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Telling stories: News media, health literacy and public policy in Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Hayes, Michael
  • Ross, Ian E.
  • Gasher, Mike
  • Gutstein, Donald
  • Dunn, James R.
  • Hackett, Robert A.

Abstract

Mass media are very influential in shaping discourses about health but few studies have examined the extent to which newspaper coverage of such stories reflect issues embedded in health policy documents. We estimate the relative distribution of health stories using content analysis. Nine meta-topics are used to sort stories across a range of major influences shaping the health status of populations adapted from the document Toward a Healthy Future (Second Report on the Health of Canadians (1999)) (TAHF). A total of 4732 stories were analyzed from 13 Canadian daily newspapers (10 English, 3 French language) using a constructed week per quarter method. Stories were sampled from each chosen newspaper for the years 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2001. 72% (n=3405) of stories in this analysis were from English-language papers, 28% (n=1327) were from French-language papers. Topics related to health care (dealing either with issues of service provision and delivery or management and regulation) dominated newspaper stories, accounting for 65% of all stories. Physical environment topics accounted for about 13% of all stories, the socio-economic environment about 6% of stories, personal health practices about 5% of stories, and scientific advances in health research about 4% of stories. Other influences upon health identified in TAHF were rarely mentioned. The overall prominence of topics in newspapers is not consistent with the relative importance assigned to health influences in TAHF. Canadian newspapers rarely report on socio-economic influences frequently cited in the research literature (and reflected in TAHF) as being most influential in shaping population health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Hayes, Michael & Ross, Ian E. & Gasher, Mike & Gutstein, Donald & Dunn, James R. & Hackett, Robert A., 2007. "Telling stories: News media, health literacy and public policy in Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 1842-1852, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:64:y:2007:i:9:p:1842-1852
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    1. Silvia Wojczewski & Merlin Willcox & Vincent Mubangizi & Kathryn Hoffmann & Wim Peersman & Thomas Niederkrotenthaler & Silvia Natukunda & Samuel Maling & Manfred Maier & David Mant & Ruth Kutalek, 2015. "Portrayal of the Human Resource Crisis and Accountability in Healthcare: A Qualitative Analysis of Ugandan Newspapers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Soyoung Han & Cermetrius Lynell Bohannon & Yoonku Kwon, 2021. "Degentrification? Different Aspects of Gentrification before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, November.
    3. Nutbeam, Don, 2008. "The evolving concept of health literacy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2072-2078, December.
    4. Esther Vries & Petra Denig & Sieta T. Vries & Taco B. M. Monster & Jacqueline G. Hugtenburg & Peter G. M. Mol, 2020. "Drug Safety Issues Covered by Lay Media: A Cohort Study of Direct Healthcare Provider Communications Sent between 2001 and 2015 in The Netherlands," Drug Safety, Springer, vol. 43(7), pages 677-690, July.
    5. Ardıç, Özgül & Annema, Jan Anne & van Wee, Bert, 2015. "The reciprocal relationship between policy debate and media coverage: The case of road pricing policy in the Netherlands," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 384-399.
    6. Gollust, Sarah E. & Lantz, Paula M., 2009. "Communicating population health: Print news media coverage of type 2 diabetes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1091-1098, October.
    7. Mark W Skinner & Alun E Joseph & Rachel V Herron, 2013. "Spaces of Resistance or Acquiescence? Learning from Media Discourses on the Role of Voluntarism in Ageing Communities," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(2), pages 438-450, February.
    8. Lawrence, Jody & Kearns, Robin A. & Park, Julie & Bryder, Linda & Worth, Heather, 2008. "Discourses of disease: Representations of tuberculosis within New Zealand newspapers 2002-2004," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 727-739, February.
    9. Daw, Jamie R. & Morgan, Steven G. & Thomson, Paige A. & Law, Michael R., 2013. "Here today, gone tomorrow: The issue attention cycle and national print media coverage of prescription drug financing in Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 67-75.
    10. Sultana, Atia & Lewison, Grant & Pallari, Elena, 2019. "The evaluation of mental disorders research reported in British and Irish newspapers between 2002 and 2013, and a comparison with the relative disease burdens and with research outputs in the two coun," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(4), pages 419-426.
    11. Soyoung Han & Joong Won Kim & Yoonku Kwon, 2019. "Contemporary Spatial Publicness: Its New Characteristics and Democratic Possibilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-18, August.
    12. Patrick DeLuca & Steve Buist & Neil Johnston, 2012. "The Code Red Project: Engaging Communities in Health System Change in Hamilton, Canada," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(2), pages 317-327, September.
    13. Bryant, Toba & Raphael, Dennis & Schrecker, Ted & Labonte, Ronald, 2011. "Canada: A land of missed opportunity for addressing the social determinants of health," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 44-58, June.
    14. Qu, Mei & Tahvanainen, Liisa & Ahponen, Pirkkoliisa & Pelkonen, Paavo, 2009. "Bio-energy in China: Content analysis of news articles on Chinese professional internet platforms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2300-2309, June.
    15. Liu, Ning & Chen, Zhuo & Bao, Guoxian, 2021. "Role of media coverage in mitigating COVID-19 transmission: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

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