Framing pub smoking bans: an analysis of Australian print news media coverage, March 1996-March 2003

OBJECTIVE: To investigate framing strategies used by the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) and tobacco control groups to (respectively) resist or advocate laws providing smoke free bars. METHODS: Online archives of Australian print media were searched 1996 to 2003. A thematic analysis of all statements made by AHA spokespeople and tobacco control advocates was conducted. Direct quotes or journalistic summaries of statements attributed to named people were coded into four broad themes and the slant of articles coded. RESULTS: More than three times as many articles reported issues that were positive (n = 171) than negative (n = 48) for tobacco control objectives. The AHA emphasised negative economic issues and cultural/ideological frames about cultural identity, while tobacco control interests emphasised health concerns as well as cultural/ideological frames about threats to inequitable workplace policies. CONCLUSIONS: Smoke free bars have now been secured, suggesting that health advocates' position prevailed. The inability of the AHA to avoid the core health arguments, its wildly exaggerated economic predictions, and its frequent recourse to claiming smoke bans threatened nostalgic but outmoded vistas of Australian day to day life were decidedly backward looking and comparatively easily dismissed as being out of touch with views held by many in contemporary Australia. Health groups' emphasis on the unfairness in denying the most occupationally exposed group the same protection that all other workers enjoyed under law was powerfully and consistently argued. Australia's recent success in securing dates for the implementation of smoke free pubs is likely to have owed much to the enduring media advocacy by health groups.     

Australian print news media coverage of sweet, non-alcoholic drinks sends mixed health messages

Objective: This study aimed to analyse the contribution of Australian print news coverage to the public profile of sweet, non‐alcoholic beverages. News media portrayal of health contributes to individuals’ decision‐making. The focus on sugar‐sweetened beverages reflects their contribution to excessive energy intake. Methods: One year's coverage of sweet, non‐alcoholic beverages by major Australian newspapers was analysed using content and frame analysis. Research questions addressed which sweet drinks are most prominently covered, what makes sweet drinks newsworthy and how are the health aspects of sweet drinks framed? Results: Fruit juice was the most widely covered sweet drink, closely followed by carbonated, sugar‐sweetened soft drinks. Overall coverage was positively oriented towards sweet drinks, with fruit juice primarily portrayed as having health benefits. Some coverage mentioned risks of sweet drinks, such as obesity, tooth decay, metabolic syndrome and heart attack. Conclusions: Sweet drinks often enjoy positive coverage, with their health benefits and harms central to their ability to attract journalists’ attention. However, the mix of coverage may be contributing to consumer confusion about whether it is safe and/or healthy to consume sweet non‐alcoholic drinks. Implications: Framing of sweet drinks as healthy may undermine efforts to encourage individuals to avoid excess consumption of energy‐dense drinks which offer few or minimal health benefits.     

Quality of health news disseminated in the print media in developing countries: a case study in Iran

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Mass media play an important role in keeping people up-to-date with the latest health news. This study aims at investigating the quality of health news disseminated in the print media, its course of production and factors affecting its quality. METHODS: In the quantitative section of the study, 410 health-related news items, published during a six-month span in the Iranian public press, underwent content analysis. In the qualitative section, focus group discussions were held with journalists, editors-in-chief and news gatekeepers. RESULTS: The quantitative phase showed that 18% of the news articles were not fit for dissemination in public. The qualitative phase illustrated that multiple factors at various levels affect the quality of news, namely poor knowledge, inadequate motivations and context-related barriers. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of health news reporting is not desirable. Educational interventions need to be carried out to raise awareness among researchers and journalists. Also, certain steps should be taken to increase motivations and strengthen infrastructures, including designing guidelines and monitoring news.     

Biofantasies: genetics and medicine in the print news media

The contemporary news media is an important site for exploring the diverse and complex cultural images of genetics and its medical possibilities, and of the mechanisms by which these images are (re) produced and sustained. This article investigates how the print news media 'frames' stories on genetics and medicine. It is based on a discourse analysis of articles appearing in three Australian newspapers in the late 1990s. Gene stories were found to be prominent in each of the newspapers, and to emphasise the medical benefits of genetic research. Stories frequently cite and quote scientists, who explain the nature and significance of the research and/or its implications for treatment or prevention. Many stories focus on new genetic discoveries, and portray genetic researchers as involved in a quest to unlock nature's secrets. Stories of hope, and depictions of geneticists as warriors or heroes, appear regularly. The positive vision of genetics is supported by the use of particular metaphors, accompanying illustrative material, 'human interest' stories, and reference to credible sources. There is rarely mention of the influence of non-genetic factors and 'multifactorial' interactions on disorders, or questioning of the goals, direction, methods, or value of genetic research. Scientists made extensive use of the media in their efforts to maintain a positive image of research in the face of public concerns about scientists 'going too far', following the announcement of the cloning of Dolly. Boundaries were drawn between 'therapeutic cloning'--implicitly defined as 'good', useful, and legitimate--and 'reproductive cloning'--seen as 'bad', dangerous, and illegitimate. By framing news stories as they do, the print news media are likely to exert a powerful influence on public responses to health problems. With new genetic technologies becoming more integrated in preventive medicine and public health, it is important to investigate how news stories help shape the agenda for public debate.     

Suicide reporting in Swiss print media: Responsible or irresponsible?

All articles in Swiss newspapers with suicide or attempted suicideas the main topic were collected over a time span of 8 months.The aim was the investigation of a potential imitation effectand the extent of preventive messages given. A rating schemefor an assumed imitation effect based on different items forheading, text and picture was developed. The results show thatapproximately two-fifttis of all 151 articles were inappropriatein some aspects and were considered as bearing a high potentialfor imitation effect. The rating was significantly more unfavourablefor the main Swiss tabloid paper than the other newspapers.A reason for suicide was specified in 41.7% of all articles,half of them in a very simple and monocausal way. Relevant preventiveinformation was only given In 10% of cases. We conclude thatmedia guidelines for suicide reporting are needed. A preventivestrategy to influence the policy of suicide reporting in newspapersmust primarily concentrate on a few papers with a high circulation(popular press).     

Being female: the portrayal of women's health in print media

In this article, we examine the portrayal of women's health issues in two of Melbourne's print media: The Age and the Herald Sun. In particular, we aim to examine the patterns of coverage of women's health and the underlying message in articles on women's health issues. We employed an unobtrusive method, and the study was conducted over a three-month period: May to July 1998. We found that many of the articles and public reactions centred on women and reproduction. This implies that women are still seen in relation to their reproductive role in Australian society. In addition, there are many issues regarding women and their health missing from the media's publication during the research period. The message emerging from the analysis implies that if women do not fit into the "ideal women" framework of the society, their health needs are given little attention by the print media and, therefore, their health is likely to suffer. This can be interpreted as one form of women's oppression in Australian society.     

Women's health and the mass media: The reporting of risk

News about women's health risks is prevalent in the mass media, and how that news is presented is important for the women who uses it to make decisions about her health. Conferees at a Jacobs Institute symposium reviewed the presentation and discussion of risk factors in scientific articles and the subsequent translation of this information by the media to their consumers. The symposium participants made four major recommendations to improve the reporting of risk: 1) as information sources, the scientific community, institutions, and media organizations should share the responsibility of clearly presenting information on risk factors affecting women's health, 2) institutional public affairs officers, journal public affairs officers, and mass media editors should require that reports on single studies be placed within the context of current scientific knowledge, with limitations prominently described, 3) measures of absolute and relative risk should be interpretable by a general audience, and 4) news makers (the scientific community) and news writers (reporters and editors) should have more training opportunities to achieve a clearer understanding of the constraints on the news media and the limitations of science.     

Women's health and the mass media: The reporting of risk

News about women's health risks is prevalent in the mass media, and how that news is presented is important for the women who uses it to make decisions about her health. Conferees at a Jacobs Institute symposium reviewed the presentation and discussion of risk factors in scientific articles and the subsequent translation of this information by the media to their consumers. The symposium participants made four major recommendations to improve the reporting of risk: 1) as information sources, the scientific community, institutions, and media organizations should share the responsibility of clearly presenting information on risk factors affecting women's health, 2) institutional public affairs officers, journal public affairs officers, and mass media editors should require that reports on single studies be placed within the context of current scientific knowledge, with limitations prominently described, 3) measures of absolute and relative risk should be interpretable by a general audience, and 4) news makers (the scientific community) and news writers (reporters and editors) should have more training opportunities to achieve a clearer understanding of the constraints on the news media and the limitations of science.     

Suicide reporting in the Swiss print media: Frequency, form and content of articles

All the Swiss newspapers were screened for the target words‘suicide’ and ‘attempted suicide’ andall relevant articles were analysed for form and content overa period of 8 months. In 151 out of 208 articles suiclde/attemptedsuicide was the major topic. Large differences between the newspapersregarding the frequency and format of the articles (e.g. placementon front page) were found. In a few newspapers with a largecirculation suicide is clearly treated as a major topic of newssensation. The majority of articles reported cases of completedsuicide, mainly shooting and hanging by young persons. Attemptedsuicide was only reported for persons with celebrity status.This survey shows that there is reason for concern in view ofthe danger of imitation effects.     

Governing childhood obesity: Framing regulation of fast food advertising in the Australian print media

Childhood obesity is widely constructed as reaching epidemic proportions with consumption of fast food viewed as a contributing factor. This paper analyses media reporting of the regulation of fast food consumption to children. A media search of five Australian newspapers for the period January 2006 to June 2008 elicited 100 articles relating to the regulation of fast food advertising to children. Content and thematic analysis of the articles reveal conflicting perspectives on the role of the state; the level of accountability of the food and advertising industries; and responsibilities of parents for regulating fast food consumption in children. The Federal Government, food and advertising industries and free to air broadcasters favour industry self-regulation and personal responsibility for fast food consumption while the proponents of government regulation include consumer groups, state government health ministers, nutrition and public health academics and medical and health foundations. The regulation of fast food advertising to children is discussed in relation to ideas about governance and the public health strategies which follow from these ideas. The paper argues that all proposed solutions are indicative of a neoliberal approach to the governance of health insofar as the responsibility for regulation of food marketing is viewed as lying with industry and the regulation of lifestyle risk is viewed as an individual responsibility.     

Staking a claim for claims: a case study of resource allocation in Australian Aboriginal health care

There have been numerous ways in which the notion of equity has been put forward in the literature. This reflects the fact that equity is essentially driven by values and is therefore subject to individual interpretation and preferences. Deciding between these various value judgements is however outside the scope of economic analysis, as conventionally defined. This poses a problem for the examination of issues of resource allocation in Aboriginal health services in Australia, where equity, very clearly, has a role to play. One possibility for moving forward on this issue is the adoption of a 'claims' approach where the emphasis is on the explicit recognition of the values to be employed in the 'equitable' allocation of resources. This involves teasing out the principles by which, under various approaches, resources are allocated differentially across groups (e.g. under resource allocation formulae, the criterion of 'need' as measured by SMRs can be viewed to be a basis for a 'claim' over resources). The commonly cited 'basic needs approach' is then used in the paper as a case in point to illustrate how such underlying principles may be identified and then assessed. In relation to the issue of equity in Aboriginal health services, there are a number of possible standards for equity which seem to have a significant degree of community acceptance. The paper discusses ways in which they can be applied to the problem of deciding how to allocate resources in Aboriginal health.     

Gender and heart disease in mass print media: 1991, 1996, 2001

Using a qualitative content analysis, this paper investigates the portrayal of heart disease among men and women in 75 articles of the 20 highest circulating mass print magazines in 1991, 1996 and 2001 available in Canada and published in the United States and Canada. The majority of articles were directed at men. Whether the article focused on men or women, the depiction of heart disease tended to be gendered. For men, heart disease was described as almost inevitable and as a badge of successful manhood. Its experience and treatment were portrayed as mechanical and aggressive, as well as the result of individual lifestyle choices that could be "fixed" by the individual himself. In comparison, women's heart disease was portrayed as something of which to be ashamed, especially since diagnosis conflicts with the role of "caregiver." Women were described as ignorant, emotional victims. Moreover, women's bodies were portrayed as pathological, especially after menopause. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.     

The Australian experiment: how primary health care organizations supported the evolution of a primary health care system

Primary health care in Australia has undergone 2 decades of change. Starting with a vision for a national health strategy with general practice at its core, Australia established local meso-level primary health care organizations--Divisions of General Practice--moving from focus on individual practitioners to a professional collective local voice. The article identifies how these meso-level organizations have helped the Australian primary health care system evolve by supporting the roll-out of initiatives including national practice accreditation, a focus on quality improvement, expansion of multidisciplinary teams into general practice, regional integration, information technology adoption, and improved access to care. Nevertheless, there are still challenges to ensuring equitable access and the supply and distribution of a primary care workforce, addressing the increasing rates of chronic disease and obesity, and overcoming the fragmentation of funding and accountability in the Australian system.     

The influence of media reporting of the suicide of a celebrity on suicide rates: a population-based study

BACKGROUND: The impact of media reporting of suicides of entertainment celebrities may affect suicide rates due to an imitation effect. We investigated the impact on suicides of the media reporting of the suicide of a male television celebrity. METHODS: All suicides during 2003-2005 in Taiwan (n = 10,945) were included in this study. A Poisson time series autoregression analysis was conducted to examine whether there was an increase in suicides during the 4-week period after extensive media reporting of the celebrity suicide. RESULTS: After controlling for seasonal variation, calendar year, temperature, humidity and unemployment rate, there was a marked increase in the number of suicides during the 4-week period after media reporting (relative risk = 1.17, 95% CI 1.04-1.31). The increase was in men (relative risk = 1.30, 95% CI 1.14-1.50) and for the individuals using the same highly lethal method (hanging) as the TV actor did (relative risk = 1.51, 95% CI 1.25-1.83). However, the age groups in which the increase occurred were younger than the age of the celebrity. CONCLUSIONS: The extensive media reporting of the celebrity suicide was followed by an increase in suicides with a strong implication of a modelling effect. The results provide further support for the need for more restrained reporting of suicides as part of suicide prevention strategies to decrease the imitation effect.