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

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e023485
Author(s):  
Caroline Louise Miller ◽  
Aimee Lee Brownbill ◽  
Joanne Dono ◽  
Kerry Ettridge
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Plain Packaging ◽  
The Media ◽  
Implementation Delay

ObjectivesIn 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.MethodsThis 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).DesignContent analysis.ResultsCoverage 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.ConclusionsProtracted 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.

scholarly journals Changes in the Estonian Cannabis Debate

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Marianne Paimre
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drug Prevention ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Drug Policies ◽  
The Media ◽  
Liberal Approach

The article analyses the discussion of cannabis regulation in the Estonian media. In the past five years, there has been a noticeable shift in discussion of drug policies in some Western countries and regions (the US, Canada, Latin America, etc.) from a punitive focus towards a more liberal approach. The Global Commission on Drug Policy recommends that countries put an end to civil and criminal penalties for drug use and possession. In this context, the article examines how the Estonian press has reacted to the situation. Which approach to cannabis (continuing to ban it vs. advocating legalisation) prevails in opinion pieces? What are the main arguments both for and against its legalisation? The media could play a prominent role in determining public opinion about illicit drugs and shaping relevant public policies. Hence, the author looks also at how the coverage has changed over time. A content analysis of 57 opinion articles, editorials, comments, interviews, and summaries of public speeches was carried out to study the political debate surrounding cannabis in 2009 and 2015, both years in which it was high on the media agenda. The content analysis was complemented by the method of close reading. The findings indicate that press coverage of cannabis has become more tolerant towards ‘softer’ drug policies. The chorus of ‘voices’ has become more complex, which reflects development of the drug-politics discourse. While the 2009 debate was launched by pro-legalisation lawyers and the discussion involved various professional experts (among them medical doctors, lawyers, and specialists in drug prevention), cannabis more often made headlines in 2015 because of work by civil activists, columnists, writers, etc. A strong dichotomy between traditional law-enforcement discourse and cannabis-legalisation and harm-reduction discourses has emerged. The author expresses the opinion that a shift in the global drug-policy debate alongside softened media coverage may pave the way for changes in the national drug policy. 

From Newspaper to Parliament and Back? A Study of Media Attention as Source for and Result of the Dutch Question Hour

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Van Aelst ◽  
Rosa van Santen ◽  
Lotte Melenhorst ◽  
Luzia Helfer
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Media Influence ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
News Values ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Political Statement ◽  
The Media

AbstractThis study on the role of media attention for the Dutch question hour answers three questions: to what extent is media attention a source of inspiration for oral parliamentary questions? What explains the newsworthiness of these questions? And what explains the extent of media coverage for the questions posed during the question hour? To address this, we present a content analysis of oral parliamentary questions and related press coverage in five recent years. The results show first that oral questions are usually based on media attention for a topic. Concerns about media influence should however be nuanced: it is not necessarily the coverage itself, but also regularly a political statement that is the actual source of a parliamentary question. The media are thus an important “channel” for the interaction between politicians. Second, our analysis shows that oral questions do not receive media attention naturally. Several news values help to explain the amount of news coverage that questions receive. “Surfing the wave” of news attention for a topic in the days previous to the question hour seems to be the best way to generate media attention.

scholarly journals Measles, Mickey and the Media: News Coverage of the 2015 Disneyland Outbreak

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josh Greenberg ◽  
Gabriela Capurro ◽  
Eve Dubé ◽  
S. Michelle Driedger
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Santé Publique ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
The Media ◽  
Professionnels De La Santé ◽  
Central Characters ◽  
Sante Publique

Background  Outbreaks of disease are common fodder for political debate and public discourse. In the past decade alone, health officials have faced a steady stream of serious public health threats, from H1N1 to Ebola and Zika, as well as large outbreaks of measles and other highly contagious illnesses. These incidents command intense media attention and focus public conversation around questions of risk and responsibility.Analysis  This article examines major frames in Canadian news coverage of the Disneyland measles outbreak in 2015 to show how public health events are translated into social problems that magnify moral and political concerns. It discusses how parents who reject or express worries about vaccination were portrayed, and traces which solutions were presented to address the problem of vaccine preventable illness. Conclusion and implications  Media coverage focused heavily on “anti-vaxxers” as central characters in the outbreak story. The coverage conformed largely to an established biomedical narrative, in which medical and health experts set the definitional parameters around the outbreak causes and consequences, and the preventive measures that should be taken to prevent future occurrences.Contexte  Immanquablement, les épidémies sont un sujet répandu dans les débats politiques et les discours publics. Dans la dernière décennie seulement, les professionnels de la santé ont dû gérer maintes menaces de santé publique, du H1N1 jusqu’à l’Ébola et le Zika, ainsi que des poussées importantes de rougeole et autres maladies contagieuses. Ces incidents ont grandement attiré l’attention des médias et soulèvent dans les conversations publiques des questions de risque et de responsabilité. Analyse  Cet article examine les cadres utilisés lors de la couverture médiatique canadienne d’une épidémie de rougeole à Disneyland en 2015 afin de montrer comment une telle couverture peut transformer des défis de santé publique en problèmes sociaux et soulever des questions morales et politiques particulières. L’article discute en outre de la manière dont les médias dépeignent les parents qui expriment leurs inquiétudes face à la vaccination ou qui la rejettent carrément, et examine les solutions proposées pour contrer les maladies évitables par vaccination. Conclusions et implications  Dans l’affaire Disneyland, les médias se sont concentrés sur les opposants à la vaccination. La couverture médiatique s’est largement conformée à une narration biomédicale conventionnelle dans laquelle les experts de la santé ont établi les paramètres définitionnels des causes et conséquences de l’épidémie ainsi que les mesures à prendre pour empêcher de futurs cas.

scholarly journals When attack meets debate. Presence of conflict in the framing of the 2018 and 2021 Mexican federal elections

2022 ◽  
Vol 2022 (0) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Carlos Muñiz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media

During election campaigns the mass media favor political debate, giving relevant issues a particular framing. In this coverage the use of the conflict frame stands out, and although it usually presents politics as an exercise of confrontation and attack, it can also show it as a process of discussion and the exchange of opinions. A content analysis was conducted on television and press news during the 2018 presidential and the 2021 federal legislative elections in Mexico. The findings confirm the existence of two differentiated frames, that of “conflict” and that of “discussion and political agreement”. Furthermore, a connection between the two frames was detected in the media coverage of the campaigns.

scholarly journals A New Age for Media Coverage of Women’s Sport? An Analysis of English Media Coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Sociology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 486-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Petty ◽  
Stacey Pope
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Print Media ◽  
New Age ◽  
Women's Sport ◽  
World Cup ◽  
The Media ◽  
Soccer Team ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Women's Football

This article examines English print media coverage of the England national women’s football (soccer) team during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It draws on a content analysis of five English national newspapers from 24 May to 14 August 2015. A wide body of research has demonstrated that women’s sport continues to be greatly underrepresented in the media but our findings are important as they demonstrate that during this tournament, women’s football received a significant amount of print media coverage and that this coverage was largely positive. We argue that we have entered a new age of media coverage of women’s sport in the UK, with a shift towards greater gender equality.

Media reporting on public procurement: an analysis of UK press coverage, 1985–2018

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Flynn ◽  
Irina Harris
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Media ◽  
International Comparative

Purpose The media is an important actor in public procurement, but research on its role is limited. This paper aims to investigate how the media has engaged with public procurement, using UK newspapers as a case example. Design/methodology/approach The method consisted of searching Nexis database for news articles on public procurement; automatic extraction of article attributes such as length, section, authorship; and manually coding each article for its theme and industry context. This produced quantitative indicators about the extent and focus of press coverage on public procurement. Findings Press coverage of public procurement increased between 1985 and 2018. The focus of coverage has been on governance failure and socio-economic policy. Governance failure, which includes corruption, cronyism and supplier malpractice, is associated with construction, outsourcing and professional services sectors. Socio-economic policy, which includes supporting small suppliers and favouring domestic industry, is associated with manufacturing, defence and agriculture. Research limitations/implications The analysis included UK media only. While the trends observed on the extent and focus of public procurement news coverage likely reflect the situation in other countries, international comparative research is still required. Practical implications Government officials should be more proactive in countering the “negativity bias” in news coverage of public procurement by showcasing projects where value-for-money has been achieved, services have been successfully delivered and social value has been realised. Social implications The media accentuates the negatives of public procurement and omits positive developments. The end-result is a selective and, at times, self-serving media narrative that is likely to engender cynicism towards public procurement. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on media coverage of public procurement. It highlights that while there are similarities between media and academic treatment of public procurement, particularly in relation to its socio-economic side, the media emphasises governance failings and negative developments to a greater extent.

A Tale of Two Events? Media Analysis of the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup

2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Sherry ◽  
Angela Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Sporting Event ◽  
The Media ◽  
Australian City

In 2008, Melbourne became the first Australian city to host the Homeless World Cup (HWC), an annual international sporting event that aims to raise the profile of homelessness and social marginalisation. This article first examines relevant print media articles relating to the HWC by identifying key themes through thematic and content analysis. It then examines the polarised reporting of the HWC by two print media outlets, The Age and the Herald Sun, and argues that each outlet's coverage served to reinforce its own established position on the key political and social issues, in this instance homelessness, asylum seeking and immigration. The divergence in the discourses constructed in each paper provides a demonstrative example of the capacity of the media to use events of all sorts to consolidate their political and commercial positions.

Issue Emergence, Evolution of Controversy, and Implications for Competitive Framing

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Franklin Fowler ◽  
Sarah E. Gollust ◽  
Amanda F. Dempsey ◽  
Paula M. Lantz ◽  
Peter A. Ubel
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Process ◽  
Hpv Vaccine ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Local Newspapers ◽  
The Media ◽  
External Events ◽  
Insight Into

Although scholarship on competitive framing acknowledges that framing is a dynamic process in which the early stages may matter most, very little research has focused on the dynamics of issue emergence. In this article, we draw on several literatures to develop theories for how controversy related to new issues will emerge and expand in news coverage. Through a comprehensive content analysis of 101 local newspapers across the fifty U.S. states, we explore the dynamic and evolving process wherein a new issue—the HPV vaccine—emerged into public discourse and a legislative debate over school requirements for vaccination began. We find that coverage of controversy is a function of proximity, driven primarily by events within a state, although external events also influence local coverage. We also find that the legislative discussion in the media did not necessarily start out as controversial, but as the issue evolved, we observe a large increase in the proliferation of both actors taking positions and the types of arguments made to influence debate. The findings yield important insight into issue emergence with implications for how future research might test competing frames to better understand how the presentation of controversy in the mass media affects public opinion.

scholarly journals CONQUERING MEDIA COVERAGE: The use of battle metaphors in hospital foundation communications and it's impact on news coverage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Hospital Staff ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Multimodal Discourse ◽  
Patient Families ◽  
The Media ◽  
Setting Theory ◽  
The Impact

Battle terminology such as “fight,” “conquer,” and “hero” and imagery that compares doctors and patients to superheroes, soldiers and athletes have become increasingly prevalent in hospital foundation communications. The use of these metaphors has been highly controversial. While some audiences have praised foundation campaigns that use this type of messaging for emphasizing the strength of patients and hospital staff, encouraging patient families, and motivating patients to be resilient, others argue that these campaigns marginalize those who are unable to overcome their health conditions, positioning them as failures or losers. While the use of battle metaphors in hospital communications has been a heated topic in online discussion, little is known about the impact of this language on the media coverage and financial support that they generate for hospitals. This paper presents a multimodal discourse analysis of the communications of six hospital foundations in Toronto, Canada followed by a quantitative and sentiment analysis of the media coverage each foundation has received within the last fiscal year. The aim of this paper is to determine if there is a relationship between the use of battle metaphors in hospital foundation communications and the amount and sentiment of media coverage. According to agenda setting theory, media coverage has a palpable impact on public action. Therefore, the findings of this research may assist hospital foundations in developing useful communications practices they can employ to increase media exposure and, consequently, attract more donations to support their institutions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document