Abstract
BackgroundCycling is important for health, transport, environmental and economic reasons. Newspaper reporting of cycling reflects and can influence public and policy maker attitudes towards resource allocation for cycling and cycling infrastructure, yet such coverage has not been systematically examined.MethodsThe Factiva electronic news archive was searched for articles referring to cycling published in four major metropolitan newspapers - two in Sydney and two in Melbourne, Australia, in the years from 1998 until 2008. After excluding articles not about cycling, there were 61 articles published in 1998, 45 in 1999, 51 in 2003, 82 in 2007 and 87 in 2008. Each article was coded for positive or negative orientation, and for framing of cyclists and cycling. Inter-rater reliability was calculated on a sample of 30 articles.ResultsOver the past decade there has been an increase in the reporting of cycling in the major newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne (from 106 in 1998/99 to 169 stories in 2007/08), with a significant increase in reporting of cycling in Melbourne, from 49 to 103 stories (p = 0.04). Recent reporting of cycling was generally positive (47% of articles, compared with 30% of articles which were negative) and focused on benefits such as health and the environment. Three quarters of negative stories involved injury or death of a cyclist. The Sydney based The Daily Telegraph reported the most negative stories (n = 60). We found positive framing of 'cycling' was more widespread than negative, whereas framing of 'cyclists' was more negative than positive.ConclusionsQuantity of reporting of cycling varies over time and by newspaper, and even between newspapers in different cities owned by the same media company. News coverage appears to reflect developments in the different cities, with increases in positive reporting of cycling in Melbourne following increases in cycling in that city. Negative cycling newspaper stories may deter people from considering cycling as a transport option, but real physical or political improvements to the cycling environment may be necessary before coverage becomes more positive.
Highlights
Cycling is important for health, transport, environmental and economic reasons
Cycling is the fourth most popular recreation in Australia, with bicycles increasingly used as transport across the country [1]
About a million new bicycles are sold in Australia each year, and cycling is a form of regular physical activity that is accessible to people of all ages and confers substantial health benefits [1]
Summary
Cycling is important for health, transport, environmental and economic reasons. About a million new bicycles are sold in Australia each year, and cycling is a form of regular physical activity that is accessible to people of all ages and confers substantial health benefits [1]. The limited research undertaken on the news reporting of cycling has identified both positive and negative framings of cycling that have shifted across time within different societies. In the early 20th century, media reporting of cycling declined as the motor car became more popular even though the actual number of cyclists continued to grow. Because of the importance of cycling, in health, transport, environmental and economic terms, further research about the way that this has been framed in news media in recent years is needed. The prominence and type of news coverage cycling receives is likely to be shaping public understandings of cyclists and cycling and is of importance to the uptake of cycling and to public policy support for cycling
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