Vanderbilt Television News Archive Research Articles

Responsible AI at the Vanderbilt Television News Archive: A Case Study

We provide an overview of the use of machine-learning and artificial intelligence at the Vanderbilt Television News Archive (VTNA). After surveying our major initiatives to date, which include the full transcription of the collection using a custom language model deployed on Amazon Web Services (AWS), we address some ethical considerations we encountered, including the possibility of staff downsizing and misidentification of individuals in news recordings.

Coverage of the opioid crisis in national network television news from 2000–2020: A content analysis

Background: News coverage has both negatively and positively influenced public awareness and perceptions surrounding the opioid crisis. This study aimed to describe and analyze national network television news framing of the scope and impact of the opioid crisis in the United States. Methods: We performed a retrospective content analysis on national network television evening news segments covering the opioid crisis from 1/2000 to 8/2020, which were obtained from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. The database was queried for: opioid epidemic, oxycontin, heroin, fentanyl, and naloxone. Two independent reviewers quantitatively coded segment characteristics, including theme, geographic location, opioids mentioned, strategies for combatting the epidemic discussed, interviews conducted, and patient demographics. Changes in segment characteristics over time were analyzed using chi-square analyses and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: News segments (N = 191) most commonly provided an overview of the epidemic (55.5%) and/or conveyed personal stories (40.3%). Prescription opioids (59.7%) and heroin (62.8%) were more often referenced than fentanyl (17.8%); the focus on heroin peaked in 2011–2015 (84.8%), while references to fentanyl significantly increased over time (p = 0.021). The most frequently interviewed people included patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) (47.1%), healthcare providers (36.7%), family members/friends (31.9%), and law enforcement (30.9%). Most of the featured patients with OUD were male (63.0%), white (88.4%), and young (< 40 years) adults (77.9%). Coverage of the crisis peaked in 2016. Conclusions: Evening news segments’ emphasis on personal stories, while emotionally compelling, came at the cost of thematically-framed coverage that may improve public understanding of the complexities of the epidemic. The depiction of primarily white, young adult patients with OUD revealed a need for a greater emphasis in the news on underrepresented minorities and older adults, as these populations face additional stigma and disparities in OUD treatment initiation and retention.

Lymphangitis associated with herpetic whitlow

The objective was to describe and analyze national network television news framing of contraception, recognizing that onscreen news can influence the public's knowledge and beliefs.We used the Vanderbilt Television News Archives and LexisNexis Database to obtain video and print transcripts of all relevant national network television news segments covering contraception from January 2010 to June 2014. We conducted a content analysis of 116 TV news segments covering contraception during the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Segments were quantitatively coded for contraceptive methods covered, story sources used, and inclusion of medical and nonmedical content (intercoder reliability using Krippendorf's alpha ranged 0.6–1 for coded categories).Most (55%) news stories focused on contraception in general rather than specific methods. The most effective contraceptive methods were rarely discussed (implant, 1%; intrauterine device, 4%). The most frequently used sources were political figures (40%), advocates (25%), the general public (25%) and Catholic Church leaders (16%); medical professionals (11%) and health researchers (4%) appeared in a minority of stories. A minority of stories (31%) featured medical content.National network news coverage of contraception frequently focuses on contraception in political and social terms and uses nonmedical figures such as politicians and church leaders as sources. This focus deemphasizes the public health aspect of contraception, leading medical professionals and health content to be rarely featured.Media coverage of contraception may influence patients' views about contraception. Understanding the content, sources and medical accuracy of current media portrayals of contraception may enable health care professionals to dispel popular misperceptions.

Preservation and archiving of digital media

This paper provides a brief history of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive that was established in 1968 with the goal of recording and preserving national news programming on the three major networks at the time (ABC, NBC, and CBS). The archive has faced several challenges as it evolved (it now covers representative news from the Fox and CNN cable networks) - most notably financial and legal issues – who really “owns” the news? Even today archiving digital news remains financially and legally challenged as the number of news networks increase and privacy laws emerge, resulting in the creation of “piracy archives”. The author also touches on the many ongoing issues that need to be addressed; e.g. the number of copies to be created, the importance of metadata, the technical requirements, what qualifies for preservation, and the ever-present issue of sustainability.

National network television news coverage of contraception — a content analysis

ObjectiveThe objective was to describe and analyze national network television news framing of contraception, recognizing that onscreen news can influence the public's knowledge and beliefs. Study designWe used the Vanderbilt Television News Archives and LexisNexis Database to obtain video and print transcripts of all relevant national network television news segments covering contraception from January 2010 to June 2014. We conducted a content analysis of 116 TV news segments covering contraception during the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Segments were quantitatively coded for contraceptive methods covered, story sources used, and inclusion of medical and nonmedical content (intercoder reliability using Krippendorf's alpha ranged 0.6–1 for coded categories). ResultsMost (55%) news stories focused on contraception in general rather than specific methods. The most effective contraceptive methods were rarely discussed (implant, 1%; intrauterine device, 4%). The most frequently used sources were political figures (40%), advocates (25%), the general public (25%) and Catholic Church leaders (16%); medical professionals (11%) and health researchers (4%) appeared in a minority of stories. A minority of stories (31%) featured medical content. ConclusionsNational network news coverage of contraception frequently focuses on contraception in political and social terms and uses nonmedical figures such as politicians and church leaders as sources. This focus deemphasizes the public health aspect of contraception, leading medical professionals and health content to be rarely featured. ImplicationsMedia coverage of contraception may influence patients' views about contraception. Understanding the content, sources and medical accuracy of current media portrayals of contraception may enable health care professionals to dispel popular misperceptions.

Content Analysis of False and Misleading Claims in Television Advertising for Prescription and Nonprescription Drugs

False and misleading advertising for drugs can harm consumers and the healthcare system, and previous research has demonstrated that physician-targeted drug advertisements may be misleading. However, there is a dearth of research comparing consumer-targeted drug advertising to evidence to evaluate whether misleading or false information is being presented in these ads. To compare claims in consumer-targeted television drug advertising to evidence, in order to evaluate the frequency of false or misleading television drug advertising targeted to consumers. A content analysis of a cross-section of television advertisements for prescription and nonprescription drugs aired from 2008 through 2010. We analyzed commercial segments containing prescription and nonprescription drug advertisements randomly selected from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, a census of national news broadcasts. For each advertisement, the most-emphasized claim in each ad was identified based on claim iteration, mode of communication, duration and placement. This claim was then compared to evidence by trained coders, and categorized as being objectively true, potentially misleading, or false. Potentially misleading claims omitted important information, exaggerated information, made lifestyle associations, or expressed opinions. False claims were factually false or unsubstantiated. Of the most emphasized claims in prescription (n = 84) and nonprescription (n = 84) drug advertisements, 33% were objectively true, 57% were potentially misleading and 10% were false. In prescription drug ads, there were more objectively true claims (43%) and fewer false claims (2%) than in nonprescription drug ads (23% objectively true, 7% false). There were similar numbers of potentially misleading claims in prescription (55%) and nonprescription (61%) drug ads. Potentially misleading claims are prevalent throughout consumer-targeted prescription and nonprescription drug advertising on television. These results are in conflict with proponents who argue the social value of drug advertising is found in informing consumers about drugs.

The Gang Problem

A common perspective on variations in the gang problem over time emphasizes fabricated or exaggerated “panics” that serve the interests of law enforcement and the media. The evidence for these constructionist arguments has been largely anecdotal and discursive and based on specific locals. This article examines FBI Supplemental Homicide data on youth gang killings and National Youth Gang Survey data on estimated gang members in relation to LexisNexis and Vanderbilt Television News Archive data on media coverage of gangs. Overall, the results support a realist view that surges or trends in the gang problem were actual patterns based on real events rather than media or law enforcement fabrications.

Drug advertising, response shift in patients with hypertension, and medication error interception

concluded that dif- ferences in the Food and Drug Administra- tion (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulation of advertising affected the balance of risk and benefit informa- tion that appeared and the specificity of risk information available. Adequacy of information about a pharmaceutical prod- uct after switching from legend to over- the-counter (OTC) status is an important public health issue. Information abstract- ed from pre-and postswitch advertise- ments for loratadine (Claritin—Schering- Plough), cetirizine (Zyrtec—McNeil-PPC), and omeprazole (Prilosec—Procter & Gamble) was evaluated. Information was abstracted from 2,002 ads obtained from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. Ads for the legend product were sig- nificantly longer than those for the OTC products. Compared with OTC advertise- ments, prescription ads had fewer asser- tions about the product's benefit and more about its risks, possibly because of their longer length. When equal length ads were examined, prescription ads had an equal number of assertions about the products' benefits and risks (1.5 vs. 1.8, P > 0.05) but OTC ads had significantly more as- sertions about benefits versus risk (6.6 vs. 1.2, P < 0.001). Moreover, toll-free numbers and Internet URLs were found more frequently in prescription (97% and 100%, respectively) than OTC (4% and 10%) ads. Implications. For instances in which the product must be prescribed by a health professional, the benefit-to-risk assertion ratio in ads was equal. In the case of OTC ads, where patients are left to their own devices to correctly interpret the mes- sage, the benefit-to-risk assertion ratio is heavily unbalanced toward the benefits. Pharmacists are among the most acces- sible and trusted of professionals. When it comes to self-care decisions based on pro- motional information for these products, pharmacists' counsel may be essential to offset an unbalanced presentation of ben- efit-to-risk information. Response shift in patients with hypertension Gandhi et al. 2 found that some hyperten- sive patients with CAD (coronary artery disease) experienced a response shift over a 1-year period in their physical functioning (n = 909). Recalibration re- sponse shift is based on changes in one's internal standards and not necessarily objective evidence. In the case of physi- cal functioning, the individual's standard of performance for important life tasks may be lowered for health reasons. Self- reported physical functioning was mea- sured using mailed surveys containing items from SF-36 at both baseline and 1 year later. Response shift was assessed using structural equation modeling sta- tistical techniques. Some patients recali- brated perceptions of their health, most likely because they changed their idea of how their health limited their physi- cal activity (e.g., walking, climbing stairs). Implications. After starting treat- ment, how many of you have asked a pa- tient, are you feeling? How do you explain it when the patient replies much better when they can't walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for breath? Are they lying? Identifying response shift is impor- tant to effectively monitoring health out- comes because patients may adjust their perceptions of the benefits of treatment or disease progression to maintain a sense of optimism or protect their self-image. Medication error interception

Party Identification, Issue Attitudes, and the Dynamics of Political Debate

This article investigates whether media coverage of elite debate surrounding an issue moderates the relationship between individual‐level partisan identities and issue preferences. We posit that when the news media cover debate among partisan elites on a given issue, citizens update their party identities and issue attitudes. We test this proposition for a quartet of prominent issues debated during the first Clinton term: health care reform, welfare reform, gay rights, and affirmative action. Drawing on data from the Vanderbilt Television News Archives and the 1992‐93‐94‐96 NES panel, we demonstrate that when partisan debate on an important issue receives extensive media coverage, partisanship systematically affects—and is affected by—issue attitudes. When the issue is not being contested, dynamic updating between party ties and issue attitudes ceases.

Hear All About It

To examine the content of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related vaccination information presented during nightly national television news broadcasts in the United States. A retrospective content analysis of HPV vaccination coverage on 5 major nightly US television networks from 2002 to 2007. The Vanderbilt Television News Archive was searched for keywords "Gardasil," "cervical cancer vaccination," "human papillomavirus vaccine," and "HPV vaccination." Each television news broadcast was categorized as follows: segment length (in seconds), network (American Broadcasting Company, Columbia Broadcasting Company, National Broadcasting Company, Cable News Network, or Fox Broadcasting Company), year of broadcast (2002-2007), and (4) presentation type. Air dates were plotted on a timeline to depict trends and linkages to 5 seminal events surrounding the development, efficacy, and controversy regarding HPV vaccination. During the 6-year period, a total of 27 HPV-related vaccination news broadcasts aired. News broadcasts ranged from 10 to 250 seconds, lasting an average of close to 2 minutes (mean +/- SD, 127.0 +/- 66.1 seconds). Most broadcasts presented information pertaining to HPV and cervical cancer, information on vaccine labeling, impact of the vaccine, and raised issues or concerns about the vaccine. More than half (66.7%) of news broadcasts were directly related to 5 seminal events surrounding the development, efficacy, and controversy regarding HPV vaccination. All 5 networks included within the Vanderbilt Television News Archive aired HPV vaccination content, with National Broadcasting Company and Columbia Broadcasting Company broadcasting most of the news stories during this time period. As compared with other medical-related information presented on national nightly television news during this time period, HPV vaccination received a modest amount of coverage.

Content analysis of prime-time television coverage of physical activity, 1970–2001

Background The purpose of this study was to examine how major nightly television networks reported on the health benefits of physical activity. Methods A retrospective content analysis of physical activity coverage on four major nightly television networks from 1970 to 2001 was performed. The Vanderbilt Television News Archives were searched for keywords “physical activity,” “physical fitness,” and “exercise.” Results During the 31-year time period, 111 non-overlapping reports aired on all networks combined. The link between physical activity and health was reported in 53 (47.7%) articles, with general health ( n =16, 14.4%) and heart disease ( n =12, 12.6%) cited most frequently. Just three broadcasts related to the Surgeon's General Report on Physical Activity and Health were aired following its publication in 1996. Conclusions Although the protective health benefits of physical activity are well established, physical activity received a modest amount of television coverage from 1970 through 2001.

Using the Vanderbilt Television Abstracts to Track Broadcast News Content: Possibilities and Pitfalls

The Vanderbilt Television News Archive supplies written abstracts for its video collection of news programs. Researchers from many disciplines use the abstracts to locate stories, track specific topics, and measure the evaluative tone of news. This study examines the validity of using abstracts as substitutes for full-text transcripts. Drawing on an analysis of the abstract writing process, we highlight potential sources of error and analyze the correspondence between transcripts and abstracts. Results of a quantitative content analysis suggest abstracts can reflect important elements of news when used at high levels of aggregation but may be unreliable as substitutes for news content.

Network News Coverage of Campaign Advertisements

In this article, the author examines whether network news coverage of a campaign advertisement's issue can reinforce the ad's basic message for the public and alter individual candidate assessments. The author uses the 1988 Willie Horton ad to investigate this question, combining data from the 1988 American National Election Study with content analysis from the Vanderbilt Television News Archives. Results show that general campaign coverage of race and crime issues as well as coverage of Horton influenced individual ideological perceptions of Dukakis. In line with Zaller's theory of public opinion, this influence was limited to certain individuals within the population, namely, media coverage affects individuals with moderate levels of political awareness who have weaker initial predispositions. Combined, these results demonstrate that media can exert both significantly and substantively significant influence on the public.

Studying Palestinian-Israeli Relations at the Vanderbilt Television News Archive (VTNA)

For the Past Five Decades, media texts, broadcast over television air waves, have created a shared identity among viewing audiences. John B. Thompson notes that if culture is understood as “the ways in which meaningful expressions of various kinds are produced, constructed and received by individuals”, then mass media can be understood as central to the creation and maintenance of culture (pp. 122-23). The words and images that construct a media culture are the very building blocks of collective identity. As Michael Schudson observes, “news is part of the background through which and with which people think” (p. 16).

So Their Eyes Won't Glaze Over: How Television News Defined the Debate over the Smithsonian's Enola Gay Exhibit

So Their Eyes Won’t Glaze Over: How Television News Defined the Debate over the Smithsonian’s Enola Gay Exhibit Thomas Cripps (bio) Figures Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Opening title card from Hiroshima-Nagasaki, August 1945. Photo courtesy Erik Barnouw. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. Film still from Hiroshima-Nagasaki, August 1945. Photo courtesy Erik Barnouw. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 3. “Enola Gay” on the plane’s fuselage: video frame from the “ABC Nightly News With Peter Jennings,” January 30, 1995. Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 4. “Enola Gay,” video frame of newsreel footage from the “NBC Nightly News,” August 30, 1994. Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 5. Video frame of Stanley Goldberg, on the “ABC Nightly News With Peter Jennings,” November 17, 1994. “Well,” he says slyly, “I guess I’m un-American then.” Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 6. Video frame of Barton Bernstein, on the “ABC Nightly News With Peter Jennings,” November 17, 1994. “Scandalous,” says Bernstein, but so fine is his subtlety that it is lost. Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 7. Video frame of Martin Harwit, from “Nightline,” October 25, 1994. “Well, primarily we’ve added more historical background and rounded it out that way.” Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 8. Video frame from “Nightline,” October 25, 1994. Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 9a. Video frames of Jack Giese and Martin Harwitt, on the “CBS Evening News,” September 25, 1994. Giese argues, “The exhibition does not have balance and context.... They portray Americans as the aggressors... even racist aggressor.” Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 9b. Video frames of Jack Giese and Martin Harwitt, on the “CBS Evening News,” September 25, 1994. Giese argues, “The exhibition does not have balance and context.... They portray Americans as the aggressors... even racist aggressor.” Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 10a. Video frames from “Nightline,” October 25, 1994. Herman Harrington (left) and Hugh Dagley. Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 10b. Video frames from “Nightline,” October 25, 1994. Martin Harwitt (left) and Michael Heyman. Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 11. Video frame from “Nightline,” October 25, 1994. Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 12. Video frame of William Detweiler, on the “ABC Nightly News with Peter Jennings,” January 30, 1995. Detwiler proposes the Smithsonian “...bury all this historiographical stuff in a ‘seminar’ where it belongs.” Courtesy the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Heard Library, Vanderbilt University. The semicentennial of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945 has come and gone—and with it the opportunity for thoughtful Americans to view a sweeping Smithsonian exhibition of it. The curators had intended to celebrate the contribution of the aircrew of the B-29 bomber, Enola Gay, to the urgent matter of shortening the final Pacific phase of World War II as well as assessing the impact of the bombing as an initial event of the atomic age. However, the exhibition fell victim to an angry skirmish in the American culture wars of the late twentieth century. As Congressman Newt Gingrich (R-GA), only just taking on the post of Speaker in a Republican-dominated House, told a conference of state governors: “The Enola Gay fight was a fight, in effect, over the reassertion by most Americans that they are sick and tired of being told by some cultural...

US network evening news portrayal of the new South Africa

This study sought to understand how political changes in South Africa have affected coverage by the US network evening news programs between 1990 and 1996. A content analysis of abstracts from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive was done, continuing earlier work by Giffard & Cohen (1990) on coverage of South Africa from 1982–1987. The concern with lack of representation of international stories and with negative presentation of developing countries in US nightly news was investigated. The study found a steady decrease in coverage of violence, and an increase in coverage of government activities. Upon examining gender, political affiliation, and occupation of the sources in the stories, we also found a lack of diversity of sources in South African coverage. Overall, a gulf was identified between the actual situation and how it is portrayed.

Network news coverage of terrorism: The early years

Abstract The electronic media influence public opinion by defining which national and international issues become significant, and shape public debates by the television images conveyed to the American audience. Based upon the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, this study examines the image projected in reporting of terrorist activities by the three major national networks, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The reality presented by the media is explored by comparing variables such as story emphasis and depiction, frequency, length of coverage, and location in the newscasts.

Diabetes in the national TV news: 1971-1981.

Millions of Americans get virtually all their current events information from the national nightly television news programs. The purpose of this study was to learn what diabetes-related information had been broadcast over the last 11 years by the network news programs. Another objective was to learn how that coverage compared with that given other chronic diseases. The Vanderbilt Television News Archives (VTNA) has videotaped every ABC, NBC, and CBS nightly newscast since mid-1968. The contents of each telecast have been catalogued and indexed. Indexes were searched for every segment that had anything to do with diabetes from 1971 through 1981. In the last 11 years there have been 32 diabetes-related news segments. More than a third were about the controversial attempt to ban saccharin. Because each network may carry essentially the same story, the number of nonoverlapping reports was 20. The total time of the diabetes-related segments was 70 minutes. The topics covered by the news reports included oral agents (5 reports), artificial sweeteners (12), biosynthetic human insulin (BHI) (7), and an assortment of unique items. The 32 diabetes-related segments compare with 23 about arthritis, 215 about heart diseases, and 925 dealing with cancer. A compilation of the non-overlapping segments has been shown to health professionals, who felt the stories were generally accurate. Diabetes is not portrayed as a killer. Therefore, diabetes seems less serious, and therefore less newsworthy, than heart disease or cancer.

The Medium Versus the Message: The Issue of Access to TV News

The decade of the 1960's was a tumultuous period for the American polity, and thus far the 1970's have been equally so, if for different reasons. During these same years network news programs emerged as America's most used and most trusted source of information about national affairs. Taken together, these news programs have given us a dramatic and interpretive record of our time. Strange as it may seem, until 1968 no one—not even the networks themselves—maintained an archive of television news tapes. While an interested person could have reviewed past editions of newspapers and magazines at a local library, past television newscasts were not available for study until Vanderbilt University acted.The Vanderbilt Television News Archive has videotaped the three networks' evening news programs off-the-air in Nashville since August, 1968. The archive has also taped other historic public affairs programs, including presidential nominating conventions, the Senate Watergate Hearings, and the Judiciary Committee's impeachment proceedings.From the beginning Vanderbilt informed the networks that it was archiving this material because the public interest required that it be saved and made available for research.In December, 1973, CBS brought suit against the university to stop the Vanderbilt effort. A trial may occur in the near future.

The Medium Versus the Message: The Issue of Access to TV News

The decade of the 1960's was a tumultuous period for the American polity, and thus far the 1970's have been equally so, if for different reasons. During these same years network news programs emerged as America's most used and most trusted source of information about national affairs. Taken together, these news programs have given us a dramatic and interpretive record of our time. Strange as it may seem, until 1968 no one—not even the networks themselves—maintained an archive of television news tapes. While an interested person could have reviewed past editions of newspapers and magazines at a local library, past television newscasts were not available for study until Vanderbilt University acted.The Vanderbilt Television News Archive has videotaped the three networks' evening news programs off-the-air in Nashville since August, 1968. The archive has also taped other historic public affairs programs, including presidential nominating conventions, the Senate Watergate Hearings, and the Judiciary Committee's impeachment proceedings.From the beginning Vanderbilt informed the networks that it was archiving this material because the public interest required that it be saved and made available for research.In December, 1973, CBS brought suit against the university to stop the Vanderbilt effort. A trial may occur in the near future.