm. Newspaper coverage plays an important role in shaping public response to seasonal flu vaccine campaigns. Public health officials should work alongside media to ensure that the public are exposed to information necessary for making informed decisions regarding vaccination.

Newspaper Coverage of Injuries Affecting the Spanish Surname Population in Two Counties in Colorado

The present study assessed newspaper reports of injuries affecting individuals with Spanish surnames and compared newspaper reports to hospital injury discharge data in two counties in Colorado. Newspaper reports came from 12 daily and weekly newspapers. Hospital discharge data were obtained from the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. Motor vehicle crashes, assault and legal intervention, and suicide and suicidal acts were counted. A higher proportion of people with Spanish surnames were reported in newspapers than expected based on the hospital discharge data. Motor vehicle injuries were far more frequent based on hospital discharge data than in newspaper reports. Assault and legal intervention injuries were similarly represented by Hispanic ethnicity and absolute numbers in both reporting sources. Suicide and suicidal acts were not often reported in newspapers relative to hospital discharge data; however, the proportion of Hispanics was not significantly different. These findings suggest that the use of newspapers for surveillance of injuries may be helpful, but should not be used in the absence of other data sources.

The News on Health Behavior: Coverage of Diet, Activity, and Tobacco in Local Newspapers

News media are an important and influential part of the social environment, calling attention to certain issues by the amount and nature of their coverage. To better understand howhealth behaviors are covered, we examined more than 80, 000 stories in 1, 354 newspaper issues from four midsize Missouri communities. Health behavior stories were rare. Of 1, 373 stories (1. 7%) that addressed diet, physical activity, or tobacco, few were prominently located in the paper, and only half had a primary prevention focus. A large majority had no local angle, local quotes, or call to action for individuals or the community, and only 10% were generated by local reporters. Because the local newspaper can be especially influential in smaller communities, strategies are needed to help reporters and editors in these settings provide more and better coverage of health behavior-related stories.

The Development and Validation of a Coding Protocol to Measure Change in Tobacco-Control Newspaper Coverage

The national ASSIST newspaper coding protocol model was used as a template to adapt a system for measuring tobacco-related newspaper coverage in Colorado newspapers. Over a 3-month period, tobacco-related articles were clipped from 180 daily and weekly newspapers. Variables coded included adaptations of the original ASSIST categories. During development and testing, additional variables were added to make the protocol more comprehensive and sensitive to tobacco policy media coverage. Intercoder reliabilities were calculated for all nonstatic variables using Cohen’s kappa. Disagreements were resolved through group discussions. Two rounds of testing achieved ratings above .70 for all variables. The protocol improves dramatically upon the ASSIST model by providing greater breadth and depth of analysis and more sensitivity to the nuances of newspaper coverage of tobacco-related issues. Given its simplicity, the protocol could also prove valuable for antitobacco advocacy groups who wish to track the changes in public and media opinions.

"Calculating The Toll Of Trauma" in the headlines: Portrayals of posttraumatic stress disorder in the New York Times (1980-2015)

Public awareness about traumatic stress is needed to address trauma as a public health issue. News media influence public awareness, but little is known about how traumatic-related disorders are portrayed in the news. A content analysis was conducted of all articles that mentioned posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in The New York Times between 1980-2015. There were 871 articles analyzed. The number of PTSD articles published annually increased dramatically, from 2 in 1980 to 70 in 2014. Overall, 50.6% of articles were focused on military populations. Combat was identified as the trauma exposure in 38.0% of articles, while sexual assault was identified in 8.7%. Negative themes such as crimes perpetrated by people with possible PTSD (18.0%) and substance abuse (11.5%) were prominent, substance abuse being more prevalent in articles focused on military populations (16.4% vs. 6.3%, p = <.001). Only 9.1% of articles mentioned PTSD treatment options and this theme became less prevalent over time-ranging from 19.4% of articles published between 1980-1995 to just 5.7% of articles published between 2005-2015 (p = <.001). Results suggest that public awareness of PTSD has increased, but may be incomplete, inaccurate, and perpetuate PTSD stigma at individual- and institutional-levels. These findings can inform advocacy strategies that enhance public awareness about PTSD and traumatic stress. (PsycINFO Database Record

Craigslist versus print newspaper advertising for recruiting research participants for alcohol studies: Cost and participant characteristics

INTRODUCTION

Technology has transformed our lifestyles in dramatic and significant ways, including new and less expensive options for recruiting study participants. This study examines cost and participant differences between two recruitment sources, Craigslist (CL), and print newspapers (PNs). This paper also reviewed and compared studies involving clinical trials published since 2010 that recruited participants using CL alone or in combination with other methods.

METHOD

Secondary data analyses from a parent study involving a randomized controlled trial of a mail-based intervention to promote self-change with problem drinkers.

RESULTS

Significant differences were found between CL and PN participants on most demographic and pretreatment drinking variables. While all participants had AUDIT scores suggestive of an alcohol problem and reported drinking at high-risk levels, CL participants had less severe drinking problem histories, were considerably younger, and had a higher socioeconomic status than PN participants. The total advertising costs for the 65 CL ads ($275) were significantly less than the 69 PN ads ($33, 311). The recruiting cost per eligible participant was vastly less expensive using CL ($1.46) compared to print newspaper ads ($116.88).

CONCLUSIONS

Using CL is a viable recruitment method for soliciting participants, particularly those that are younger, for alcohol intervention studies. It is also less expensive than newspaper ads. When CL participants were recruited, they reported being slightly more confident to change their drinking than PN participants. Limitations of using CL are discussed, including that some initial ad responders gave inconsistent answers to similar questions and a few tried to enter the study more than once.

Italian news coverage of radiation in the early decades of the twentieth century: A qualitative and quantitative analysis

This work uses a qualitative approach coupled with a quantitative software-based methodology to examine the Italian news media coverage of radiation in the early decades of the twentieth century. We analyze 80 news stories from two of the most influential Italian newspapers from that time: La Stampa (a daily newspaper) and La Domenica del Corriere (an Italian Sunday supplement). While much of previous research on media coverage of scientific topics was generally focused on present-day news, our work revolves around the ground-breaking discovery of X-rays and radioactivity at the dawn of the last century. Our analysis aims to identify journalistic frames in the news coverage of radiation that journalists might have used to emphasize the benefits (or the risks) of the new discoveries. We also hypothesize how this kind of news coverage might have influenced public perception of technological, commercial, and public health applications of the new scientific advancements.

Source diversity among journals cited in Science Times

A content analysis of The New York Times' Science Times section from 1998 to 2012 found evidence of increased source diversity in use of scientific journals as news sources. Science Times increased the frequency at which it cited journals, the number of different journals that it cited, and the number of disciplines represented by cited journals. The results suggest that online availability of a wide array of scientific journals has changed sourcing behaviors.

Newspaper coverage of maternal health in Bangladesh, Rwanda and South Africa: a quantitative and qualitative content analysis

OBJECTIVE

To examine newspaper coverage of maternal health in three countries that have made varying progress towards Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5): Bangladesh (on track), Rwanda (making progress, but not on track) and South Africa (no progress).

DESIGN

We analysed each country's leading national English-language newspaper: Bangladesh's The Daily Star, Rwanda's The New Times/The Sunday Times, and South Africa's Sunday Times/The Times. We quantified the number of maternal health articles published from 1 January 2008 to 31 March 2013. We conducted a content analysis of subset of 190 articles published from 1 October 2010 to 31 March 2013.

RESULTS

Bangladesh's The Daily Star published 579 articles related to maternal health from 1 January 2008 to 31 March 2013, compared to 342 in Rwanda's The New Times/The Sunday Times and 253 in South Africa's Sunday Times/The Times over the same time period. The Daily Star had the highest proportion of stories advocating for or raising awareness of maternal health. Most maternal health articles in The Daily Star (83%) and The New Times/The Sunday Times (69%) used a 'human-rights' or 'policy-based' frame compared to 41% of articles from Sunday Times/The Times.

CONCLUSIONS

In the three countries included in this study, which are on different trajectories towards MDG 5, there were differences in the frequency, tone and content of their newspaper coverage of maternal health. However, no causal conclusions can be drawn about this association between progress on MDG 5 and the amount and type of media coverage of maternal health.

Thirty Years of Media Coverage on High Drug Prices in the United States--A Never-Ending Story or a Time for Change?

In recent years drug prices have increasingly become a topic of debate for patients, providers, payers and policy makers. To place the current drug price debate into historical context, we searched the New York Times and Wall Street Journal from 1985 - 2015 and found that concerns about drug prices have commonly featured in the press over the study period with recently stronger calls for change. Price levels, types of innovations, stakeholder responses, and strategies to address high prices discussed in the media suggest that concerted efforts are required to enable affordable and high-value innovations.

Trends in local newspaper reporting of London cyclist fatalities 1992-2012: the role of the media in shaping the systems dynamics of cycling

BACKGROUND

Successfully increasing cycling across a broad range of the population would confer important health benefits, but many potential cyclists are deterred by fears about traffic danger. Media coverage of road traffic crashes may reinforce this perception. As part of a wider effort to model the system dynamics of urban cycling, in this paper we examined how media coverage of cyclist fatalities in London changed across a period when the prevalence of cycling doubled. We compared this with changes in the coverage of motorcyclist fatalities as a control group.

METHODS

Police records of traffic crashes (STATS19) were used to identify all cyclist and motorcyclist fatalities in London between 1992 and 2012. We searched electronic archives of London's largest local newspaper to identify relevant articles (January 1992-April 2014), and sought to identify which police-reported fatalities received any media coverage. We repeated this in three smaller English cities.

RESULTS

Across the period when cycling trips doubled in London, the proportion of fatalities covered in the local media increased from 6% in 1992-1994 to 75% in 2010-2012. By contrast, the coverage of motorcyclist fatalities remained low (4% in 1992-1994 versus 5% in 2010-2012; p=0.007 for interaction between mode and time period). Comparisons with other English cities suggested that the changes observed in London might not occur in smaller cities with lower absolute numbers of crashes, as in these settings fatalities are almost always covered regardless of mode share (79-100% coverage for both cyclist and motorcyclist fatalities).

CONCLUSION

In large cities, an increase in the popularity (and therefore 'newsworthiness') of cycling may increase the propensity of the media to cover cyclist fatalities. This has the potential to give the public the impression that cycling has become more dangerous, and thereby initiate a negative feedback loop that dampens down further increases in cycling. Understanding these complex roles of the media in shaping cycling trends may help identify effective policy levers to achieve sustained growth in cycling.

Influenza newspaper reports and the influenza epidemic: an observational study in Fukuoka City, Japan

OBJECTIVES

We examined whether the weekly number of newspaper articles reporting on influenza was related to the incidence of influenza in a large city.

DESIGN

Prospective, non-randomised, observational study.

SETTING

Registry data of influenza cases in Fukuoka City, Japan.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 83,613 cases of influenza cases that occurred between October 1999 and March 2007 in Fukuoka City, Japan.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

A linear model with autoregressive time series errors was fitted to time series data on the incidence of influenza and the accumulated number of influenza-related newspaper articles with different time lags in Fukuoka City, Japan. In order to obtain further evidence that the number of newspaper articles a week with specific time lags is related to the incidence of influenza, Granger causality was also tested.

RESULTS

Of the 16 models including 'number of newspaper articles' with different time lags between 2 and 17 weeks (xt-2 to t-17), the β coefficients of 'number of newspaper articles' at time lags between t-5 and t-13 were significant. However, the β coefficients of 'number of newspaper articles' that are significant with respect to the Granger causality tests (p<0.05) were the weekly number of newspaper articles at time lags between t-6 and t-10 (time shift of 10 weeks, β=-0.301, p<0.01; time shift of 9 weeks, β=-0.200, p<0.01; time shift of 8 weeks, β=-0.156, p<0.01; time shift of 7 weeks, β=-0.122, p<0.05; time shift of 6 weeks, β=-0.113, p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

We found that the number of newspaper articles reporting on influenza in a week was related to the incidence of influenza 6-10 weeks after media coverage in a large city in Japan.

Coverage of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the New York Times, 1950-2012

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health disorder that occurs for some individuals following a traumatic experience and that can cause significant health, mental health, and functioning problems. The concept of PTSD has multiple components (cause, reactions, and treatment), which provides for great variety in the experience of an individual with PTSD. Given this complexity, the news media's construction of PTSD is likely an important influence in determining how the public understands PTSD, but research has yet to investigate how the news media depict PTSD. This study addresses that gap in the literature by examining New York Times coverage of PTSD from 1950 to 2012. Results indicate that the number of PTSD articles during this time period increased, with coverage spikes related to U.S. military conflicts and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Almost half (49.14%) of all PTSD articles included military service as a PTSD cause. Military PTSD articles were more likely than civilian PTSD articles to depict the disorder as causing anger/irritability/rage, homicide/violence/rape, suicide, substance abuse, and home/work/relationship problems. PTSD news stories were almost always (94.8%) situated in the current time and most frequently (46.6%) used a community frame. Implications for public understanding of PTSD are discussed.

A content analysis of military commander messages about tobacco and other health issues in military installation newspapers: what do military commanders say about tobacco?

Military installation newspapers are a primary means used by military commanders to communicate information about topics important to military personnel including leadership, training issues, installation events, safety concerns, and vital health issues. We conducted a content analysis of military commanders' messages about health issues that were published in online military installation newspapers/newsfeeds. We identified a total of 75 publicly accessible installation newspapers/newsfeeds with commanders' messages (n = 39 Air Force, n = 19 Army, n = 7 Navy, n = 1 Marine, and n = 9 Joint Bases). Commander messages published from January 2012 to December 2012 were collected, screened, and coded. Coder inter-rater reliability was 98.9%. Among the 2,479 coded commanders' messages, 132 (5.3%) addressed a health topic as the primary focus. There were no significant differences between service branches in the percentage of health-oriented messages (χ(2) = 5.019, p = 0.285). The most commonly addressed health topics were exercise/fitness (23.5%), other mental health concerns (19.7%), alcohol/driving under the influence (13.6%), and suicide (12.1%). Tobacco use was directly addressed as a primary health aim in only two commanders' messages (1.5%). Health topics, and particularly tobacco-related content, are rarely written about by military commanders. The absence of tobacco-related health messages from line leadership contributes to the perception that tobacco control is a low priority.

[The late media emergency of smallpox vaccine, news coverage of Spanish press (1999-2004)]

INTRODUCTION

Discussions on the need for smallpox virus preservation in 1999 focused attention on an eradicated disease 20 years ago. Smallpox was replaced as a potential candidate to be used as a bioterrorist weapon because of the international alarm scenario produced after the 11/9 events in USA. The reactivation of a vaccine which remained forgotten was the direct consequence. The initial target groups were the security forces of America. Spain was also among the countries that were interested in acquiring the smallpox vaccine. The aim of this study is to analyze the considerable media coverage of smallpox obtained in our country.

METHODS

Systematic review of published news in the four largest national daily newspapers (ABC, El Mundo, El País and La Vanguardia) for the period 1999-2004 of the Dow Jones Factiva document database. "Smallpox" were used as a key word. From the obtained data, a qualitative and quantitative analysis was done.

RESULTS

416 reviews were analyzed; the newspaper El Mundo was the most interested in these news (158 citations, 37.98%). Most of the news were published in 2003 (152, 36.5%) The year with more news about smallpox (2003) coincides with the purchase of vaccines in Spain. The type of messages in the news was highly changeable over this six-year period. Those related to "politics and diplomacy", "epidemiological risk", "bioterrorism" and "vaccine" were predominant.

CONCLUSIONS

The alarm raised around the smallpox vaccination was a media phenomenon due to political strategy issues rather than a real public health problem.