Themes In Coverage Research Articles

“A heart-wrenching thing”: Analyzing newspaper narratives of pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Current research shows that news stories on COVID-19 influence Americans’ opinions on most aspects of the pandemic. This study aims to better understand newspaper narratives of pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative textual analysis of newspaper articles in the New York Times uncovered common themes in coverage. Relevant themes are reexamining women’s reproductive rights, highlighting inequalities in the U.S. health care system and uncertainty/fear among pregnant women and women’s health professionals. Theoretical contributions are discussed.

Framing the Danger of Designer Drugs

Media reporting of drug issues has important ramifications for public opinion of drugs and drug trends. This study was conducted to examine the media coverage of a specific new subcategory of drugs, so-called “designer drugs,” using coverage of a highly publicized attack in Miami as a case study. Broadcast news transcripts were analyzed to both identify themes in coverage of this attack and contextualize this reporting in the clinical literature on bath salts, the drug implicated in the attack. Textual analysis of broadcast coverage produced four major emergent themes: (1) vivid and sensational descriptions of the attack and of the effects of the drug, (2) discussion of bath salts use as an “epidemic,” (3) appeals to tighten legislation related to bath salts, and (4) silence on issues related to mental health. In addition, media reporting of this attack did not take into account potentially salient sources of information such as clinical research on rates of use and commonly reported behavioral effects of the drug to place bath salts use in context of this literature. Together, these findings suggest that media coverage of the Miami Zombie Attack framed a novel drug in incomplete and problematic terms. These framing choices dramatically underrepresented the role of mental health in the attack and led to inadequately informed health legislation.

How the New York Times Portrayed the 2010 Brazil-Turkey-Iran Nuclear Deal: A Critical Discourse Analysis

This paper examines the New York Times' reaction to the 2010 Brazil-Turkey-Iran (BTI) nuclear deal, the very last diplomatic effort before the imposition of international sanctions track over the following years. The New York Times' (NYT) coverage of the deal is examined using the Critical Discourse Analytic (CDA) approach formulated by Teun van Dijk. The results show a strong bias against the BTI deal throughout the NYT's news coverage. The overarching theme in cover-age of the deal is the imputation of malignant intentions on the part of both Iran ("to kill time to further its nuclear weapons program") and Brazil and Turkey ("to advance their own business dealings with Iran and gaining international recognition"). Also, non-relevant information is used to imply a threat of Iranian development of nuclear weapons. Moreover, the NYT leaves almost totally "unsaid" that president Obama had asked Brazilian and Turkish leaders to go to Tehran and get this deal. Therefore, the NYT basically echoed, and legitimized, discursive practices of the U.S. government on the deal.

Constructing gender differences: newspaper portrayals of male and female gymnasts at the 2012 Olympic Games

Scholars have long kept a close watch on the Olympic Games in terms of gender equality. Olympic media coverage has been a popular topic of inquiry, as media portrayals can have powerful impacts on society. While much research exists on the portrayals of male and female athletes, few studies have examined coverage of both genders in a sport deemed female appropriate. Based on framing theory, this study sought to qualitatively examine portrayals of male and female gymnasts in US newspapers during the 2012 Olympic Games to determine what differences existed between the media frames of each gender and whether traditional gender stereotypes were depicted. The findings illustrated three common themes in coverage of both males and females, but the frames used to convey these themes were markedly different based on gender. The implications of this research and ideas for future scholarly inquiry are included in the discussion and conclusion.

The Columbine Victims and the Myth of the Juvenile Superpredator

This study examines the news media coverage of the 1999 Columbine school shootings, as a component of a noted crime myth of the juvenile superpredator. Thematic content analysis was conducted on 683 articles selected from print and broadcast media, revealing four themes of coverage, including the identification and description of the victims, details of victims' deaths, coverage of memorial services, and other special social issues such as race, religion, and gun control. Chronological analysis of article distribution revealed four spikes in volume of coverage, which is associated with media reframing of the victims coverage to maintain the salience of the story. The Columbine victim coverage reaffirms the crime myth of the juvenile superpredator and reifies the punitive juvenile justice solutions suggested in alarmist responses to erroneous fears about growing rates and severity of youth violence. The impact of the superpredator myth on public discourse about Columbine and similar cases is explored.

The media and the 2003 Welsh Assembly election

This article explores the media coverage of the 2003 Welsh Assembly Elections, based on analysis conducted by the Wales Media Forum for the Electoral Commission. It points out that while television was the key source of election news, large numbers of people appeared to access little or no campaign news. This is traced to the structural weakness of the media in Wales, but also because the media treated the election as a ‘second‐order’ election which was given little prominence (although total coverage was quite extensive). The key theme of coverage was the issue of ‘voter apathy’, and this article offers several criticisms of this focus. It ends by outlining the need for political reporting that will reach beyond the ‘political junkies’ to engage with the largely disengaged ‘big brother’ generation.

The Environment as Theme and Package on a Local Television Newscast

This study investigated 601 stories in a segment called Earth KARE on a local TV newscast to determine how such a theme of coverage presented the environment. Despite previous findings of the prominence of science in media coverage of the environment, Earth KARE presented the environment as a government story, both in terms of news sources (40 percent) and arena of action (54 percent). The majority of station resources—use of reporters, video, and chitchat—also was allocated to government stories. The constraints faced by news directors in efficiently producing a daily thematic segment with good audience draw may create a reliance on (and deference to) the planned, reliable information provided by government and secondarily by business.

The Miners and the Media: Themes of Newspaper Reporting

Most of us, though not directly involved, feel we know something about the causes and events of the coal dispute. But where did we get this knowledge from? Jock Young suggests that because of segregation between social groups, information is increasingly likely to be received second-hand, rather than directly through face-to-face contact, and that this leads to gross misperception of 'deviants'.1 In the context of the coal dispute Alastair Hetherington, while confirming the importance of the media as a prime source of information for most of the public, added that the effect of this information would be determined by the individual's point of view.2 In other words, individuals, depending on their own preferences and views, are in a position to accept or reject the media message. The role of the media in the coal dispute, however, was not simply one of information given, it acted as selector, narrator and interpreter of information. As such it may not just have confirmed views but may actually have created these views. In such a short article it is impossible to report on the results of a full content analysis of coverage of the dispute. The piece will concentrate therefore on themes of coverage and examine areas of media distortion. Distorted coverage of industrial disputes is not untypical. The Glasgow Media Group, in its analysis of news coverage of trade union issues, commented on the dramatic reporting of those disputes which could have a direct effect on the population, for example, mining or power industry disputes. They found that little space was given in the press to the causes of.strikes and that in general the media adopted a hostile attitude towards unions and towards disputes. The media tended to assume that unions were strike-prone and conducted their interviews with the belief that strikes were wrong. They concluded that the media work within an ideological frame of consensus and that: