Print Media Coverage Research Articles

Print Media Coverage of Climate Change: Comparative Study of Opinion Pages of Pakistan’s Urdu and English Language Press

Print Media Coverage of Climate Change: Comparative Study of Opinion Pages of Pakistan’s Urdu and English Language Press

Применение контент-анализа при изучении освещения процессов распада СССР в американских печатных СМИ (1989–1992 гг.)

The article summarizes the preliminary results of studying contemporary American print media coverage of the USSR collapse. The purpose of the work is to determine the relevance of this topic not only for the American political establishment, but also for the public in general. Moreover, the use of media material is intended to complement the range of topics covered in official sources in connection with the discussion of the United States’ role in the development of political processes in the last years of the USSR’s existence and the consequences of the Soviet Union collapse for Americans. The study employs quantitative content analysis of the corpus of texts compiled on the basis of a continuous sampling by given lexical markers from the most popular US newspapers, as well as from the regional press. As a result, the frequency of distribution of materials along the time axis was revealed, indicating a relatively high, but short-term interest in the historical process in question. In addition, the main macro-topics of these texts were identified indicating the priority issues for the American reader. The most significant discussion aspects and assessments of the events in the USSR covered in the press included, firstly, the need to support the ongoing processes in the Soviet Union, which also reflects the role of the United States in the emerging relations, and secondly, the choice of partners (emerging actors) within the USSR for the further formation of policies. It is ensuring the national security of the US that determines the solution of these issues for the American audience. It is assumed that the study of media coverage can be a valuable addition to the analysis of other types of sources, both of official and personal origin, since it expands the range of views and attitudes presented.

Amplifying organisational discourses to the public: Media narratives of Teach For Australia, 2008–2020

AbstractAlternative teacher education programmes have emerged in many countries as a new approach to recruiting, educating and placing teachers in underperforming schools. The media plays an important role in framing perceptions of these programmes and their teachers, including in Australia, but this has not been the subject of significant research to date. This study examines how one alternative teacher education programme—Teach For Australia (TFAus)—has been positioned and framed within the news media since its inception. It critically analyses the portrayal of TFAus and concomitant educational discourses to explore their connection to larger issues surrounding teacher education and teaching quality. Drawing on an analysis of 122 print/online media articles, we identify narratives related to prestige, benevolence and the ‘alternative’ nature of the programme, alongside a narrative critical of TFAus. Despite this critical narrative, in investigating and opening up a dialogue on the perceptions and depictions of TFAus, we posit that the programme—although controversial in nature—has generally benefited from print media coverage, advancing its reputation as a major contributor to education reform and champion of educational equity.

Gender stereotypes in print and online media coverage of Slovak presidential candidates in 2009 and 2019

AbstractIn Slovakia, women are poorly represented in politics and public life. Yet it is the first country in Central Europe with a female president. By applying a mixed-methods approach to analyzing an original dataset containing media coverage of leading presidential candidates (n = 1492), this study explores how the media covered them and discusses under what conditions gender-stereotypical coverage could be detrimental or beneficial to electoral outcomes. The results show media outlet type was not significantly associated with a gender-stereotypical attribution of communal and agentic traits to candidates. Tabloids and quality press equally perpetuated gender stereotypes. Irrespective of their gender, journalists were more likely to depict women candidates as possessing communal qualities perceived as incompatible with leadership. However, findings from the qualitative analysis suggest that when corruption perception is high, and public trust in institutions is low, communal traits stereotypically attributed to women are appreciated. Novelty also works to women’s advantage. These findings have important implications for women candidates’ campaign strategies.

Print media coverage of breastfeeding in Great Britain: Positive or negative?

Media can be a powerful communication tool to promote breastfeeding, influence mothers' breastfeeding behaviour, create positive social normsand generate support among stakeholders and policymakers for breastfeeding. However, negative stories could deter women from starting or continuing to breastfeed. This study aimed to describe the breadth and focus of the media coverage of breastfeeding and the message frames that are found in three of the most widely read national newspapers and three popular women's magazines in Great Britain over a 12-month period, as part of the Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly in Great Britain (BBF-GB) study. For this retrospective media analysis, 77 articles were identified and 42 were included in the study for coding and analysis. We conducted two content analyses to examine the articles' (1) message framing and (2) alignment with the eight components of an 'enabling breastfeeding environment' using the BBF Gear framework. Articles featuring breastfeeding appear in British newspapers and women's magazines all year round. Twenty-four per centhad a neutral tone, while 59% predominantly focused on the positive aspects or positive social support for breastfeeding, and 17% were predominantly focused on the negative aspects or negative social attitudes towards breastfeeding. The articles mainly focused on personal stories reflecting societal barriers and positive shifts (68%), with 12% presenting an analysis of breastfeeding evidence or barriers. There were fewer references to the legislation (5%) and availability of funding (2%) and support (9%). There was no coverage of national coordination and strategy, evaluation systems, or the political will to raise breastfeeding rates.

Populism and the print media: the case of Japan

AbstractJapan has experienced many of the factors associated with populism, but has not experienced an upsurge of populism in national-level politics. We posit that the dominant frames in the Japanese print media coverage of populism form a crucial and overlooked part of the explanation for the absence of populism. Our qualitative human-coded analysis of quality and tabloid coverage demonstrates that overall, the Japanese newspapers act as gatekeepers and set an agenda that is unfavorable for right-wing populism. The press engage in ‘media populism’ and frame populism – and alternatives to the status quo more generally – as a threat. Moreover, the print media are not hostile to immigrants in ways that populists could leverage.

Seduction, caution, fight: Media framing of research-based expertise in Norwegian print media coverage of low energy buildings (2005-2012).

In a little more than 10 years, Norway went from being a laggard in low energy construction to mandatory Passive House energy consumption levels for all new buildings. This is a remarkable story of expert-led sustainable change, in which considerable resistance had to be overcome. Based on a distant and a close reading of Norwegian print media coverage of low energy buildings between 2005 and 2012, we analyse one aspect of this success story: representations of research-based expert authority. Our empirical study is motivated by a concern for expert authority in conflicts that arise when sustainability policies are implemented. We found three distinct, but complementary groups of representations, cautious dissemination of research findings, open engagement in public controversies, and seductive 'home stories'. In a division of labour, we argue, they were able to assert research-based authority that persisted despite heated public controversies.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTROVERSY OF MALALA AS DAUGHTER OF THE NATION IN PRINT MEDIA

The present study looks at the Pakistan's print media coverage of Malala Yousafzai from 2012 till 2017, when she was attacked, ascended to international renown, got the Nobel Peace Prize and became the co-founder of the Malala Fund. The significance of this research is important because this research endeavors to argue the reality of Pakistani Media’s coverage and campaign of Mala Yousafzei and how they supported or propagated Malala’s image against western assumptions. This study adopts Edward Said’s frameworks of Orientation and Occidentation to analyze the discourse of Pakistani print media. In this regard, this study delimits the articles published in Dawn and Daily Times to argue how the print media strengthened Muslims’ and Pakistani society’s traditional views and flouted stereotypes while portraying Malala as an international campaigner. This study concludes that Malala has been portrayed by the Pakistani Media as a heroine, western agent, victim, simultaneously, and eventually as a ‘daughter of the nation’. Keywords: Critical discourse analysis (CDA), Malala, Orients, Occident, Print media.

CPEC and Counter-Terrorism: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Print Media Coverage Regarding Military Contribution

CPEC and Counter-Terrorism: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Print Media Coverage Regarding Military Contribution

From partner to rival: Changes in media frames of China in German print coverage between 2000 and 2019

Western countries’ relations with China are characterised by a dichotomy of partnership and conflict, of rapprochement and demarcation. To date, research lacks longitudinal studies that examine how these economic and political tendencies become manifest in the image of China conveyed by Western media. Taking Germany as an example, this study aims to shed light on the development of China coverage in print media between 2000 and 2019. Following a triangulating mixed-method approach, the results of computational topic 1 modelling (N = 55,893) are complemented by semi-standardised interviews with China correspondents. A framing analysis shows that China was depicted as a valuable economic partner until a rivalry frame started to become dominant in 2016/17. This shift was accompanied by a significant increase in media interest.

Reporting on Vital Agricultural News in Ireland – a Comparison between Mainstream Print Media and the Farming Press

The purpose of this paper is to compare the reporting of vital agricultural news between the mainstream print media and the farming press in Ireland. To achieve this, this study examined coverage of a recent and significant agricultural news event by mainstream Irish newspapers and the Irish farming press. Taking the 2018–2019 Irish beef sector crisis as the case study for examination, researchers conducted a comparative content analysis of the most widely circulated mainstream national newspapers’ (n = 5) and farming newspapers’ (n = 2) coverage of the story over a 14-month period. We analyzed the timing, frequency, and placing of some 294 articles published to communicate issues regarding the beef crisis at three specific stages—before the national farmer protests, during the farmer protests, and after the farmer protests. We found mainstream newspapers to be significantly slower to start reporting on the Irish beef sector crisis of 2018–2019 compared to the country’s farming newspapers—although national print media coverage of the event increased as the crisis escalated. This early underreporting of the event by mainstream newspapers is compelling considering the importance of the agri-food sector, and beef farming in particular, to Ireland’s economy. Building on existing international, but very limited Irish, research on agricultural journalism, we concluded that farming newspapers are more in touch with the critical issues affecting Irish farmers while mainstream newspapers appeared slower to cover a vital agricultural issue of public importance.

Advancing Representation Theory to Reflect the Police Reform Process in Post-Troubles West Belfast

Policing institutions throughout the world face a legitimacy crisis. This crisis’ immediacy necessitates the exploration of theories that provide answers regarding effective reforms. The representation theory of policing offers one such answer; it holds that accountability mechanisms are an avenue for public input that increases confidence in police and affords them democratic legitimacy. This article applies and evaluates representation theory by examining one such reform attempt: post-Troubles policing restructuring and its impact on relations between police and the militant nationalist community within West Belfast. It assesses print media coverage of accountability reforms throughout the peace negotiation period and the early years of reform implementation and ultimately affirms the association between police legitimacy and accountability; however, it also suggests that this association is more complex than a simple positive correlation. Rather, legitimacy is correlated with public debate regarding accountability that encompasses both positive and negative evaluations of policing. This indicates that the predominance of police accountability as a subject of public discourse may serve as an essential component of efforts to instill policing with democratic legitimacy. The article presents an original model of representation theory that more accurately reflects the dynamics of legitimacy-building efforts in West Belfast and proposes applications of this advancement to the contemporary, global movement advocating for police reform.

Sport, Nationalism, and the Narration of Cultural Scripts: The Death of Colin Meads and the New Zealand Imagination

This paper explores the narrativization of sports icons within the context of nationalist discourse. The authors explore New Zealand media coverage surrounding the death of Colin Meads in August 2017. Meads, a former all Black rugby captain, coach and administrator, media pundit, and corporate spokesman, was a high-profile public icon. His death was met with saturation national media coverage. The authors’ cultural studies informed analysis of Meads’ narrativization is twofold. First, the authors contextualize the cultural scripts surrounding him prior to his death. Second, they critically read media narrativization following his death within the context ofnarratives of nation. They explore this mediation in the context of intersecting themes of rurality, Whiteness, masculinity, and rugby. Print media coverage widely articulated Meads to the nation as the archetypical “kiwi,” liturgized his contribution to rugby during and after his playing career, and his “no-nonsense” character. In doing so, it reinforced a selective national narrative, premised on a combination ofbothremembering and forgetting. This narrative reaffirms White-settler, male heroism, and rugby as central to New Zealand nationhood and assuages contemporary national anxieties and the cultural hierarchies they entangle.

Constructing a Crisis: The Role of Symbolic and Structural Violence in Ireland’s HIV Epidemic

Ireland’s HIV rate has increased substantially since 2014. ‘Common sense’ explanations for these rising rates in the media and elsewhere have attributed the growing problem to ‘lifestyle’ choices, emphasizing increased risk-taking, complacency and a lack of personal responsibility, particularly among young people and gay men. Rather than a lack of individual responsibility however, it is systemic and institutional deficits that have given rise to Ireland’s sexual health crisis. This article briefly explores how processes of symbolic and structural violence have worked in tandem to contribute to this situation. Analysis of these processes starts with an exploration of early media representations of AIDS and how these helped to shape present representations of HIV. Examples are provided of contemporary Irish print media coverage of HIV, showing how this tends to responsibilize those living with HIV for acquiring the virus. By way of a counter argument, the article shows how the capacity of people to take responsibility for their health is diminished by inequalities embedded in the structure of the health system.

Social Media Use and the Spread of COVID-19-Related Fake News Among University Students in Bangladesh

Context: After its emergence in China in 2019, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Bangladesh on March 8, 2020. Since then, this virus has got wide coverage in print and electronic media. Rumours and fake news have also begun to spread across online and offline media. Objectives: This study aimed to discuss how social media is being used to spread fake news during the COVID-19 pandemic and the reasons behind this. In addition, this paper examines the overall use of social media by university students and their role in sharing fake news on social media. Methodology: An online survey was used to collect data from students who had a minimum of one social media account. Facebook groups, messengers and emails were used for data collection and 264 responses were recorded. Findings: This study found that 92.8% of students received COVID-19-related news on social media, 61% experienced fake news in many cases. This is because most users of social media share news without checking its authenticity and reliability, and without checking facts against reliable sources. It was also found that most students were fairly confident in detecting fake news and checked the authenticity of the news before sharing it on social media. Originality/Value: This is the initial effort in Bangladesh to recognise the role of social media in propagating false news during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the sample size of this study was very small. Further studies with larger sample sizes may reveal a more evident understanding of this topic.

Media Framing and Agenda Setting (Tone) in News Coverage of Hurricane Harvey: A Content Analysis of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Houston Chronicle from 2017 to 2018

Abstract Media organizations can quickly disseminate information from official sources to the general population. The media play a vital role before, during, and after a hazard incident or natural disaster by broadcasting early warnings, coordinating emergency management strategies, providing timely updates, and offering advice on protective actions. Therefore, it is important to examine how news media use various framing devices such as story selection, placement, length, and quotations from officials and citizens in their crisis news coverage. We investigate print media coverage of Hurricane Harvey utilizing data from three newspapers: the New York Times (online), the Wall Street Journal (online), and the Houston Chronicle. By examining the use of descriptors, quotes, and wording about Hurricane Harvey, our research explores how media coverage framed and created a tone for the government and private sectors for their roles in response and recovery processes. Findings reveal that the human-interest frame received the most media attention, whereas the morality frame received less attention. For tone, we find that the overall tone for the government response was balanced and less negative. However, the media tone varies among three levels of government: the tone for the federal government was more negative, whereas the tone for the city and state levels of government was slightly positive. For private sectors, we found that the for-profit sector coverage had a strong negative tone, whereas the nonprofit sector received a strong positive tone. By offering a descriptive analysis of framing and tone, our study reveals how print media sources portray actors involved in recovery and rebuilding efforts for Hurricane Harvey.

United Kingdom national media representations of medications used in dementia: a systematic content analysis

Abstract Introduction Newspapers contribute to public understanding and perceptions of health-related issues (1,2). Examination of news media reporting to elucidate how the public conceptualise and understand medicines use in dementia has been limited to date. Aim To investigate communication to the public about medications used in dementia via newspaper articles. Methods A systematic content analysis explored communication in the 10 highest circulated UK newspapers about medications used in dementia, over a 10-year period from 2010 to 2019. LexisNexis UK was searched using terms relating to medications and treatment in dementia (both for dementia and for other co-morbid conditions), and articles relating to medicines use in dementia were identified for inclusion. A standardised coding frame was developed, piloted, and used to code all included articles across three domains: structure (bibliographic details); content (information within each article); and judgement and rating (subjective variable related to information presented, and scored from 0-10). Where an article was linked to a scientific journal article, this was retrieved, and the content cross-checked. A second researcher independently coded a random sample (10%) of articles. Level of intercoder agreement was determined by calculation of Cohen’s kappa value. Results One hundred articles satisfied the inclusion criteria. The newspapers which most frequently contained relevant articles were: the Daily Mail (n = 33) and the Daily Express (n = 30), followed by the Daily Mirror (n = 12), the Guardian (n = 11), the Mail on Sunday (n = 5), the Sunday Express (n = 3), the i (n = 3), the Metro (n = 1), the Daily Star (n = 1) and the People (n = 1). The largest numbers of articles were published in 2011 and 2012 (n=18) and the smallest number in 2019 (n = 4), with no apparent trend observed over the study period. Main article themes were: benefits and effectiveness, risk and harm, lack of diagnosis, and funding and potential future drug developments. Starting therapy early and continuing in later stages of dementia were reported to maintain function and independence and slow decline. Antipsychotics, sedatives and opioid analgesics were considered to worsen symptoms and increase risk of death. Lack of dementia diagnosis resulted in inability to obtain dementia medication when people needed and would benefit from it. Lack of funding was highlighted as a barrier to research. Most articles were written from a clinical perspective (n=82). Half had a negative slant, 46% had a positive slant and 4% were neutral. Almost half were judged to be excellent quality (45%), 35% were considered average and 20% were judged as poor quality. Cohen’s kappa values ranged from 0.63 to 1.00, indicating satisfactory agreement between coders. Conclusion There remains scope for improvement in quality of mass media communication regarding medications used in dementia. Strengths of this study include the systematic approach employed in content analysis, while limitations include exclusion of the Sun, the Times and the Telegraph due to lack of availability of circulation figures, and exclusion of media sources other than newspapers. References (1) Akintola O, Lavis JN, Hoskins, R. Print media coverage of primary healthcare and related research evidence in South Africa. Health Res Policy Syst. 2015;13:68. (2) Stanford FC, Tauqeer Z, Kyle TK. Media and its influence on obesity. Curr Obes Rep. 2018; 7(2):186–92.

Black, White, and Read all Over: Exploring Racial Bias in Print media Coverage of Serial Rape Cases

The discussion of race and crime has been a long-standing interest of researchers, with statistics consistently showing an overrepresentation of non-white offenders compared to their white counterparts – specifically in relation to violent crimes such as murder and rape. Prior research has found that about 46 percent of identified serial rapists are black, which correlates with other sensationalized violent crimes such as mass murder and serial murder (Wright, Vander Ven, & Fesmire; 2016). The news media are the primary sources of this kind of information for the general public, with previous studies acknowledging that the media primarily focus on discussing non-white offenders in their crime-based news stories. With the majority of Americans receiving their information about crime from the news media, it is important to increase our understanding of how they present crime information. The current study explores the print media representations of serial rapists, from 1940–2010, from five prominent newspapers: The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. A content analysis was conducted on 524 articles covering 297 serial rape offenders from the data compiled by Wright and colleagues (2016) in which race of the offender was known. Results suggest that while newspapers dehumanize both white and non-white offenders, white offenders tend to have their behavior neutralized using techniques to garner more sympathy, while these same neutralization techniques are not generally applied to non-white offenders, thus potentially increasing racial and ethnic bias.

Print and online textual news media coverage of UK low-risk drinking guidelines from 2014 to 2017: A review and thematic analysis.

The UK low-risk drinking guidelines were revised in 2016. Drinkers were primarily informed about the guidelines via news media, but little is known about this coverage. This study investigated the scale and content of print and online textual news media coverage of drinking guidelines in England from February 2014 to October 2017. We searched the Nexis database and two leading broadcasters' websites (BBC and Sky) for articles mentioning the guidelines. We randomly selected 500 articles to code for reporting date, accuracy, tone, context and purpose of mentioning the guidelines, and among these, thematically analysed 200 randomly selected articles. Articles mentioned the guidelines regularly. Reporting peaked when the guidelines revision was announced (7.4% of articles). The most common type of mention was within health- or alcohol-related articles and neutral in tone (70.8%). The second most common was in articles discussing the guidelines' strengths and weaknesses, which were typically negative (14.8%). Critics discredited the guidelines' scientific basis by highlighting conflicting evidence and arguing that guideline developers acted politically. They also questioned the ethics of limiting personal autonomy to improve public health. Criticisms were partially facilitated by announcing the guidelines alongside a 'no safe level of drinking' message, and wider discourse misrepresenting the guidelines as rules, and highlighting apparent inconsistencies with standalone scientific papers and international guidelines. News media generally covered drinking guidelines in a neutral and accurate manner, but in-depth coverage was often negative and sought to discredit the guidelines using scientific and ethical arguments.

Can States Continue to Set the Agenda for Tobacco 21? Insights From US News Coverage Between 2012 and 2020.

Existing research on media examining the news content related to Tobacco 21 (T21) predate the adoption of most T21 laws. This study examined the discussion of T21 laws in top-circulating print media sources in the United States between 2012 and 2020. Systematic database searches using Access World News and Factiva identified T21-related news articles appearing in the top daily circulating newspapers in each state between January 2012 and December 2020 (n = 586 articles). Content analyses documented prevalence, types of articles and context related to framing of arguments for or against T21 laws. Newspaper coverage of T21 was highest in 2019 (42.8% of articles). The majority were news or features (75.4%) followed by editorials or opinions (24.6%) which largely supported T21. Most articles focused on state or local T21 action. Coverage of federal T21 increased in 2019. The most common argument supporting T21 included reducing youth tobacco prevalence (64.8%) while the most frequent objection was freedom infringement (25.1%). Tobacco and vape industries began voicing support for T21 in 2019. News coverage of state-level T21 in the United States began to increase in 2015 and peaked in 2019 with enactment of federal T21, a newsworthy event. As states adopt and amend T21 laws to align with federal law, advocates can use media to help shape the narrative and encourage strong T21 policies. This study described the volume and content of T21 print media coverage from 2012 to 2020, including common arguments used to support and oppose T21. Arguments in support of T21 included reducing youth tobacco use, particularly use of e-cigarettes, and related health effects while arguments against T21 focused on individual rights. Support for T21 reached a tipping point in 2019, including the tobacco industry's reversal in opposing such laws. States can and should continue to improve existing T21 laws and policies and increase public awareness about critical policy components such as inspection procedures and penalties.