Print Media Coverage Research Articles

How Do Australian Print Media Representations of Child Abuse and Neglect Inform the Public and System Reform?: Stories place undue emphasis on social control measures and too little emphasis on social care responses

The print media play a vital role in informing the public about child abuse and neglect. This information helps build broad support for laws and system developments that enable the state to intervene into private family lives and ensure that children are protected from maltreatment. Print media coverage usually sets the daily media agenda. It therefore influences public understandings of child abuse and neglect and what people believe should be done about it. Media impact on policy agendas should not be underestimated. This article outlines the results of a study of all major Australian newspaper stories covering abuse and neglect matters during an 18-month period in 2008–2009. A range of issues are identified concerning how well these stories inform the public about the nature of the problem and the current national reform agenda for protective systems that promotes early intervention and prevention...

Place‐defending and the denial of racism

This paper introduces the concept of place‐defending and articulates its implications for locality‐based social policy. Place‐defending is the protection of one's local area from unfavourable assessments, in this case of being labelled or perceived as a racist space. Place attachment and identifications with place are drivers of place‐defending. Person‐place relationships and their implications for locality‐based social policies have not yet received sufficient consideration in the literature—a significant oversight considering the current policy focus in Australia and the United Kingdom on locality‐based social policy. In this study of local anti‐racism in the Australian context, place‐defending involved the denial of racism and performances of place that reproduced the discourse of tolerance. Print media coverage of the release of national data on racism was analysed alongside a series of interviews with individuals working on anti‐racism at both local and state/federal levels. Four tools of place‐defending are discussed: direct action to defend place; spatial deflections; use of minority group members to discredit claims of racism; and critiques of those who make claims about racism. The tools of place‐defending operated to construct localities as places of tolerance, potentially undermining the case for anti‐racism.

Down with the flow: public debates shaping the risk framing of artificial groundwater recharge

Securing high-quality potable water is a key challenge for all societies. The question is not only about water availability and quality determined by hydrological, chemical, and biological factors, or technologies and monetary assets, but also about various cultural, social, and political factors that together constitute so-called hydro-social cycles. We focus on risk communication and management, in connection with the debates on planning and construction of an artificial groundwater recharge system in the Virttaankangas esker, aiming to provide potable water for the region of Turku, southwest Finland. Based on print media coverage, online debate, and comments on the environmental impact assessment report, we identify key themes and framings of risk debates and discuss which elements of the hydro-social cycle are prone to be highlighted or omitted. Our results show how different framings of risks and benefits are represented with regard to geography, time span, causative agents, impact types, those exposed, alternative management options, and uncertainties involved. Representations created both by traditional print media and new social media polarise the debate. The adoption of the concept of the hydro-social cycle in planning and communication processes may help in understanding and alleviating polarisation.

An analysis of British Newspaper Coverage of the Teenage Swimming Gold Medallists at the London 2012 Olympics

The London 2012 Olympics saw a number of medallists across events who were 16 years old or younger. This article examines the British print media coverage of three of the youngest gold medallist swimmers, namely: Ye Shiwen of China (16), Ruta Meiluyte of Lithuania (15) and Kate Ledecky of the USA (15). The aim of the analysis is to highlight the ways in which dominant discourses around childhood, exceptional ability, ethnicity and gender, are played out in media narratives about young, high-profile sport performers. The paper finds that Ye Shiwen is represented in a markedly different way to the other swimmers in the newspaper stories analysed, and argues that this discrepancy is due to perceived violations of normative Western constructions of childhood in Shiwen's backstory and stereotypical conceptions of Chinese culture.

Content and Framing of Male- and Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence in Print News

This article investigates the content and framing of newspaper articles reporting male- and female-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV). There were 173 newspaper articles coded for IPV severity, typology, and framing. Print news coverage of female-perpetrated IPV was limited; however, when reported, cases of female-perpetrated IPV were more severe, more likely to be described as perpetrated in self-defense, and less likely to be framed in terms of individual factors. For both male and female perpetrators, incidents of IPV were overwhelmingly framed as a private matter, whereas larger societal and cultural factors were rarely discussed. We discuss implications and make recommendations for broadening print media coverage of IPV to include the broader institutional, societal, and cultural causes of IPV rather than focusing primarily on individual factors.

Position statement and guideline on media coverage of suicide.

Byline: K. Pavitra, K. Shubrata One of the chief concerns of human sciences has been to understand how people think, how they construe meaning and make interpretations. Indian dance forms, Bharatanatyam in particular have always been closely linked to both physical and psychic spheres. The functionalists have understood art as an elaborate mechanism for defining social relationships, sustaining social rules, strengthening social values and forwarding doctrines. [sup][1] Dance movements in and of themselves, communicate effectively and cognitively the values, beliefs, attitudes and learned behavior, a community shares. [sup][2] They also contribute to the dynamic and overcharging phenomenon of culture. Thus, psyche-physique, culture and dance forms are all closely linked. Spencer [sup][3] reviews the recurrent themes emerging from writings on the subject. The first theme treats dance as a safety valve that releases pent-up emotions, tensions and drives. The second theme deals with the educational role of dance and transmission of sentiments. Dance may be seen as a cast or mold which shapes children into culturally conforming adults. Dance among Samoan children separates the adept from the in adept, preparing them respectively for success or failure in adulthood. It initiates grace, proficiency and confidence in skilled and keen children while the clumsy and incapable are rebuked and discouraged. [sup][4] The third theme views dance as transmitting and maintaining culturally desirable sentiments that underlie orderly social existence of society and promote solidarity. The fourth theme bespeaks of dance as a cumulative process in which collective passion rises as dancers lose themselves in the dance becoming absorbed in the unified community and being transported to a state of elation. The fifth theme emphasizes the element of competition in dance demonstrated in the work of Rappaport. [sup][5] The sixth theme tells of dance as a ritual drama lifting the people out of their structural routine into the realm of spiritual beings. The seventh theme regards dancing as a shared activity with non-verbal mode of communication and invites exploration of patterns of dance movements to discern concealed meaning. Emotions are construed as cultural acquisitions which are determined by the circumstances and concepts of a particular culture as well as, or rather much more than, by the functions of biology, more specifically neurology. [sup][6] The major postulates of a general theory of emotions, [sup][7] are (1) the concept of emotion is applicable to all evolutionary levels and applies to animals as well as to humans. (2) With an evolutionary history behind them, emotions have evoked forms of expression in different species. (3) Emotions are adaptive in helping organisms deal with key issues posed by the environment. (4) Despite different forms of expression of emotions in diverse species, there are certain identifiable common elements or prototype patterns. (5) There are a small number of basic, primary or prototype emotions. (6) All other emotions are mixed/derivative states i.e., they occur as combinations, mixtures or compounds of the primary emotions. (7) Primary emotions are hypothetical constructs or idealized states the properties and characteristics of which can be inferred. (8) Primary emotions can be computerized in terms of polar opposites. (9) All emotions vary in their degree of similarity to one another. (10) Each emotion can exist in varying degrees of intensity or levels of arousal. Emotions are being increasingly recognized as central to cultural meaning system, relationships and communication. Since children must be motivated to act in concordance with cultural values, it is important to incorporate, (1) meanings of the particular emotion words and the place of emotions in the structure and functioning of the self. (2) Developmental theories regarding the origin and the emergence of abilities in the child to feel and behave in an emotional manner of an adult, (3) beliefs about the relationship between emotions and personality types, in works of ethno psychology. …

"Since When Did We Have 100,000 Tamils?" Media Representations of Race Thinking, Spatiality,and the 2009 Tamil Diaspora Protests

Abstract. Beginning in mid-2008, the Tamil diaspora around the world organized in extraordinary activism against the escalating violence in northern Sri Lanka. Responses to the 2009 Tamil diaspora protests in Canada provide a unique case study to examine a contemporary moment of resistance, when race thinking and spatiality intersected within and beyond national borders. Using critical theories of representation, I conceptualize Canadian print media coverage of the protests as representations of a “strange encounter” with the other. I explore the media’s production of the other and its conflation of the Tamil protester-terrorist through constructions of space. I also examine how scale operates through underlying national values to conceptualize a precarious structure of belonging. Through these discursive moves, I demonstrate how the resulting figure of the “other,” the “outlaw,” and the “outsider” came to represent and delegitimize the racialized/ spatialized Tamil protest(er).

A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the New Zealand media portrayal of Down syndrome

BackgroundThere are only a small number of studies that systematically explore the tensions between the global shift to universal screening and the media representations of the people with Down syndrome. This paper contributes to the literature by analyzing the New Zealand media coverage of this topic. ObjectiveTo describe the content and quality of selected New Zealand media references to Down syndrome in light of the claim by New Zealand support group Saving Downs of state supported eugenics via universal screening. MethodsQuantitative content analysis was conducted of 140 relevant New Zealand articles (from 2001 to 2011) and qualitative critical discourse analysis of 18 relevant articles (from 2009 to 2011) selected from television, magazine and newspaper. ResultsThe content analysis showed no strong directional reporting although the quality of life for people with Down syndrome was represented as slightly negative. Most articles focused on issues of society, government and care rather than genetics. The qualitative analysis identified themes around quality of life, information and bias, preparedness, eugenics, the visualness of disability and the need for public debate around genetic screening and testing. ConclusionThe New Zealand print media coverage of these issues has been relatively balanced. Recent mixed media coverage of the topic is critical, complex and socially inclusive of people with Down syndrome.

Media’s role in broadcasting acute stress following the Boston Marathon bombings

We compared the impact of media vs. direct exposure on acute stress response to collective trauma. We conducted an Internet-based survey following the Boston Marathon bombings between April 29 and May 13, 2013, with representative samples of residents from Boston (n = 846), New York City (n = 941), and the remainder of the United States (n = 2,888). Acute stress symptom scores were comparable in Boston and New York [regression coefficient (b) = 0.43; SE = 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI), -2.36, 3.23], but lower nationwide when compared with Boston (b = -2.21; SE = 1.07; 95% CI, -4.31, -0.12). Adjusting for prebombing mental health (collected prospectively), demographics, and prior collective stress exposure, six or more daily hours of bombing-related media exposure in the week after the bombings was associated with higher acute stress than direct exposure to the bombings (continuous acute stress symptom total: media exposure b = 15.61 vs. direct exposure b = 5.69). Controlling for prospectively collected prebombing television-watching habits did not change the findings. In adjusted models, direct exposure to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Sandy Hook School shootings were both significantly associated with bombing-related acute stress; Superstorm Sandy exposure wasn't. Prior exposure to similar and/or violent events may render some individuals vulnerable to the negative effects of collective traumas. Repeatedly engaging with trauma-related media content for several hours daily shortly after collective trauma may prolong acute stress experiences and promote substantial stress-related symptomatology. Mass media may become a conduit that spreads negative consequences of community trauma beyond directly affected communities.

Prescribing Practices Amid the OxyContin Crisis: Examining the Effect of Print Media Coverage on Opioid Prescribing Among Physicians

The pain medication OxyContin (hereafter referred to as oxycodone extended release) has been the subject of sustained, and largely negative, media attention in recent years. We sought to determine whether media coverage of oxycodone extended release in North American newspapers has led to changes in prescribing of the drug in Nova Scotia, Canada. An interrupted time-series design examined the effect of media attention on physicians' monthly prescribing of opioids. The outcome measures were, for each physician, the monthly proportions of all opioids prescribed and the proportion of strong opioids prescribed that were for oxycodone extended release. The exposure of interest was media attention defined as the number of articles published each month in 27 North American newspapers. Variations in media effects by provider characteristics (specialty, prescribing volume, and region) were assessed. Within-provider changes in the prescribing of oxycodone extended release in Nova Scotia were observed, and they followed changes in media coverage. Oxycodone extended release prescribing rose steadily prior to receiving media attention. Following peak media attention in the United States, the prescribing of oxycodone extended release slowed. Likewise, following peak coverage in Canadian newspapers, the prescribing of oxycodone extended release declined. These patterns were observed across prescriber specialties and by prescriber volume, though the magnitude of change in prescribing varied. PerspectiveThis study demonstrates that print media reporting of oxycodone extended release in North American newspapers, and its continued portrayal as a social problem, coincided with reductions in the prescribing of oxycodone extended release by physicians in Nova Scotia.

The role of media and the Internet on vaccine adverse event reporting: a case study of human papillomavirus vaccination.

This study aimed to determine the temporal association of print media coverage and Internet search activity with adverse events reports associated with the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil (HPV4) and the meningitis vaccine Menactra (MNQ) among United States adolescents. We used moderated linear regression to test the relationships between print media reports in top circulating newspapers, Internet search activity, and reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for HPV4 and MNQ during the first 2.5 years after Food and Drug Administration approval. Compared with MNQ, HPV4 had more coverage in the print media and Internet search activity, which corresponded with the frequency of VAERS reports. In February 2007, we observed a spike in print media for HPV4. Although media coverage waned, Internet search activity remained stable and predicted the rise in HPV4-associated VAERS reports. We demonstrate that media coverage and Internet search activity, in particular, may promote increased adverse event reporting. Public health officials who have long recognized the importance of proactive engagement with news media must now consider strategies for meaningful participation in Internet discussions.

Language conflict and change in language visibility in South Africa's Free State Province number plate case

Using print media coverage of language discontent between 1994 and 2002 regarding three number plate changes, which were applied in the North West, Northern Cape and Free State Provinces of South Africa, this article will analyse the dynamics of language conflict. This will be done against the background of theoretical considerations pertaining to the use of language legitimisation and delegitimisation as instruments for changing language regimes. Particular attention is given to the Free State case, as language discontent in that province received sustained coverage for more than five years. An in-depth analysis reveals how the focus of the discourse in this case shifted from language representativity to administrative functionality, and the steps taken by the decision-maker to reach this position. The analysis also sheds light on the role of language activist behaviour in turning language discontent into full-blown language conflict in the Free State case.

AUTISM TREATMENTS IN PRINT: MEDIA'S COVERAGE OF SCIENTIFICALLY SUPPORTED AND ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS

Professionals, celebrities, and media frequently suggest to parents the possible treatment options for their children with autism. Some treatment recommendations advocate for scientifically supported treatments whereas others suggest novel, untested interventions, or potentially ineffective or harmful treatments. The current study examined the print media's coverage of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and non‐scientifically supported autism treatments. Over the last 10 years, print media have increasingly published articles referring to autism treatments with little scientific support and a decreased coverage of ABA. Print media's positive statements about non‐scientifically supported treatments also increased over the last decade, whereas positive statements about ABA decreased. ABA received two times as many positive comments as negative; however, non‐scientifically supported treatments as a group received four times as many positive comments as negative. These results could contribute to parents' decisions to implement treatments for their children with autism. To contribute to future positive perception of ABA, we provided suggestions for the dissemination of information to increase positive reporting of ABA in print media. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Michael Vick’s Pit Bulls & Dogfighting: Ramifications of Media Coverage

According to The Humane Society of the United States from 2006 to 2008 there were more than 3,000 pit bulls removed from dogfighting rings. The majority of surviving dogs were euthanized upon confiscation by authorities. The purpose of this research was to examine the possible impact of Michael Vick’s dogfighting case on print media coverage of pit bull-type dogs. The research questions were whether the extensive coverage of his dogfighting charges would change how media portray these dogs, and whether the issue of dogfighting would become a more widely-covered topic. The research process included a literature review of scholarly works written about pit bulls, and a qualitative analysis of articles from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today published one year before and after the Vick case broke, using “pit bull” as the key phrase. Articles were divided into different categories depending on the contextual use of the term “pit bull.” Findings were based on the analysis of those categories. The results indicated positive portrayals of pit bulls and discussions of dogfighting were primarily isolated to the coverage of Vick’s case and dogs. The more than 200 other recorded raids on dogfighting rings that same year went unmentioned, but six stories about aggressive pit bull-type dogs were covered. This indicates media coverage of pit bulls did not change. Media can learn there is more to cover than limiting the focus on celebrity dogfighters and the cliché of pit bulls as vicious. These changes in coverage could lead to an overall positive change in the public’s perception of pit bull-type dogs.

Caffeine: Public Concern and the Precautionary Principle

Caffeine: Public Concern and the Precautionary Principle

Here today, gone tomorrow: The issue attention cycle and national print media coverage of prescription drug financing in Canada

Canada is the only developed country that has established universal coverage for hospital care and physician services that excludes medically necessary prescription drugs. Lack of public interest in expanding universal coverage to prescription medicines may be one critical factor in explaining this policy puzzle. Historical levels and patterns of attention to financing issues in the media may have implications for public awareness and support for such major health reform. We thus examined the quantity, context, and patterns of coverage of public drug financing in national print media in Canada from 1990 to 2010. We conducted a time series analysis of monthly newspaper article counts to quantify trends in coverage and analyzed article content by applying Down's theory of the “issue-attention cycle” of political attention. We found that baseline coverage of this issue was low throughout the past twenty years with few cycles of increased attention, initiated by focusing events related to general health reform. Issue-attention cycles were driven by coverage of proposed policy solutions simultaneously accompanied by lower levels of coverage of policy problems and barriers to change, before fading rapidly from attention. The observed patterns of media coverage and the intrinsic characteristics of this policy issue suggest that any momentum for reform (or lack thereof) is likely to be driven by elite members of the policy community rather than by way of public engagement. This has implications for the probability of reform and which options may be considered or eventually implemented, as policies developed within elite policy communities may tend to reflect niche interests rather than being reflective of principled policy goals.

Tourism Images and British Media Representations of South Africa

The South African government expected 500,000 international visitors for the 2010 FIFA football world cup. These numbers were significantly reduced, with reports indicating that the global recession, overpricing of tickets and hospitality packages, and increased costs within South Africa's tourist industry were contributory factors. The destination image of South Africa as presented within the British media was also identified by FIFA and the Local Organising Committee as deterring potential visitors, with newspaper hype surrounding fear and uncertainty over safety and security in South Africa noted as a key deterrent for many potential travellers. Discourse analysis of print media coverage of South Africa in four British newspapers—The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Star—between January and July 2010 demonstrates how Afro-essentialist, Afro-pessimist and neocolonial representations of the host country and continent promoted images of fear, insecurity and moral panic. These representations employed particular media frames to (re)produce a negative destination image and constituted a crisis of representation more than a representation of crisis.

Creating a Monster

The United States Democratic primary campaign of 2007–8 witnessed widespread misogynistic and anti-feminist portrayals of Senator Hillary Clinton across all types of media. In particular, Clinton was regularly depicted as monstrous and/or cyborgian, collapsing the boundaries between male and female, human and animal, and organism and machine. Such portrayals indicate a gender crisis in contemporary American culture which intensifies when women attempt to enter positions of power in the public arena. Research has shown that television, radio and print media coverage of American political candidates has consistently relied on gender stereotypes that undermine the campaigns of women politicians. However, portrayals of female candidates in online media remain largely unexplored. This paper discusses the implications of online media for women's political campaigns and for the democratic process itself. Through an analysis of digital imagery, I argue that simulations of Clinton circulating on the Internet during the primaries sought to produce a political reality in which Clinton's bid for the White House could be rendered improper and unnatural. In so doing, I suggest the continuing potential of online media to produce detrimental representations of female politicians.

Analysis of Print Media Coverage of Violence Against Women: A Case of the Newspapers of Hurriyet, Sabah, and Posta (2005-2008)

Analysis of Print Media Coverage of Violence Against Women: A Case of the Newspapers of Hurriyet, Sabah, and Posta (2005-2008)

From Parachutes to Partnerships: An “Integrated” Natural History Museum Expedition in the Philippines

AbstractThe 2011 Hearst Philippine Biodiversity Expedition was the largest ever launched by the California Academy of Sciences, and was also the largest and most diverse expedition to ever take place in the Philippines. Filipino collaboration and participation were vitally important from the outset. Scientists of both nations documented biodiversity in a variety of habitats and across multiple biological disciplines, identifying more than 500 species new to science. The expedition also modeled a new way of embedding substantial educational outreach and media coverage, and promoting conservation actions. More than 900 people attended educational events in the Philippines. Extensive television, radio, online, and print media coverage occurred both in the Philippines and in the U.S. during the expedition and after. A conference at the end shared preliminary results among scientists, educators, policy makers, and media, before the Academy team even left the country.